#114

This is the first of what we plan as weekly highlights, continuing and adapting the series of daily highlights we have sent since mid-March. All archived daily highlights can be found in the resource repository. These weekly notes will draw on new sources added to the resource repository (which are highlighted in yellow and listed at the beginning), with notes on what we see as trending themes.
 
Today we look back at a week (July 5-12) of debates around reopening places of worship, continued financial fallout from COVID-19 for religious entities, calls and actions to help poor and vulnerable communities, rising instances of discrimination, and creative ways religious leaders are linking faith and science during the current crisis. 
 
In the context of debates over reopening in the United States, this week a New York Times headline claimed that “new outbreaks of the coronavirus are surging through churches across the country where services have resumed.” A Christianity Today article pushed back, claiming sensationalist reporting that “blamed” religious entities unduly: “there were 60,000 cases each of the past two days [July 6-7] in America. That's almost 100 times the 650 cases that the New York Times reports in churches—and that is since the beginning of the pandemic.” David Gushee, a senior columnist for Baptist News Global, offers “five reasons it’s time to talk about opening our churches,” among them that “there appear to be ways to arrange worship services and spaces that are safe.” However, large-scale gatherings continue to be under intense scrutiny, including cancellation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses large annual three-day global conventions, the first time this year since 1897 (RNS). Reopening schools run by religious institutions is another area of concern, as reported by the National Catholic Reporter.
 
Poor and vulnerable communities are a continuing focus of reports. The financial crisis associated with the novel coronavirus will be felt most severely in the world’s poorest countries, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations said in a recent address to the UN Trade and Development Board. The Crux article that covered his address highlighted the need to tackle debt burdens as part of COVID-19 recovery plans. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded their humanitarian efforts, partnering with charitable organizations to assist with more than 630 projects in over 130 countries to help those in need (Standard Journal). 
 
Another flashpoint is discrimination and harassment. Muhammad Aman reported to the Institute of Development Studies that Hazara Shias, an ethnic and religious minority in Pakistan, have faced increased discrimination since the outbreak of COVID-19, including denial of basic health services. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, made headlines when he tested positive for COVID-19 after playing down the crisis over the past few months. Church leaders in Brazil have reportedly faced harassment from Bolsonaro’s supporters for speaking out about the government’s poor handling of the crisis (Crux). The Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea, an early global epicenter in February, is still a focus as over 5,000 followers have contracted the virus (Insider). Three officials of the religious sect were arrested, and the city is suing the church for 100 billion won ($82 million) in damages. The group’s leader has publicly apologized. Civil society organizations and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) point to scapegoating and stigmatizing of Shincheonji Church members (EU Political Report).
 
Finally, the Guardian highlighted creative ways that faith has reached people in the United Kingdom at a time when they could not go to traditional houses of worship. A piece in the Milwaukee Independent took up the “faith versus science” debates, looking to medieval religious figures who were invested in the science of preventing plagues, using their example as a reminder that “our inner lives demand attention too,” and that this does not have to be in contradiction or denial of science.