As a Religious Person, It is My Duty to Stay Home

I celebrate Shabbat every Friday night with my synagogue. I welcome in the Sabbath with hugs from congregants, prayers celebrating the sanctity of what I’m experiencing, and a feeling of pride. That was my normal Shabbat experience until a few weeks ago.

Nowadays, I sit in front of my computer waving hello to friendly faces as we pray together through a Zoom call. While we do not get to be in person together, we greet each other with a Good Shabbos from the comforts of our homes. As services continue, I don’t hear the normal call and response. It is replaced by my Rabbi pausing before sharing the response. I say the prayers as I normally would, but I’m alone in doing so.

My synagogue and many other places of worship have switched to virtual services. Places of worship have taken to celebrating their religion virtually to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. They are not mandated by law, but they understand it is their duty to protect society. They must look out for their congregants and the people with whom their congregants interact with. The leaders of these houses of worship are taking a strong and firm stand in stopping the spread. They are doing their civic duty and their religious duty.

Unfortunately, some clergy have ignored public safety concerns and have continued to celebrate their religion by holding their religious services in person. As of March 27, a poll found that seventeen percent of respondents were still attending services in person. Their decision to hold services in person has endangered many in their religious community and the community at large.

Governor Brian Kemp has not made any drastic rulings on religious gatherings. He held a phone conference with over eight hundred clergy members discussing the mandate to practice social distancing. If a place of worship is found not practicing social distancing, they could be shut down.

In these times, leaders across the country are stepping up to serve their community in innovative ways to help with social distancing. Not all leaders are pleased with the government asserting the public’s best interest, citizen safety. Reverend Timothy McDonald III of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta voiced his frustration in his recent statement:“my message to the governor was: ‘You don’t get to tell the church what to do. You don’t. That won’t sit well with most pastors.’” Religious leaders like him are undermining the importance of social distance by responding with words of dissidence instead of words of support for caring for the community.

A Louisiana church continues to hold services for their congregants. A Sunday service recently attracted an estimated 500 congregants. Timothy Spell, the father of a pastor, commented the church has a right to assemble While this might be true, they must choose to protect their congregants. Paul Quinn, a resident who lives near the church, said, “if they get out of church and go to the grocery store, it's a serious health hazard. They don’t know how many people they’re affecting, and they don’t seem to care.” By places of worship gathering, they’re impacting everyone’s ability to flatten the curve.

As a Jewish person, I am not praying with a minyan, a group of ten people, which some religious Jews would say is a violation of Jewish law. Due to the Coronavirus, the Jewish value Pikuach Nefesh takes precedence, since I’m saving lives by practicing Judaism from my home, instead of with my community.

It is essential that places of worship prioritize public safety. Religions strive to teach their followers how to lead a just life which leads to a perfect world. If the people continuing to hold services examined how they’re abandoning their religion’s principles, they would hopefully choose to move their services online. I urge religious people to think about the greater good of the world when pondering how they will celebrate their religion during this time.