As the coronavirus continues to rage on, more Americans feel comfortable with defying government restrictions on their “freedoms” — particularly when it comes to gathering in church.
The survey comes from researchers Paul A. Djupe (an affiliated scholar with the Public Religion Research Institute) and Ryan P. Burge (of Eastern Illinois University), who asked Americans for their thoughts about the restrictions back in March, then again in October.
Things have not gotten better.
The Christian Post explains:
When asked if they agreed with the statement, “If the government told us to stop gathering in person for worship I would want my congregation to defy the order,” 34% of respondents who participated in the October survey agreed (with 16% strongly agreeing). By contrast, 21.8% of Americans surveyed in March said that they agreed (with 10.7% strongly agreeing) with their congregation defying in-person worship restrictions.
Meanwhile, the share of Americans who disagreed with churches’ defiance of worship restrictions dropped significantly from March to October. In October, 39.1% of Americans disagreed (with 25.8% strongly disagreeing) with the defiance compared to 55.6% (with 36.4% strongly disagreeing) in March.
In other words, far more Americans want their churches to defy lockdown orders than they did earlier in the year. And more than twice as many Americans than before now say they don’t want the government telling houses of worship to stop meeting in person.
We’re all sick of the restrictions, the masks, and the inability to travel and see our families and friends. It’s contrary to our nature as humans to stay away from the ones we love.
But as more people die — and they will continue to do so until vaccines are free and readily available — will we look back on our defiance of the safety measures and say that it was worth it? Was dining out worth killing grandma? Was going to church to worship — even though that can be done at home — worth putting choir members in the ICU? Will having house gatherings be worth suffering from lung problems that are potentially permanent? Will your wedding be worth all the collateral damage and death?
If your personal freedom is worth all those things, at least stop calling yourself “pro-life.” You never were.
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