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It's been an extremely long while since I'd last written something here. When "life" takes over, it often throws one off their (desired) course. Of course, I concede that much has to be attributed to laziness and not external factors. I'd like to attempt making writing a habit. Certain research found that forming a habit takes 180 days of consistency. So in due time, we shall see if this attempt takes root and lingers.
The main point of this post is one that has bugged many in my contact list. Or rather, one that I had continuously bugged people with. It's tempting to dissociate negative behaviours from oneself and shift the burden onto made-up factors, as we shall see.
What Am I Fighting?
If only Christopher Hitchens were around to see the current state of life, he would've caught on very much sooner than I did. If only Richard Dawkins would contribute his two cents (if not more).
While I hadn't deliberately sought out trouble with this invisible enemy, it kept coming at me and would not go away. Almost everyday, in different countries battling COVID-19, healthcare systems are taxed to their limits, healthcare workers are putting their lives on the line, decision-makers are cracking their heads to contain this pesky infection. Societies have come to a standstill in many parts of the world, of which consequences will definitely and eventually persist long beyond the epidemic.
It started in early-Feb 2020, when I alerted an elderly relative (an octogenarian) to avoid attending church. It started as a neutral, mild-mannered appeal. "__, why not avoid going to the church during this period?" It was a concern stemming from certain studies which found that the virus can remain on surfaces for extended periods of time, that hand sanitisers are not fool-proof, that public washrooms are a good virus breeding ground, that church is inherently a public space and most importantly, that said relative belongs to an at-risk group (health- and age-wise).
The reply from said relative? Don't worry, God will bless us all.
Only several days later (mid-February), true enough, the first few locally-transmitted (Singapore) cases had been detected among churchgoers. The subsequent days and weeks saw more church clusters forming the bulk of COVID-19 cases.
"Social distancing", at that point, was encouraged but not banned. While school assemblies and other secular gatherings came to a halt, the authorities had carefully chosen to sidestep religious gatherings for reasons known, but not pointedly stated. Of course, much has to be said of living in a "multi-racial", "multi-religious" society. Such topics are like a glass vial of mercury, to be handled with utmost care and sensitivity, and often disproportionately so when weighed against tangible risks.
Building A Case
4 February 2020: Coronavirus: Assemblies, large group activities in Singapore schools to be suspended. This seemed to have been a much easier and decisive move, even though young children and youths are known to be less susceptible to the Coronavirus compared to many of the older parishioners/worshippers attending masses/prayers at religious establishments/events.
Yet, religions, as many like Dawkins have observed, often expect to be treated with extreme delicacy and exclusivity. Think snowflakes. The slightest mishandling would result in public retort (even violence) and invoking of constitutional protection in the name of democracy. Hence the loss of precious time to distance the most vulnerable group—the seniors, from exposure to the virus.
Some time elapsed. Several positive cases were detected in the community, including those from churches, but not exclusively so. The rest were work-related and also those involving direct contact with tourists from other affected countries like China.
14 February 2020: Coronavirus: Singapore reports 8 more cases - all with links to known clusters. 5 of these 8 cases were linked to a church. That isn't all to this article. One of these 5 cases was a family member of a bank staff whose office of 300 employees had been evacuated, because he was found to have been infected on 12 February 2020. It was on Valentine's day that church services would finally commence suspension until further notice.
16 February 2020: Singapore confirms 5 new cases, all with known links. Of these 5, 3 were from a church.
17 February 2020: Regionally, 'It is our nation's right to rely on the Almighty': Minister justifies calling for prayers in coronavirus battle. Weeks later, the same minister (along with the backing of the country's vice president who doubles as a religious cleric), as Indonesia's COVID-19 situation grew more dire, attributed the lack of cases before March 2 to the country's prayers and consequent divine intervention. One would wonder why Indonesia eventually fell out of divine favour and incurred the petty wrath of the said supreme order.
It is both absurdly easy and hellishly dangerous to blame human failings on the mythical, thereby allowing those in power to shirk their due responsibilities despite the extent to which they are benefiting from public resources—both in the public and private sphere. And, religion appears to be an inordinately well-paved outlet for such gross abuse of authority and shameless justification.
