#160
Masks and Secularism; Vaccine Rates; Nationalism and COVID-19

Are there signs of possible changes in attitudes towards religious engagement following the pandemic experience? In Quebec, a secularism law entitled Bill 21 prohibits public sector workers who are deemed to be in positions of authority, including teachers, police officers, and judges, from wearing religious symbols such as hijabs, crosses, and turbans during the workday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long expressed his disagreement with the law, arguing that it isn’t inclusive and could foster Islamophobia. Trudeau added that there may be a change in attitudes about religious symbols in Quebec, “in part because for the last year, we’ve been spending a lot of time with masks covering our faces and receiving services from the state. And also because there is a real concern about the rise in intolerance and Islamophobia.” The premier of Quebec, Francois Legault, insisted that most Quebecers supported the secularism law and that there was a significant difference between wearing a mask to prevent transmission and a religious covering.
 
Research is focusing on correlations between religious adherence and vaccination rates. In the United Kingdom, Jewish people over-70 have the highest take-up rate of the second COVID-19 vaccine in the country. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that almost all of the community’s over 70 crowd had taken up the offer of a second vaccine. Those who identify as Christian had a similarly high rate with 96.2 percent, while those with no religion had 95.8 percent. Those who identify as Muslim had a lower take-up rate with 84.7 percent. Dr. Jonathan Boyd, CEO of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, says: “The differences are small, but the slightly higher rates among Jews may be the result of several factors. British Jews tend to have a higher than average socio-economic profile, which is associated with higher vaccine take-up. They are overwhelmingly UK-born and speak English as their main language – again factors which would point to this result. It’s possible that the very high infection rates among Jews during the first wave also had a bearing, but this remains to be proven.”
 
Concerns about bias for or against specific religious communities arise in different settings. In India, there are worries that large tech companies, among others, are promoting COVID-19 charities that have ties to right-wing nationalist Hindu groups. Sewa International’s “Help India Defeat COVID-19” media campaign has raised millions of dollars from more than 100,000 donors since late April, with the money going toward oxygen concentrators, oximeters, and other essential equipment to India. Sewa International is a direct subsidiary of the India-based nongovernmental organization Seva Bharati. Both Seva Bharati and Sewa International have allegedly worked to spread Hindu nationalist ideology within India and beyond. Microsoft, Google, and Twitter have donated funds to India through Sewa. Al Jazeera also reported in April 2021 that five organizations with ties to Hindu supremacist and religious groups received COVID-19 relief funds amounting to $833,000, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Brian Levin, director of Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, raised concerns about COVID-19 relief funds being extended to organizations with ties to right-wing Hindu groups, saying, “Americans should be highly concerned that taxpayer-funded stimulus relief is being used by organisations and affiliates that have disturbing ties to those allegedly engaging in religious violence and bigotry overseas.”