Time to lift restrictions on faith gatherings

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2020 (2236 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MANITOBA’S religious communities have adhered to public-health restrictions — one could say they have obeyed faithfully — and now some churches want to be in charge of their own pandemic precautions.

A petition called Reopen Manitoba Churches has been signed by 69 churches and 2,517 people. It calls for full freedom for churches to gather without public health restrictions. The sentiment is not unanimous, and some churches have urged their members not to sign.

Faith institutions have limped through the last three months. Alternatives to in-person gatherings have included online services, studies of holy books via Zoom, and telephone trees in which volunteers phone everyone in the faith family to check in.

Such measures are worthy improvisations, but they pale in comparison to the experience that is shared when faith families gather for the transcendent exhilaration of worshipping as one body.

People who do not regularly attend faith gatherings may mistakenly judge as reckless the Manitoba churches’ petitioned desire to escape the public-health restrictions. Outsiders may erroneously feel worshippers want to ignore social distancing measures, shake hands, drink from common chalices and exchange respiratory droplets as they sing and chant.

Misunderstandings about the intent of the Manitoba petition may be partly due to sensational news coverage of a few churches in the U.S. that went rogue and foolishly crammed their pews in defiance of local bans on public gatherings.

At an evangelical church near Baton Rouge, La., police issued a summons for a pastor who held services for 1,200 people after stating defiantly, “We hold our religious rights dear, and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.” In Tampa, Fla., a revivalist pastor was handcuffed and arrested after he gathered hundreds to worship; he has since filed a federal lawsuit claiming the arrest violated his religious liberties.

But such irresponsible church behaviour is not happening in Manitoba, as far as the Free Press knows. Instead, the organizers of the petition are seeking change in a typically polite Manitoba fashion: rather than thumbing their noses at public-health officials, they’re working within the system by presenting their request in a respectful way. Their petition should be received with equal respect.

In my experience inside Manitoba faith communities, there would be no safer gatherings when a pandemic lurks. There are two reasons for this.

First, faith leaders will impose their own pandemic restrictions. It would be careless to meet without any restrictions, and people who lead carelessly don’t last long as a pastor, bishop, pujari, imam or rabbi.

These faith leaders can be trusted to devise back-to-worship plans that are safely designed for their unique interior spaces and the adherents in them. It should go without saying these leaders feel protective of their followers and will go to great lengths to keep them safe.

Second, members of faith communities are well-practised at heeding directions. When Muslims enter their mosque with the right foot first, when Catholics genuflect and cross themselves, when Hindus don’t enter their temple while wearing any animal skin, including leather, these are examples of people who follow rules.

They will adhere just as carefully to the pandemic precautions devised by their faith leaders, motivated particularly strongly because the faith family includes their close friends. They will obey their leaders’ direction to wear masks, avoid physical contact and forego songs and spoken prayers that might fill the air with microscopic virus particles.

Compare this scenario with public spaces such as grocery and liquor stores that have remained open for the past three months. Some store customers take precautions, but many people attend without masks, violate social distancing and ignore safety measures such as arrows on the floor. I saw a woman in the produce section of a grocery store lower her mask off her face so she could sneeze freely.

Quick question: even though tens of thousands of people visit these stores weekly — and the virus precautions of many customers are slipshod at best — how many Manitobans have caught COVID-19 at grocery stores or liquor stores? Correct answer: none that we know of.

Once open, Manitoba’s places of worship will be safer than grocery and liquor stores because members of faith families are not strangers to each other. They care deeply about each other’s well-being and the group conscience will ensure everyone takes precautions.

Public-health officials have done a good job of informing the public about the best safeguards against COVID-19. Three months in, one would hope we all know how to stay safe.

Now — especially considering Manitoba’s extremely low rate of COVID-19, compared with other places — it’s time to lift all restrictions from faith institutions and leave it in the capable hands of ordained leaders. To do otherwise is insulting.

carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.