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The coronavirus pandemic has raised a number of difficult questions concerning personal freedoms and public safety, with religion front and center. Should congregations continue to gather in person for worship and other social functions? Can the state restrict religious organizations from fully free functioning?
Although it is still three weeks until Mother’s Day, I am writing today about taking care of Mother Earth. This week marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, so it is a fitting time to think about taking care of our planet.
As churches across the country avoid in-person worship services, a historian and sociologist of religion in American life sees parallels to a previous pandemic. Historian John Schmalzbauer draws encouragement from the fact churches survived the 1918 influenza pandemic as the coronavirus outbreak continues.