19 February 2020: Four more infected, with 3 linked to church cluster. The headline gives the gist of it.
20 February 2020: Moving beyond the local scene, Coronavirus fears create ghost town in South Korea after church 'super-spreader', in Daegu. A week later, a sound analysis was published here which explains the spread of the sect (and consequently the Coronavirus).
25 February 2020: Grace Assembly coronavirus mystery solved: Antibody tests linked mega cluster to 2 Wuhan tourists via Chinese New Year party and Life Church cluster.
12 March 2020: The Singapore Ministry of Health attempted to identify 95 Singaporeans who attended the religious gathering in Malaysia, after confirmed COVID-19 cases. The religious gathering was held between February 27 and March 1, and the first Malaysian infected victim died on March 17. 16,000 people had attended, of which 1,500 were foreigners who were subsequently allowed to scatter back to their respective countries untracked, untested.
14 March 2020: On this day, back in Singapore, the Catholic authorities decided to extend suspension of church services in light of the rising number of cases among church clusters.
17 March 2020: A detailed look here: How mass pilgrimage at Malaysia mosque became COVID-19 hotspot. This would be the hallmark event that threw Malaysia into an immediate lockdown, disrupting countless lives as the number of infected (and deaths) resulting from direct and indirect exposure to the virus swelled.
On the other end of the spectrum, a religious teacher cited that reluctance of certain attendees to come forward and be tested for Coronavirus stems from their preference for divine protection.
18 March 2020: Unsurprisingly, Vietnam reports new case of COVID-19 linked to Malaysia mosque event.
19 March 2020: 1,500 Indonesian Catholics go ahead with mass despite pleas to cancel. On the same continent, Coronavirus: Bangladesh mass prayer event prompts alarm, where 25,000 people gathered to form a splendid, colourful spectacle in different versions of the iconic cover photo marking this ocassion on numerous international news channels.
21 March 2020: One of the first two patients to have died of COVID-19 in Singapore belonged to one of the church clusters mentioned earlier.
22 March 2020: 4,000 religious event attendees in KL still untested for Covid-19: M'sian authorities implore them to 'come forward'. Whether or not the secular authorities were successful, depended on the attendees' individual tastes: Should the trust in divinity give in to the allure of carnal woes? Perhaps a theologian should be entreated to resolve this conundrum.
31 March 2020: Florida megachurch pastor arrested for breaching Covid-19 health order. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne cited "discrimination against religion" and claimed "Suddenly we are demonised because we believe God heals, that the Lord sets people free, and they make us out to be some sort of kooks." While he might have been charged for his crime against humanity, it is unlikely that a character as such would be remorseful for his acts. Rather, he would likely be feeling that an injustice had been dealt against his perceived righteousness.
31 March 2020: Coronavirus: Search for hundreds of people after Delhi prayer meeting. On a larger scale on a separate continent, a religion puts further strain on national resources through social irresponsibility.
Social distancing aside, on 2 April 2020, Malaysia reported a quirky piece of news titled at length: Now in the name of Islam, COVID-19 can be caught and put in a bottle (like a jinn!), when a congregation led by a religious practitioner performs a ritual that apparently "catches" the Coronavirus from potential patients and "confines" it into a bottle.
5 April 2020: COVID-19: 20,000 quarantined in Pakistan after gathering organised by the Tablighi Jamaat between March 10 and 12. With an escalating number of infections and deaths at that point, more than 100,000 turned up for the meet despite the government's call to cancel it.
6 April 2020: Malaysia identifies 2 new COVID-19 clusters resulting from mass gathering events, where one of the two has to be of religious nature. On the same day, on the opposite pole of the globe, Louisiana church holds service, defying coronavirus stay-at-home order.On a separate note, US was simultaneously preparing itself for a gruelling week ahead battling the virus on the frontline.
12 April 2020: COVID-19: Good Friday prayer gets out of hand in locked down Italy took place in San Marco, Lamis, amidst one of the highest national death tolls in the world.
14 April 2020: Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says. It has been reported that during a sermon on 22 March, the pastor said "I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus."
16 April 2020: India charges Muslim leader with culpable homicide for coronavirus surge. While the charge had been brought forth only at this time, the social distancing breach happened in mid-March.
