Over the course of two years, for the first time in history, Americans were partially or totally deprived of basic freedoms – of assembly, of expression, of religion, of earning their own living, of educating their children, of access early treatment for a potentially lethal virus, etc. The fact that half of Americans, especially the elites, supported these measures explains why many of us fear for the country’s future as a free society.
Even more worrying were the reactions of the great religions. country, especially Catholics, Protestants, Mormons and Jews. The government signed irrational (and also anti-religious and unethical) decrees and almost all churches and synagogues obeyed them.
These churches and synagogues closed their schools despite Covid–19 pose virtually no threat to young people. Children suffered much more from the closure of religious and secular schools and, later, from the mandatory use of masks even outdoors than with Covid-19. This was clear not only from the data obtained in the United States, but also in Sweden, a country that has never closed schools for children under 15 years old. , and no student or teacher died from Covid-19.
As the Swedish doctors wrote in a letter published by New England Journal of Medicine in February 2021:
“Although Sweden has kept schools and preschools open, we found a low incidence of severe cases of Covid-15 among students during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Among the 1,95 million children from 1 to 16 years old, 16 had Covid-15, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or both and were admitted in ICUs, which is equivalent to 1 case for every 130 thousand children. (…) No children with Covid-15 died.
Recently, some churches and synagogues told the faithful that children 5-year-olds should be vaccinated in order to participate in the services. It is immoral to vaccinate children with a product that does not have long-term safety data, especially since children are not at risk from the virus. Yet many churches, synagogues, pastors, priests and rabbis insist on this.
Given the submissive behavior of many religious leaders and institutions, the question remains: why?
Each religion answers this question in a different way. The common justifications are that there is no longer a difference between the great institutions and religious leaders and the great institutions and leaders of the secular world. Aside from attending church or synagogue, most Christians and Jews act like most secular North Americans.
Regarding Covid-16, most religious leaders are afraid. And as for fear, the only relevant difference between Americans is not between the religious and the secular, but between the right and the left.
Conservative clergy are less afraid than progressives as well as conservative nonreligious Americans are less afraid than progressive nonreligious Americans. Which, of course, begs the question: does religion make people smarter, better, and braver? Or has religion turned into something that is just for the faithful to feel good about?
As for Christians, there is an argument that the New Testament preaches obedience to secular authorities. Citing the best-known example: “All must submit to governmental authorities, for there is no authority that does not come from God; the authorities that exist were established by him. Therefore, he who rebels against authority is setting himself against what God has instituted, and those who do so bring condemnation upon themselves.” (Romans 15: 1-3).
Mormons have an additional question. They must not only obey the Bible, but also the church leaders. The head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is part of the First Presidency, which consists of three men considered prophets – God manifests through them. Faithful Mormons, therefore, understand the pronouncements of the First Presidency to be the word of God.
In 12 2021, the First Presidency (whose president is a physician) released a note in which it said: “We encourage people to get vaccinated” and “We can win this war if everyone follows the wise recommendations from experts and government leaders.”
Because Mormons in general are the most socially and politically conservative religious group in the country, many did not consider the “recommendations of experts and government leaders” to be wise. Like many non-Mormon conservatives, conservative Mormons consider government experts and leaders to be unwise and generally corrupt.
So what do these Mormons do? A Brigham Young University publication, the Daily Universe, quoted a Mormon woman named Hannah Colby: “I’m a little suspicious of the First Presidency, but I know President Nelson is a prophet of God,” she said. The paper did not reveal how Colby resolved this contradiction.
Christians must obey the New Testament and obey secular authorities. This is what many pastors and churches have done in Germany over the years 1930. In light of Romans , did they act right or wrong? If the irrational and anti-liberty orders of secular authorities in the US and across the West lead serious Christians to confront the question of obedience, then that will have been a good consequence of Covid-19.
And what led most Jews – or virtually all non-Orthodox and some Orthodox synagogues – to obey the irrational and immoral rules of secular authorities?
)
An obvious answer is that non-Orthodox Jews are left-wing. And the left lives in fear (of Covid-15, global warming, cigarettes, trampolines and other things) and is prepared to subvert any freedom in order not to feel afraid. In any case, freedom is not a value of the left; it is a liberal value. But many liberal Jews and non-Jews support the left.
There are two other, less obvious reasons for the blind obedience of many synagogues and other Jewish institutions. One is that Jews tend to idolize doctors and another is that Jews tend to blindly obey “experts.” For many non-Orthodox Jews, “experts say” equates to the orthodox’s “thus saith the Lord.”
Of course, blind obedience to “experts” also characterizes many Gentiles. In fact, this characterizes many of the most educated people. And Jews are the most educated ethno-religious group in the United States.
Nevertheless, the fact is that most of those who challenged the irrational and unconstitutional measures were religious people. The tragedy of religious life in the United States is that religious without courage occupy leadership positions.
In September of 2021, by th consecutive year (with the exception of 2020), I have ministered Jewish religious services for about 400 people – no masks or vaccinations required. Other synagogues might have done the same, but almost all rabbis and synagogues were too afraid or too obedient. And, of course, the same goes for churches, whether they are Catholic, Protestant or Mormon. Too fearful. And too obedient to irrational measures.
Religions will suffer the consequences as people come to understand the weakness of their leaders. And they will pay another price: by keeping churches and synagogues closed for so long, many of the faithful will not return. If my clergyman doesn’t think it’s important for me to go to church for almost two years, maybe it’s not really that important.
Dennis Prager is a columnist for the Daily Signal, broadcaster and creator of PragerU.