Religious Service: Is It Safe?

This is our new weekly pandemic feature: Is It Safe, where we ask you what you’re comfortable with in the age of Covid-19, and what you aren’t. Read our primer to understand the concept. And email me your thoughts at williamfleitch@yahoo.com. This week: Religious services.

The first thing my mother wanted to do outside of the home when the pandemic hit was go to mass. She could order in groceries, she could have pizza delivered, she could even hold off on hugging her grandchildren. (For a while.) But she needed to get to mass. That was her constant. It was probably what she needed more than anything else.

Tens of millions of Americans have had to answer this question: Are they ready to go back to worship services? Is it wrong for them to be open at all? What are the arguments for going to service? What are the arguments against it? Last week, I asked for your thoughts on the matter. Having read through all of them, these are the best arguments for each side.

PRO

1. Has there ever been a time we’ve needed spiritual guidance more than right now? This one is rather self-explanatory, no? “We go to church to give us direction, to get us through difficult times,” one respondent wrote. “I’ve never been through anything more difficult than this.” Our places of worship exist to help us, to give us desperately needed…