Could a Religious Message about Coronavirus Get Traction Today

Various preachers today tout sin, or some similar religious concept, as the cause of the Corona plague. Their solutions are the old standards, pray, etc. While these are covered by the press they don't  dominant as the explanation for why illness and death are occurring.

According to the link the Black Death plague of the 1200's and 1300's killed, in some areas, half the population. There was, understandably, universal despair.  What happened, according to the link, was  people began to relate their suffering and the deaths to the pain of Jesus. The crucifixion grew in importance. People looked within themselves for understanding of the terrible circumstances.

Apparently, the seeds of this way of handling the grief was planted before the plague began and became immensely popular as it worn on. While we are all sitting around waiting for this to end I thought I would speculate on what could happen today if our celebrities were different.

What if today we had a President who was not on TV everyday with his grievances, insults and misinformation. That is, what if we had a President who said, "I will let professional disaster managers and scientists call the shots."

Then, suppose there was a really popular religious figure who dominated the media. I'm not thinking of today's screwballs but a modern version of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen or Billy Graham. If everyday the public heard a religious explanation of why this plague is happening instead of  science and politics, would people today buy it and would it change the way they react? Would people en mass turn on their phones, computers and TV sets eager to hear a religious message?

Whether the message was more prayer or less sin I don't suppose it would work as well today as it did in the distant past. Anyway, with a goofy President dominating every news cycle we can be assured no religious message will be heard.