As half the world is placed under stay-at-home orders to combat COVID-19, a few pastors in the U.S. are keeping churches open despite advisories against public gatherings; some Christian worshippers came together recently for in-person Easter services, Hasidic Jews have ignored social distancing rules at funerals and a church community in South Korea and Muslim pilgrims in India and Malaysia have become vectors of disease transmission. All proclaim greater trust in God than in clinicians and assert the salutary effects of religious practices in the face of a global pandemic.
By no means are all religious communities ignoring health risks. Islamic jurists around the globe have moved to close mosques — including the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem — and most churches and synagogues have firmly closed their doors. Yet some leaders and communities seem out of step with the reality of the pandemic.
Rather than pursuing aggressive or confrontational tactics, state and public health authorities need to form alliances with these faith communities. And doing this in a way that builds trust is critical to the fight against COVID-19.
First, authorities need to acknowledge the role religious communal life and practices play in the lives of individuals, especially during times of uncertainty and fear. They must work with religious leaders so that they can better understand the rationale behind the social constraints. That will empower religious leaders to frame these policies within a religious worldview and design creative solutions.
Some churches have moved sermons and worship services online so that members can remain connected. In Muslim circles, scholars have taken care to message that while the communal obligation of Friday prayers is suspended, the individual obligation of midday prayers continues. Forums dedicated to dialogue and understanding between religious and public health experts can thus generate creative solutions that recognize religious theologies of healing, promote spiritual health and acknowledge the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Secondly, religious sites should be leveraged toward public health interventions. There is a long history of faith-based health partnerships in the U.S., and these collaborations can be mobilized toward improving community health. Churches and mosques could serve as sites for drive-thru testing, and their online forums could be used for health education. In this way, religious communities can be activated to help address gaps in testing and knowledge.
Finally, state authorities need to partner with religious authorities in their communications. Formal statements and press briefings where public health, state and religious authorities speak in a unified voice can go a long way to address lack of trust and experiences of marginalization. Just as business leaders have been brought in to address the economic aspects of this crisis and to voice their commitment to work with the government to tackle it, religious leaders can speak to the spiritual dimensions of the crisis and voice support in helping confront it.
Faith-based understanding of illness through history gives important context that must not be ignored. Even today, many faiths continue to maintain a theology of healing where the Divine controls disease — including onset and cure. Statements from the Prophet Muhammad convey that God sends sickness and grants recovery, and both Islam and Christianity recognize Jesus’ role as a healer.
If one believes that COVID-19 is a manifestation of divine will, then appealing to God to protect one from catching it — or to heal one afflicted by it — makes sense. And this turning to the divine becomes all the more appealing when one recognizes the many unknowns surrounding COVID-19; there is no known vaccine, no sure way to obtain a diagnosis given the scarcity of tests and no definitive timeline for when this crisis will end.
Some religious adherents find it difficult to follow the logic that food markets and health care institutions that cater to the physical health of individuals are classified as essential services and thus exempted from stay-at-home orders and closure, while religious institutions that nourish the spirit are not. They feel skeptical that public health and state authorities have their best interests at heart and they prefer to prioritize religious practices that have long sustained them. In the words of one mosque elder, “If we are going to die, then we might as well die in prayer.”
Science shows that spirituality bolsters health. Individuals connected to religious communities tend to live longer, likely due to the social support offered in such communities and the strong positive coping mechanisms religious beliefs and practices offer. Now is the time to leverage the strength of those communities in the face of this crisis.
Aasim I. Padela, M.D., M.Sc., is a University of Chicago Medicine emergency medicine physician, community health researcher and bioethicist. He is also an expert at the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding.
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