18 April 2020: Christian pastor who defied Myanmar law positive for Coronavirus. On the same day, in another part of the developing world, tens of thousands defy Bangladesh lockdown for imam's funeral. Note that the latter was published in a predominantly "neutral" news agency, for I have received certain replies regarding Al Jazeera's alleged slant in their reporting (although I highly believe otherwise).
23 April 2020: Pakistan's decision to allow mass prayers during Ramadan raises COVID-19 fears. While it is easy to condemn Pakistani authorities for making supposed "poor" decisions, it is crucial to take into consideration the potential backlash that might face law enforcement personnel and socio-political stability at large if the majority religious population (certainly a force to be reckoned with) not be pacified.
30 April 2020: COVID-19: Mass prayers still held in parts of Indonesia despite guidance issued by central government. Despite the apparent incapacity of the country to deal with an epidemic (e.g. the low testing rates and consequently unreported deaths), the religious seems to be undeterred in their routine religious endeavours. In the process, also putting other parties who are not involved in these affairs (e.g. those providing essential services like supermarkets, healthcare etc.), with whom they are likely to inadvertantly come into contact, at risk. The inconsideration of such cases is at best appalling and grotesque.
Fundamentally Wrong
"When people are gathered together in one place of one accord, worshipping together, the atmosphere, God's presence in that room is different and more powerful than people tend to experience online," says Pastor James Buntrock, associate pastor of the Glorious Way Church, Houston, Texas, in justifying (as ridiculous as it sounds) why churches should remain open and worshippers encouraged to attend masses against the backdrop of a pandemic.
Granted that parishioners who indeed complied with the above were to be spaced six feet apart, reality is proving that only actual distancing measures in a more narrow sense of the word can ensure that citizens (especially vulnerable segments of the society) do not eventually end up six feet under.
Many religious leaders who propound continuance of religious gatherings would echo the claim made by Pastor Buntrock, that: the digital being a lesser form of worship as compared to praying in person. A similar rhetoric can also be observed: That people should be allowed religious freedom and hence should be permitted to carry out their religious duties to the utmost of their abilities.
Besides the unwillingness to cooperate with authorities to avoid gathering (as illustrated), in a significant number of cases, religious worshippers refused to be tested despite overwhelming evidence of possible contact with positive cases and/or showing symptoms of the infection. This is not exclusive to followers of "unorthodox" sects like those of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea, but also those of major organised religions such as those listed above, citing divine protection and immunity.
One must understand that exposure to the virus as a result of religion-related negligence is completely avoidable.
Tracking the news over the course of three months, certain religions seem to resurface time and again. However, the point here does not run as deep as to single out particular religion(s), as I do not have sufficient statistical data to prove anything other than reading pockets of news arbitrarily from around the world. Yet, an undeniable common denominator sticks out like a sore thumb: Religion.
It seems extremely easy for followers of (certain) religions to fall prey to herd mentality within their individual communities, hence overwriting civic responsibilities with religious beliefs, or what has been propagated by their respective religious leaders.
While it is simple to point the finger at misguidance and/or poor leadership of these individual leaders, it is however also essential to highlight a common characteristic of religions in incapacitating followers to think in a more worldly (and less other-worldly) sense, and independently. After all, we need two hands to clap. Followers are not hauled to religious gatherings under restraint.
I shall not delve into the history of major religions—histories that are often fraud with mind control amidst power struggle. It is not uncommon, hence, to witness stark imbalances within the power dynamics between leaders (as "messengers" of supreme beings) and followers of organised religions. Yet, in this piece today, the urgency lies in a modern history built on this extremely flawed and outdated foundation of religions.
The detrimental effects of religions, in the era of COVID-19, can be felt on a very substantial (more concrete than any professed gods) level. When principle concerns are to compound merits for the afterlife and/or to venerate sublime entities (neither visible nor verifiable), terrestrial diseases and suffering naturally get relegated to the posterior. On this note, it is somewhat safe to say that religion has become a threat, and a contrary to progress (and virus containment).
It's Not Only A Wrong Message
Of course, any well-informed person can throw back at me instances of sensible decisions carried out by religious authorities around the world—those that advocate a general message on the "sanctity of human life". A very heartening example would be something like this, at least at the start.
