You Have the Right to Go to Church

As I reflect upon the coronavirus pandemic, I’m reminded of two verses in the Bible and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that have great significance to me. 

The Bible verses are: Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” and, 2nd Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

While one can study God’s word regularly, the benefit of hearing the spoken Word in church cannot be replaced by You Tube, Skype, Zoom or other any type of technology.  While I’m well-versed in current technology, I also believe that church members can be urged to be responsible adults and not attend services nor bring their children when they have a fever and coughing and sneezing. And, also be urged to keep hand sanitizers on their person or in their cars along with paper towels, as necessary.

Moreover, in some cultures, such as in Japan, people typically do not shake hands at all. They smile and nod in recognition of the other person. It can be suggested to members to just smile and nod rather than shake hands while this emphasis on this pandemic continues.

Even with this emphasis on social distancing, I’ve noticed that in many churches the membership has dwindled to the point where social distancing is the norm rather than the exception. Even so, pastors can: 

• ask members whether or not they want to come to church, 
• estimate how many can attend in keeping with the temporary social distancing requirements. 
• and, allow the members to choose, in a fair way, who will be attending or not. 

Again, with regards to eliminating church services, local elected officials cannot lawfully require churches to stop having services as I alluded to in referring to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I think that the churches should be open for regular worship services and let the members choose whether or they want to attend..

If a misguided and incompetent elected official choose to have the police to illegally arrest people for attending church, then it should be made clear to them that they will not be allowed to just arrest the pastor, but will have to arrest all of the church members. Also, if responsible church members are jailed, they would be put in proximity where they could easily be infected by irresponsible inmates with unacceptable consequences.

I hope and pray that all people who believe in God, and cherish the opportunity to worship with fellow believers, should not rush to give up their civil liberties. This deeply concerns me. 

During our civil rights struggle in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, followers of Dr. King and other civil rights leaders were willing to go to jail if they had to. It was just that important to them to acquire the right to vote and to otherwise be treated as citizens of this country. Isn’t the right to attend church just as important?