Introduction
The first part of the year 2020 was especially challenging due to the spreading COVID-19 epidemic and the consequent problems in different spheres of life. As one of the most important realms, religion was also influenced by the pandemic; moreover, some of its values and ideas were shattered at the time of the crisis. According to several news sources, the coronavirus outbreak revealed some of the flaws and mistakes of Christianity. In this paper, this news item is going to be analyzed in detail.
Main body
First of all, the attitude of non-religious people towards Christians changed to negative due to some of the widespread ideas around the pandemic. For example, according to Merritt, COVID-19 is a response of God to the sins of people and “arrogant nations”. Given the scale of the epidemic, such interpretation of the issue triggered multiple discussions among both Christians and non-Christians. Other sources confirm that religion did not react to the problem acceptably. According to Berlatsky “reaction from leaders in the evangelical Christian community leaves something to be desired”. The article also touches upon defying health safety rules by some religious institutions.
The concerns connected with breaking health guidelines and putting communities at risk were expressed in other sources as well. For example, Gabriele mentions services in crowded churches that resulted in coronavirus deaths. He adds that defying healthcare recommendations is the sign of dramatic differences between the modern and earlier religion (Gabriele). However, there is another movement that emerged due to the anxiety around the virus. The revealed flaws of modern Christianity made many people find “solace in a decidedly anti-modern vision of faith” (Burton). Indeed, during the pandemic, more people reconsidered and changed their spiritual values.
As it is possible to see, the crisis led to a more serious engagement with religion. For many people, visiting church and praying became acts of support and hope. Others confirm that religion demonstrated once again the importance of love and unification in these challenging times. However, many religious and non-religious people started to question the principles of Christianity, since the severity of the epidemic made them doubt the power of God and his justice. Since the pandemic caused anxiety among people, some of the Christians started to act in negative ways, causing the possible flaws of religion to become more visible. At the same time, since the power of religion is in the unification of society, I think that some of the sources misinterpreted this concept by focusing on the actions of specific people or churches.
These four pieces of news demonstrate the significant role that religion plays in the life of society, especially at the time of crisis. It is possible to see that when science is not able to fight the severe disease taking thousands of lives, people tend to blame God and hold religion responsible. However, the accusations of Christianity reveal the fears and uncertainty of the society itself. At the same time, it proves how much people rely on their spirituality and that the institute of religion becomes more powerful when support and hope are especially needed.
Conclusion
Since Christianity was influenced by a serious external problem that has not been solved even today, I would not cover the issue in such a criticizing way. It would be fair to say that society needs to know about all the negative changes that the pandemic brought to the world. At the same time, it is necessary to confirm that although Christianity was shattered by the problem, it also helped society in many ways. Love and support became more valued; some people started to pay more attention to their spiritual values. I would reflect on the issue of this influence by enumerating both negative and positive changes of religion and focusing on its significance.
Works Cited
Berlatsky, Noah. “Coronavirus Exposes Evangelical Christianity’s Flaws. But the Church can be a Force for Good.” NBC News, 2020, Web.
Burton, Tara Isabella. “Christianity Gets Weird.” The New York Times, 2020, Web.
Gabriele, Matthew. “Christian Groups That Resist Public-Health Guidelines Are Forgetting a Key Part of the Religion’s History.” Time, 2020, Web.
Merritt, Jonathan. “Some of the Most Visible Christians in America Are Failing the Coronavirus Test.” The Atlantic, 2020, Web.