Coronavirus and Separation of Church and State

Over the past few weeks, I have learned something about many Christians. They think the church is inside a building. They believe if they can't congregate inside of a building they're rights are being infringed. They believe that it's their body and they can do what they want. They want to put their own rights above everyone else--kind of like our left wing brethren. They have forgotten that we are the church whether we congregate inside of a building or not. Many are decrying separation of church and state citing the first amendment.

It has become like the religious right has decided that our nation is a Christian Nation, and depending upon the poll, a little more than half the American people agree with this statement. But it is not true. The United States of America is not a Christian nation, legally and constitutionally.

Yes, most of our founders were religious folk of some ilk, but they did not want to impose their own religion by law on others. And they certainly thought that a religious citizenry was important to good government; but they did not intend to set up a Christian regime under our founding documents. Our civil compact, the Constitution, is a decidedly secular document. It never mentions “Christianity.” Even the word “religious” is used only once in Article VI to ban religious tests for public office. And then two years later the Bill of Rights starts off “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This language dispelled any lingering doubt whether America was intended to be a Christian nation when it prevented the federal government from advancing or inhibiting any religious tradition.

Today, no one can deny that Americans are a very religious people. A 2007 Pew Forum poll showed that about 75 percent claims to be Christian. So, yes, demographically speaking, we may be Christian, but we do not have anything approaching a theocracy, Christian or otherwise. We have a constitutional democracy in which all religious beliefs are protected. The same Constitution that refuses to privilege any religion, including Christianity, protects all religions and the right of other American citizens to claim no religious beliefs at all. As a result, we are a nation of Christians sociologically because we are not a Christian nation constitutionally.

However, what angered me the most is that Christians are putting their own rights above those of others. Like "If I can't be in church, then my rights are being infringed." Someone please tell me how your rights are being infringed. Rob Boston stated "In normal times, when a house of worship holds its services, how many people attend and what form that worship takes would be none of the government’s business. These are not normal times. The coronavirus has reached the level of a pandemic, and states and cities are taking unprecedented steps to curb gatherings of people. Most schools have closed and events like concerts, plays, lectures, movies, sporting matches, social functions and others have been shut down. The restrictions include houses of worship, and the vast majority of religious leaders are being responsible and have either moved services online or canceled them outright. Some religious leaders have issued thoughtful statements about the need to behave in a way that protects us all during this difficult time." 

This is my church where I can meet
with my God and worship him. 

No where did I see our Bishops in the UMC tell us "You can't have church, instead they said "Follow the governments orders, and worship differently." Personally, I feel like the pastor's who kept having church in light of the government orders weren't having church to feed a flock, rather to feed their egos. All one needs to know is that the coronavirus is highly contagious, can be passed to people from carriers of the virus who are asymptomatic, and can cause serious injury or death not only to our most vulnerable populations but even those who are young, otherwise healthy, and full of potential. We are in virtual lockdowns across the country not merely out of a paternalistic desire to protect people from their own recklessness, but also, and more justifiably, to protect innocent bystanders against the reckless misconduct of those who insist on “life as normal,” including religious services. Some people have claimed a constitutional right to freely exercise their religion in large groups despite the negative health consequences of doing so. The Supreme Court has held, however, in an opinion authored by none other than the late Justice Antonin Scalia, both a devout Catholic and a fierce defender of religious liberty, that Americans do not have a constitutional right to disobey generally applicable laws that were enacted without an intent to discriminate against religion.

Michael Moreland, director of the Ellen H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova University said “States have ... the power to enact regulations that are necessary for public safety." And in this instance that is what has happened. As The leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals and Christianity Today have issued a statement that will likely resonate with many religious people: Believers aren’t being asked to stop worshipping – merely to do it differently."