PRAYING FOR RE-OPENING
Dear Friends,
What does "re-opening" mean? Are we praying for the same thing?
I read two "legacy" newspapers a day, and follow some online news sources. I never watch TV news, and virtually never listen to the news on the radio. So depending on the news sources that you frequent, you may very well see/hear/read very different messages than I do. One thing that I have repeatedly seen in print is that what Ottawa (and Canada) will be like after reopening will not be what Ottawa was like before COVID-19. We should prepare ourselves for a new normal.
Some of the people saying that life after COVID-19 will be different than before COVID-19 are making predictions about how many workers will work from home, and/or what percentage of their work will be done at home. I will not make any comment about this, other than to say that predictions like this usually smuggle in a moral component. In other words, the writer has a notion of what "the good" is that government and business should move towards. The writer rarely states this clearly, as I said, it is smuggled in.
There is one aspect of comments about post-covid life that should concern you, namely that some restrictions and requirements will probably continue for a long time, and be part of the "new normal." Once again, comments like this smuggle in a notion of what "the good" is without stating that conception clearly. Why should comments like this concern you?
The government responded to COVID-19 by suspending many basic rights and freedoms of Canadians. This was cheered on by the media, and much of the academy. This might feel like an inflammatory and provocative statement to some - and if that describes you, then you should be concerned about your reaction. What I wrote is simply true.
I will use churches in my examples, but the state was evenhanded in the sense that you could substitute mosque, synagogue, or temple in each case. Church services were forbidden for big stretches of time. Singing God's praises was forbidden. When churches were allowed to open, behaviour, ministry, and numbers in attendance were mandated by the state - and in many jurisdictions, the citizenry was urged to report transgressors of the restrictions. Church ministries, like nursery, Sunday School and small groups were in effect forbidden. In other words, freedom of religion was suspended.
The state forced many small businesses to stop operating with the result that many have gone out of business. Key aspects of freedom of association and freedom of movement were suspended through stay-at-home orders, curfew, border closures, restrictions on having friends and family gather, etc. Compulsory mask wearing is a suspension of your basic right to dress and meet without government mandates. Although not a matter of direct state control, social media giants suppressed some of the information that challenged the science used to justify measures, and the state did not act to insure freedom of expression and debate.
None of what I have said is extreme. It is what happened.
I know that it is claimed that the extreme health risk of COVID-19 justified the state to suspend the rights of the citizens. I will make no comment about this other than to say that I appreciate that the government found itself in an unprecedented situation, and that most politicians and civil servants did the best they could with the information that they had. They believed that the temporary suspension of rights and liberties were for the greater long term good of the citizenry. They sincerely believed they were pursuing a wise course of action. I think we should accept this to also be true. We at the Church of the Messiah complied with the government restrictions, and I believe this was the right stance for us to take as a church.
However, as I said above, we should be very concerned about how some are talking about what reopening will be like. Some say that mask wearing and social distancing and other limits should continue in some form for the indefinite future. The "hidden good" smuggled into this analysis has to do with state control over the citizenry, including the "good" of state control over churches. I think we need to oppose such thinking. It is one thing to agree to a temporary suspension of rights and freedom for a health crisis, it is another thing to agree that the state should be able to suspend freedom of religion (and other freedoms) into the future. It will not be okay if the state can mandate the singing of God's praises and/or how we gather to worship on a Sunday.
I believe we need to pray that all of the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted completely. Obviously each of you will have your own view as to the timeline.
George+
