Should Governments Order Church Services Cancelled Due to COVID-19?

Should the government be allowed to close churches?

I am writing this on Palm Sunday (April 5th, 2020). Almost all churches here in Kentucky either cancelled services today or are holding them via Internet, television, and/or radio due to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s orders to avoid public assemblies due to COVID-19. Similar policies have been enacted in many other areas in the United States and other parts of the world.

Perhaps you saw the news headlines last week reporting the arrest last Monday of Tampa, Florida megachurch pastor Rodney Howard-Browne. He held church services Sunday, March 29th, 2020 despite government orders not to.

Are the government closure orders appropriate?  

Past Precedents

Let’s look at past precedents.

The Bill of Rights is often touted as guaranteeing persons in the United States freedom of religion, including the right to assemble together for church services.

However, that freedom of religion has limitations. The United States Supreme Court over 100 years ago ruled that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could not practice polygamy as part of their religious beliefs.

Laws also exist to prohibit snake-handling by church members in churches. These parishioners take Mark 16:18 as their inspiration for the practice.

Furthermore, during the 1918-19 flu pandemic in the United States, church services (and other public assemblies) were prohibited to reduce the spread of the disease. The Courier-Journal reported* the arrest of a pastor on January 26, 1919 for holding services illegally.  

The current COVID-19 pandemic has parallels to the one in 1918-19. Indeed, there have already been cases of COVID-19 being spread via church gatherings.

Current Situation

Cancelling church services now in the COVID-19 pandemic is in theory at least less of a hassle to church members than the cancellations in the 1918-19 flu pandemic. During the 1918-19 period there were no Internet websites, no television stations, and no radio stations to broadcast services.

We now have worship services broadcast online, including many live via Facebook and via the websites of individual churches. We also have television and radio which broadcast many services. Persons can even participate in virtual services in some cases.

Furthermore, persons can pray, meditate, sing, read their Bibles and worship God in other ways at home or wherever they are.

My View

I don’t doubt the sincerity of the faith of many who desire to worship. Indeed, a devout Christian whom I went to school with years ago stated on Facebook that she attends the church in Tampa, Florida whose pastor was arrested last week. 

I know God can protect persons who assemble together. Indeed, I even think the Florida pastor may have been less likely to catch COVID-19 in his church than in jail assuming as he claimed [https://lc.org/newsroom/details/040220-statement-of-dr-rodney-howardbrowne-1] that social distancing was practiced. However, it’s hard for me to believe that in a church with a large number of persons present that social distancing was practiced effectively.

Even if it was, such an assembly seems to be a risk not worth taking. I recall the gospel passage where Satan urged Jesus to jump from the top of the temple because God would protect him, Jesus replied that it was wrong to test God. I agree.

I urge Christians to seek to maintain social distances. Still, seek to check on your neighbors and relatives. Seek to donate to charities like food banks if you can.

Pray for God’s perfect will for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of COVID-19. And to make things easier for hospital staff and others in the public, seek to avoid unnecessary travel and unnecessary public gatherings to help reduce the spread of the disease.

I actually think the case for restricting religious practices now is stronger than in the situations mentioned earlier from years ago regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), snake-handling churches, and the churches ordered closed during the 1918-19 pandemic.

Why? The actions of the Mormons primarily endangered only their members. The actions of the snake-handlers primarily only endangered those in such churches. Parishioners in 1918-19 had little other recourse to hear a sermon message than attendance in person.

In contrast, church members today have alternatives for worship and contact, as mentioned earlier. Furthermore, thanks to the advance of widespread rapid transportation, church members who assemble now can drive automobiles many miles quickly to spread the disease to other towns and cities. And there are indications that approximately 50% of those with COVID-19 have no symptoms and may be spreading it unknowingly.

Perhaps most important, the government is not singling out churches to stop freedom of religion. The government is prohibiting most public assemblies, and is only doing so temporarily to prevent the spread of a contagious disease.

The government’s actions are reasonable, beneficial, and done with the right motive. I strongly support the actions.

ENDNOTE:

* Jon Hale; “One pastor was so outraged by church ban during Spanish flu that he went to jail”; Courier-Journal.com; March 20, 2020; webpage accessed April 5, 2020; https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-pastor-arrested-holding-church-during-spanish-flu/2874182001/

NOTE:

This article being submitted to Google Blogger on April 5, 2020 is virtually identical to one the author submitted to Craft News Report, an article operated by his friend Paul Craft, earlier the same day.