His View: Churches, temples, synagogues and mosques during the pandemic

“It is our moral duty as Muslims that we take all steps necessary to safeguard ourselves and others around us from this terrible disease.”

— The Fiqh Council of America

“Protecting human life overrides almost every other Jewish value.”

— The Rabbinical Assembly of America

While soon-to-be ex-President Trump was correct to concede that the coronavirus is “running wild” in the U.S., he was wrong to say that European nations have failed to control their second wave. It’s also false to accuse the media of not having reported this spike in European cases.

The reinstitution of firm restrictions (including places of worship) in every European country has led to case reductions — significant in some instances. France went from more than 86,000 daily cases Nov. 1 to 12,500 in one month. During the same time period, Spain has gone from more than 50,000 to 10,000, hard-hit Belgium has come down from 24,000 to 3,300, and the United Kingdom and Poland have cut new cases by more than half.

Even India, which experienced a huge surge during the summer, has cut its numbers by 50 percent. Temples, mosques and churches were closed in March, reopened in June, and then closed again in most states. Nearby Pakistan, which has a large Muslim majority, has been frustrated in its attempts at virus control by militant imams. Across the world radical Muslim leaders have joined evangelical Christians and ultra-Orthodox Jews to undermine their governments’ efforts to control the virus.

As Israelis faced their second wave, the country shut down again Sept. 14. At that time, when Israeli diplomats appeared at the White House for a ceremony celebrating a Middle East peace deal, they were the only ones wearing masks.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up 10 percent of the population, have accounted for over one-third of the country’s infections. Even with their resistance, Israel has managed to reduce its case numbers from 9,051 to 572 over two months. Lockdowns obviously work.

Early in the pandemic, New York City was hit especially hard, but its infection rate has now fallen to 4 percent in stark contrast to South Dakota (43 percent), Iowa (42), Idaho (40), and Kansas (38). Just as in Israel, Mayor de Blasio has been frustrated by the city’s ultra-Orthodox Jews, who, although only 7 percent of the population, have experienced 20 percent of the new infections in the past month. The city fined them $1,500 (not nearly enough in my mind) for staging a wedding at which 7,000 attended — unmasked and shoulder to shoulder.

Korea has experienced super spreader events in its evangelical churches. In February, the center of this outbreak was the 245,000-member Shincheonji Church, which was initially responsible for 1,261 cases. By means of contact tracing, a total of 5,200 virus positives led back to this church — 63 percent of Korea’s cases at the time. Recently, another evangelical church was responsible for 312 cases, which again was the major portion of the nation’s new infections.

America’s evangelical churches have also become virus hot spots. In Charlotte, N.C., at least 187 cases and eight deaths have been attributed to two large convocations at the United House of Prayer for All People. Health authorities have forced the church to shut down, but its members are not cooperating in efforts at contact tracing. Across North Carolina 95 religious gatherings have been responsible for an additional 1,310 cases and 19 deaths.

In a recent column (Nov. 25) source-challenged Dale Courtney bragged about his own Christ Church and claimed that none of its unmasked 1,100 members have been hospitalized with the virus. I would like to know, however, how many are virus positive, or given Courtney’s dismissive view of testing, how many have refused to be tested.

The Moscow restaurant owned by a church member was closed for two weeks because of virus infections and recently, the owner declared that he would resist any further government restrictions.

Historians will look back at America’s Great Pandemic and conclude that libertarians, most calling themselves Christians and preferring individual liberty over public health, were the main cause of tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Nick Gier is professor emeritus at the University of Idaho. Read all his coronavirus columns at http://nfgier.com (search “coronavirus”). Email him at ngier006@gmail.com.