However, what makes Mustafa Akyol's article interesting is that it precisely highlights the point of my wanting to write this article. Yes—some religious authorities have heeded health advisory to encourage prayers/worship from home. Yes—other defiant ones should practice reason instead of blind faith, emulating their more sensible counterparts as much as possible.
Then it comes to the point where I would like to divert from Akyol's perspective. No—One does not need to ask Prophet Muhammad if he should tie his camel or not. Instead, one should have been posed the question in return: Does it appeal more to common sense to tie her, or to not tie her? In other words, there is no room for religion to come into the picture as it only serves to cloud the view of believers (while they exist).
Common sense, I believe, is intrinsic in majority (if not all) of humanity capable of tying their shoelaces or buying a bag of nachos at the corner store. 'Common sense' is termed this way for a reason.
In a health emergency, health authorities should be the rightful ones to release information and advice, not religious leaders.
Condoning supposed "slippages" in religion, "It is the kind of blind faith that prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris have long been criticizing," says Akyol. No—Richard Dawkins' views on religion did not end at "blind faith". In fact, the following should give a rough idea of Dawkins' take on "moderate" forms of religion and their proclaimed compatibility (and/or mutual exclusivity) with science/reason:
This was taken from Dawkins' The God Delusion, from a sub-chapter titled 'NOMA' (non-overlapping magisteria), which I found to be exceptionally relevant in substantiating the point of the current writing.
Clearly, if as Akyol claims, there exists such a vast threshold for "subjective interpretation of faith", is religion then not an awfully precarious ground to be on?
Conclusion
On a closing note, I would like to pinpoint (without euphemising) religion's capacity to maim a person's ability to reason. Instructions coming from beyond the religious circle are often perceived as threats to a believer's reality and hence, are deliberately blocked out or defiantly flouted. In the devastating climate of COVID-19, religion is no longer relevant and cannot be consulted to thwart secular efforts in regaining normality.
In any case, religion has proven itself in the COVID-19 example (and numerous others which will not be addressed here) to provide an excessively generous leeway to be out of touch with reality, making it easily susceptible to manipulation and the whims of unscrupulous/deranged individuals. Besides, the very essence of organised religions is designed for such exploits.
Yet, it is also in times of human vulnerability and constant reinforcement of mortality, that a vacuum is created—a gaping loophole for organised religions (and newfound sects initiated by opportunistic, charismatic individuals with a hunger for power) to seize upon, to act as a bulwark for their troubled herd. Often, this is done with the freewill of countless (otherwise thinking) individuals as a trade-off.
Note: Sources have been diversified to minimise bias.
Note 2: The following is reality.
The main point of this post is one that has bugged many in my contact list. Or rather, one that I had continuously bugged people with. It's tempting to dissociate negative behaviours from oneself and shift the burden onto made-up factors, as we shall see.
What Am I Fighting?
If only Christopher Hitchens were around to see the current state of life, he would've caught on very much sooner than I did. If only Richard Dawkins would contribute his two cents (if not more).
While I hadn't deliberately sought out trouble with this invisible enemy, it kept coming at me and would not go away. Almost everyday, in different countries battling COVID-19, healthcare systems are taxed to their limits, healthcare workers are putting their lives on the line, decision-makers are cracking their heads to contain this pesky infection. Societies have come to a standstill in many parts of the world, of which consequences will definitely and eventually persist long beyond the epidemic.
It started in early-Feb 2020, when I alerted an elderly relative (an octogenarian) to avoid attending church. It started as a neutral, mild-mannered appeal. "__, why not avoid going to the church during this period?" It was a concern stemming from certain studies which found that the virus can remain on surfaces for extended periods of time, that hand sanitisers are not fool-proof, that public washrooms are a good virus breeding ground, that church is inherently a public space and most importantly, that said relative belongs to an at-risk group (health- and age-wise).
The reply from said relative? Don't worry, God will bless us all.
Only several days later (mid-February), true enough, the first few locally-transmitted (Singapore) cases had been detected among churchgoers. The subsequent days and weeks saw more church clusters forming the bulk of COVID-19 cases.
"Social distancing", at that point, was encouraged but not banned. While school assemblies and other secular gatherings came to a halt, the authorities had carefully chosen to sidestep religious gatherings for reasons known, but not pointedly stated. Of course, much has to be said of living in a "multi-racial", "multi-religious" society. Such topics are like a glass vial of mercury, to be handled with utmost care and sensitivity, and often disproportionately so when weighed against tangible risks.
