The daily White House press briefings often feel like a battle between good and evil, between the angel and demon on your shoulders. One pleads, “staying at home and indoors is the best way to prevent deaths and save lives right now,” while the other argues “well, staying at home also leads to death…deaths of a different kind but death nonetheless.” Such is true for countless other topics during the daily presser, one of which, as we’ve discussed, has lead directly to the death of a man and hospitalization and his wife.
This struggle for safety will likely face its toughest test yet with Easter Sunday right around the corner. In less than 24 hours, thousands of Christians across the country, rejecting statewide stay-at-home orders, will inevitably flock to their place of worship in celebration of the “return of the king.” Truth be told, this is not a problem specific to Christianity: reports of Hasidic Jews congregating face-to-face for the Holy Week of Passover have made headlines in recent days.
The root of the problem is a very human combination hubris, greed, and ignorance that has only been exacerbated in recent weeks by the President’s “happy feet” talk and empty, unsubstantiated promise of an Easter Sunday reopening of the country. In light of several European countries considering a loosening of restrictions, this week Tedros Adhanom, the heavily scapegoated director-general of the World Health Organization, warned of a “deadly resurgence” if distancing and stay-at-home tactics are curbed.
Then, one may ask, what happens in places with no such measures or where social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines are completely ignored? In Florida, churches and other religious organizations have been deemed essential, quite literally leaving the door open for worshippers to come and go as they please in the midst of an otherwise statewide shutdown.
Just last week in Louisiana, Life Tabernacle Church pastor Tony Spell was charged with six misdemeanors for continuing to hold in-person services despite the pandemic. He argues that “the president did not give me my rights to worship God and to assemble in church, and no socialist government or godless president can take that right away.”
Even in the days leading up to Easter, it has been reported that religious groups have contributed a staggering amount to the spread of the coronavirus. At least 70 attendees of a church in Sacramento, California, contracted COVID-19 last week. Spell, of the Life Tabernacle Church, told Buzzfeed News that he expects about 2,000 people to attend tomorrow’s Easter Sunday service.
At a time as dreadful as it is confusing, many have turned to religion as a beacon of hope in search for answers, community, and salvation. Though they serve no emergency purpose, church leaders posit that church is in fact essential, saying that “we as essential organizations need to show up right now. If nurses and doctor, or police officers and firefighters, didn’t show up, it would be considered dishonorable. Yet churches, for whatever reason, seem to feel like it’s okay not to show up when our world needs us most.”
This pattern of thought has been echoed throughout the country as we brace for a potentially silent yet bloody, deadly Easter Sunday. If there were ever a time to listen to the angel on your shoulder…
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LIS 4022 Spring 2020 