Somehow, many people have become convinced that the most dangerous place to be during a pandemic is in a church — like playing in a gully during a sudden thunderstorm.
Part of the reason is that some early coronavirus outbreaks happened in church buildings (though the first big one in the United States was a non-church event that happened to use a church building). Also, some irresponsible pastors have aggressively rejected masks and distancing, and, unsurprisingly, this has caused outbreaks.
Nothing gets major media attention and countless clicks like a prejudice-reinforcing story of a theologically unsound, scientifically uninformed, white Christian pastor causing a virus outbreak. These stories always got traffic and caused schadenfreude among a certain class of people, who then concluded that this is what all churches do. That class of people happens to have a lot in common with our tastemakers in the media and academia.
Thus, I suspect there’s a widespread assumption that church gatherings in the U.S. today are all maskless, two-hour, hymn-singing, neighbor-hugging, tongues-talking affairs. That’s my guess for why so many people act as if church itself is super dangerous.
I think long-term this would be counterproductive for religious freedom.
If you think people are unsympathetic now, wait until places of worship become the epicentres or outbreak clusters.
Freedom of conscience and assembly will be seen to quite literally be endangering others.
— Ramsey Merbert (@4anno) April 14, 2020
That’s my charitable interpretation. The less charitable interpretation is that some people think Christianity itself spreads the disease.
— neyebio (@neyebio) August 3, 2020
So for those of you who haven’t stepped foot inside a church since March, let me tell you that church, as I experience it, is nothing like church as you imagine it.
After Catholic dioceses voluntarily, and ahead of government lockdowns, shut down Mass in March, we waited more than three months before we could return to Mass. Since June, I have been to Mass about 25 to 30 times at six different churches in four different states.
About 100% of the parishioners wear masks during Mass, in my experience, in all six of these churches.
At my parish, we are asked to refrain from singing, which is supposedly about stopping the spread of the virus, but our pastor may have additional motives for that request.
There is no handshaking in church. No hugging. Every other pew is empty and roped off. Family groups sit 6 feet apart. At communion, ushers try to enforce spacing. There is tons of hand sanitizer involved in communion. Nobody receives the Precious Blood (drinks the wine) but the priest.
Afterward, volunteers (while still masked) sanitize and clean the pews, and you can see the wear very clearly.
I’m not saying this happens at every church in every part of the country, but it’s the norm among churchgoers I speak to. That may surprise some of you.
