The Religious Exemptions to Social Distancing 

On Easter Sunday, families across the nation will likely grapple with how best to celebrate their faith. Since stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines have become part of the public discourse, congregating for religious reasons has become a controversial topic, and has led to several arrests. A recent study from Religion News Service shows that in fifteen states, some form of religious exemption exists in order to gather publicly. In Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statewide exemption has overruled some smaller communities, the government listed religious gatherings as an essential activity. “There’s no reason why you can’t do a church service with people six feet apart,” DeSantis has said. PRRI data shows that Americans of several faiths are just as likely as the country overall (48%) to say that they would avoid all major events when given a list of eight activities. A majority (53%) of religiously unaffiliated Americans, compared to 48% of white evangelical Protestants, 47% of Catholics, 46% of white mainline Protestants, and 43% of nonwhite Protestants, say they are likely to avoid all eight activities. These differences are not statistically significant. 

Pentecostal Preacher Faces Three Years in Prison After Defying Stay-at-Home Order

According to police in Louisiana, Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church transported 26 busloads of parishioners to attend Palm Sunday mass. Spell’s actions were in defiance of a statewide order on public gatherings to help combat the coronavirus. Rev. Spell was charged with six misdemeanor charges and now faces up to three years in prison. In an interview following the incident, Spell claimed that real Christians don’t mind dying for their faith. “The Bible teaches us to be absent from our bodies as to be present with the Lord,” said Spell. “Like any zealot or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. True Christians do not mind dying. They fear living in fear.” Later in the interview, Spell said that those who have died from the coronavirus “died like free people, fighting for their convictions.” Despite the actions of the Pentecostal preacher, and some others across the country, PRRI data doesn’t show a significant difference in how Americans of faith have reacted to the coronavirus, as opposed to Americans overall. PRRI data shows that Americans of several faiths are just as likely as the country overall (48%) to say that they would avoid all major events when given a list of eight activities. A majority (53%) of religiously unaffiliated Americans, compared to 48% of white evangelical Protestants, 47% of Catholics, 46% of white mainline Protestants, and 43% of nonwhite Protestants, say they are likely to avoid all eight activities. These differences are not statistically significant.