Assistant Religious Studies and Jewish Studies professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Samuel Boyd never expected virtual worship to be found on such a large scale. In the “On the Media” podcast on NPR titled, “Virtual Worship is older than you think,” the speaker explores the history of “virtual worship” as he examines COVID-19’s toll on “people of faith.” 

  Although all meant to be celebrated surrounded by friends and family, the three religious holidays, Passover, Easter, and Ramadan, have fallen during what is considered to be the peak of coronavirus cases in much of the United States. Temples are locked, church bells collect dust, and mosques are silent, all in the hopes of keeping more individuals from contracting the virus. 

  Most of Iran’s COVID-19 cases originated from Iran’s holy city, Qom, forcing many to accept that areas deemed sacred are not exempt from the reach of the coronavirus. Similarly, ⅓ of cases in Sacramento could be traced to a specific church.

  Still, being asked to stay home from places of worship, especially in the uncertainty and fear that is growing due to COVID-19, has ultimately led to animosity. The American Enterprise Institute has found that 10% of the religious groups in the United States are continuing to offer in-person religious services, “deeming themselves as essential as grocery stores.”

  A few religious leaders have been arrested for refusing to halt services, including one pastor in Florida; however, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, “overruled local regulations” to allow churches to remain open.

  Ironically, a pastor in Richmond, Virginia who kept his Church open because “God is larger than coronavirus” passed away from the disease.

  Despite the mounting evidence that close proximity causes the coronavirus to spread faster, law suits are being filed against the state and federal governments for forcing churches and other religious sanctuaries to close. 

  “The conflicts the society now face are stark, but not new,” said Samuel Boyd.

   Boyd explains that religious communities are meeting “in physical person because that is what God commands us to do.” Their faith is so strong, he said, that they believe their “trust in God” will be enough to carry them through the pandemic.

  Consequently, tensions are mounting from “high sensitivities to a secular body getting in the Church’s business.”   

  Boyd cites Martin Luther’s theory of two swords, one belonging to “the kingdom of God” and one to the “secular government,” to be the reasoning behind the mistrust because, currently, “the swords are clashing.”

  Yet, most religious communities are complying with the government’s regulations. Pastors held online mass. Many Passover Seders occurred over Zoom. Mosques are streaming prayers over Facebook live. 

  There is somewhat of a precedence for not being able to go to a place of worship in-person if one only looks through the “holy texts.” Passover itself is still an “innovation” as it became a “familial practice in the home” after the Roman Empire expelled Jews from Jerusalem. 

  With taking a physical pilgrimage now being impossible, the speaker asks, “Why should a pilgrimage through your broadband connection be any different than your pilgrimage on foot?” As a result, a few Orthodox Rabbis decided that Zoom can now be considered a place for individuals to meet to recite prayers.

  In the Medieval times when Ethiopian Christians found that it was no longer safe to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem due to the Crusades, they built substitute Churches in Ethiopia.

  More recently, the tragedy of 9/11 caused a shift in how the world views religious similarities. “Crises can produce categories that survive and become productive ways to think about your religion and the world,” Boyd said. 

  Similarly, the innovative steps taken to shift how society continues religious practices online may alter the future of religious worship.

  “We’ve lived in escalating climate crises, we’re living in an economic bubble that’s not sustainable, and now we have a pandemic that is going to pop everything and how much of that extreme circumstance will give certain people with religious sensibilities the sense that they somehow are getting a special insight into ultimately reality,” Boyd said.

  The first amendment protects all religious practices, but the pandemic, “being the ultimate crowded theater,” may give the government a different authority in how it responds. Religious leaders need to examine, “What is wise?” to learn how to remain within their constitutional rights, while not giving up their “conviction in the process,” Boyd said.