In some countries, governments blamed religious groups for COVID infections. This was not a harmless attack. Pew observed that “In some cases, religious groups were explicitly accused of having caused outbreaks, which the groups’ leaders said resulted in stigmatization, scapegoating or profiling.” Examples include Shia Hazaras in Pakistan, Muslims in India, and Hutterites in Canada. In the United Kingdom, “antisemitic conspiracy theories spread online, claiming that Jews were in control of the global lockdowns and were using the pandemic to ‘steal everything.’”
Although such forceful interventions were the most abusive, they were not the only form of mistreatment. Pew also noted unfair discrimination: “Religious groups filed lawsuits or spoke out against the public health measures in 54 of the 198 countries (27%). A common complaint was that some churches, mosques, synagogues and other houses of worship were treated unequally — either by comparison with secular gathering places, like shops and restaurants, or by comparison with other religious groups.”
Sometimes repression and discrimination united. Pew cited Burma/Myanmar, “a Buddhist-majority country, [where] leaders of religious minority groups complained that pandemic-related health measures were enforced much more harshly against Muslims and Christians than against Buddhists. For example, 12 Muslim men received prison sentences of three months for holding a religious gathering in a house in Chanmyathazi Township. In a separate case, a Christian pastor was sentenced to three months in prison for holding a prayer session. In contrast, none of the 200 attendees at a Buddhist monk’s funeral were arrested; the organizers were fined instead.”
Attacks on Christians and other faith communities were widespread and occurred in every region on earth. According to Pew: “These incidents were spread fairly evenly around the world, including in 12 countries in the Americas (34% of countries in the region), 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region (40%), 20 countries in Europe (44%), seven countries in the Middle East-North Africa region (35%) and 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (31%).”
Governments’ mistreatment of believers was not because most religious leaders were irresponsible and ignored the pandemic’s dangers. Instead, many advocated taking steps to slow the advancement of COVID. Pew explained: “In an even larger number of countries (94, or 47%), religious leaders or groups promoted public health measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus by encouraging followers to worship at home, observe social distancing or take other precautions, such as hand-washing and mask-wearing.”
Indeed, state-church cooperation was common. After all, religious leaders wanted their followers to be safe. Pew reported: “News articles and other information sources identified 55 countries (28%) where government officials and religious groups collaborated on efforts to stem the pandemic.”
However, people of faith would oppose officials who abused their authority and discriminated against religious groups. Resistance was widespread, according to Pew, which noted that “In 69 countries and territories (35%), one or more religious groups defied public health rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” In some cases, the same faith communities simultaneously worked with and against governments: “In some countries, different religious groups both defied and promoted lockdowns or other public health restrictions.”
Unfortunately, such controls did not exist in a vacuum. The overall political and social environment already was hostile toward religious believers. Detailed Pew: “57 countries (29%) had at least “high” levels of government restrictions in both 2019 and 2020 — a peak number for the study. But the number of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of social hostilities dropped from 43 countries (22%) in 2019 to 40 countries (20%) in 2020, staying well below the peak of 65 countries (33%) reached in 2012.” The new COVID restrictions were used in several nations otherwise not noted for hostility toward religion.
As the pandemic has ebbed, so has the use of special anti-COVID measures. However, the pandemic set another precedent and created another excuse for curbing not just religious worship but all aspects of religious life. Which means it is even more important for religious people, and others who believe in a free society, to be ready to resist similar measures rolled out in the future in alleged response to the latest crisis du jour. Protecting society should not become the justification for destroying a free society.
Religious liberty is important even for nonbelievers. After all, the right to believe includes the right not to believe. Moreover, a government that refuses to respect the right of conscience is not going to protect political liberty. With politicians always looking for an opportunity to put their power before the public interest, “eternal vigilance” truly is the price of freedom.