When religion crosses the path of health

As of April 21, the global coronavirus pandemic has taken the lives of more than 170,000 people worldwide. The health measures of social distancing and strict confinement carried out by governments around the world have led to the paralysis of the world economy, a dramatic increase in unemployment and the ruin of several sectors, such as tourism or catering. The coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, have made the headlines around the world. The effects of this pandemic have been so far-reaching that when we refer to the year 2020 in the future, it will be inevitable to remember it as the year of the coronavirus, just as the collective imagination remembers 1989 as the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall or 2001 as the year of 9/11.

However, there are large sectors of the world's population that still ignore the warnings of experts, doctors and governments around the planet regarding the lethal virus. These are certain religious groups who, encouraged by irresponsible spiritual leaders more focused on maintaining traditions than on protecting members of their community, ignored the health restrictions imposed by their own governments.

In Israel, for example, the rate of infection within the city of Bnei Brak, where 95 per cent of the population is ultra-orthodox, is much higher than the national average. The same is true of the Mea Shearim neighbourhood in central Jerusalem, which is also inhabited by ultra-Orthodox Jews. At the beginning of April, a third of those infected in Israel were inhabitants of Bnei Brak or Jerusalem, and other cities with a large ultra-Orthodox presence also have very high rates of infection according to the Israeli Ministry of Health. But the very high levels of infection in these communities are not only explained by the lack of caution of their religious leaders, but also by the inaction of the Israeli government. 

Paradoxically, Israel was one of the countries that acted most quickly and decisively to contain the pandemic, restricting air traffic on March 4, when there were only 15 confirmed cases in the country. However, the Netanyahu Executive did not dare to limit religious activity such as prayer in synagogues or mass celebrations until it was too late. The secular schools closed on 13 March, but the yeshivas (centres for the study of the religious texts of Judaism) remained open until mid-April, and some are still open with restrictions. Rabbi Haim Kanievsky, one of the most influential in the country, went so far as to declare that it was more dangerous to stop studying the Torah than to risk contracting the virus. Although experts warned that synagogues could become the main place of transmission of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Health, headed by the ultra-orthodox Yaakov Litzman, decided that religious activity should continue with fewer restrictions than those imposed on the secular population.

Many rabbis and the government itself have finally rectified themselves in recent weeks, but their tardiness and reluctance to intervene in religious affairs may have condemned many in the ultra-Orthodox communities.

In the Muslim world too, the authorities have been hesitant to act against the transmission of the coronavirus. Iran, one of the earliest affected countries, detected its first cases in the holy city of Qom, where the first two victims also died from the disease. Qom, which because of its religious importance receives faithful from all over the country, has indeed been the epicenter of the pandemic in Iran. The government of the Ayatollahs did not consider it appropriate to carry out the measures of social distancing that the situation demanded. On March 29, a hundred Iranian scholars singled out Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, as the “number one culprit”. COVID-19 has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the country according to disputed official data.

There is concern about the impending celebration of Ramadan, a period when traditionally crowds of parishioners gather for communal prayers. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates it was recently announced that prayers during Ramadan would have to be held from home, a decision supported by the Muftis themselves. The following weeks will tell whether the social distancing measures are obeyed, although the support of religious leaders for such measures is a good sign.

In Western countries too, religious beliefs have stood in the way of fact and science. Much has been written about the Shincheonji sect in South Korea. In March, this South Korean sect became the epicenter of the epidemic in the country, which has fortunately flattened the infection curve more successfully than most states. By early March, an estimated 60 percent of those infected in South Korea were members of this cult, whose leader Lee Man-hee urged his followers to continue to meet despite the epidemic.

In the United States, the country most affected by COVID-19, several evangelical pastors declared in March and April, as coronavirus infections and deaths increased sharply in the United States, that faith in God would be enough to save believers. Some pastors, with obvious influence over their community of believers, continued to hold masses in defiance of state and federal restrictions. Quite a few influential evangelical pastors described the pandemic as a "sham," including Roy Moore, a former Republican Party candidate for governor of Alabama and a former Supreme Court justice in that state. Moore also encouraged people to attend religious events in March and April, ignoring health warnings.

Needless to say, such a stance denotes a total lack of accountability and solidarity with those who are, after all, members of their religious communities. The inability and unwillingness of many religious leaders to deal with the coronavirus in accordance with the advice of governments and experts has led to the spread of the virus to thousands of people of all faiths and sects in all corners of the globe. Many communities place their trust in these religious leaders, even above their political representatives or government institutions. In return, many of these religious leaders have responded irresponsibly and ignorantly, clutching at straws to their own traditions to the detriment of the safety, health and even lives of their followers.