Building A Case
4 February 2020: Coronavirus: Assemblies, large group activities in Singapore schools to be suspended. This seemed to have been a much easier and decisive move, even though young children and youths are known to be less susceptible to the Coronavirus compared to many of the older parishioners/worshippers attending masses/prayers at religious establishments/events.
Yet, religions, as many like Dawkins have observed, often expect to be treated with extreme delicacy and exclusivity. Think snowflakes. The slightest mishandling would result in public retort (even violence) and invoking of constitutional protection in the name of democracy. Hence the loss of precious time to distance the most vulnerable group—the seniors, from exposure to the virus.
Some time elapsed. Several positive cases were detected in the community, including those from churches, but not exclusively so. The rest were work-related and also those involving direct contact with tourists from other affected countries like China.
14 February 2020: Coronavirus: Singapore reports 8 more cases - all with links to known clusters. 5 of these 8 cases were linked to a church. That isn't all to this article. One of these 5 cases was a family member of a bank staff whose office of 300 employees had been evacuated, because he was found to have been infected on 12 February 2020. It was on Valentine's day that church services would finally commence suspension until further notice.
16 February 2020: Singapore confirms 5 new cases, all with known links. Of these 5, 3 were from a church.
17 February 2020: Regionally, 'It is our nation's right to rely on the Almighty': Minister justifies calling for prayers in coronavirus battle. Weeks later, the same minister (along with the backing of the country's vice president who doubles as a religious cleric), as Indonesia's COVID-19 situation grew more dire, attributed the lack of cases before March 2 to the country's prayers and consequent divine intervention. One would wonder why Indonesia eventually fell out of divine favour and incurred the petty wrath of the said supreme order.
It is both absurdly easy and hellishly dangerous to blame human failings on the mythical, thereby allowing those in power to shirk their due responsibilities despite the extent to which they are benefiting from public resources—both in the public and private sphere. And, religion appears to be an inordinately well-paved outlet for such gross abuse of authority and shameless justification.
19 February 2020: Four more infected, with 3 linked to church cluster. The headline gives the gist of it.
20 February 2020: Moving beyond the local scene, Coronavirus fears create ghost town in South Korea after church 'super-spreader', in Daegu. A week later, a sound analysis was published here which explains the spread of the sect (and consequently the Coronavirus).
25 February 2020: Grace Assembly coronavirus mystery solved: Antibody tests linked mega cluster to 2 Wuhan tourists via Chinese New Year party and Life Church cluster.
12 March 2020: The Singapore Ministry of Health attempted to identify 95 Singaporeans who attended the religious gathering in Malaysia, after confirmed COVID-19 cases. The religious gathering was held between February 27 and March 1, and the first Malaysian infected victim died on March 17. 16,000 people had attended, of which 1,500 were foreigners who were subsequently allowed to scatter back to their respective countries untracked, untested.
14 March 2020: On this day, back in Singapore, the Catholic authorities decided to extend suspension of church services in light of the rising number of cases among church clusters.
17 March 2020: A detailed look here: How mass pilgrimage at Malaysia mosque became COVID-19 hotspot. This would be the hallmark event that threw Malaysia into an immediate lockdown, disrupting countless lives as the number of infected (and deaths) resulting from direct and indirect exposure to the virus swelled.
On the other end of the spectrum, a religious teacher cited that reluctance of certain attendees to come forward and be tested for Coronavirus stems from their preference for divine protection.
18 March 2020: Unsurprisingly, Vietnam reports new case of COVID-19 linked to Malaysia mosque event.
19 March 2020: 1,500 Indonesian Catholics go ahead with mass despite pleas to cancel. On the same continent, Coronavirus: Bangladesh mass prayer event prompts alarm, where 25,000 people gathered to form a splendid, colourful spectacle in different versions of the iconic cover photo marking this ocassion on numerous international news channels.
21 March 2020: One of the first two patients to have died of COVID-19 in Singapore belonged to one of the church clusters mentioned earlier.
22 March 2020: 4,000 religious event attendees in KL still untested for Covid-19: M'sian authorities implore them to 'come forward'. Whether or not the secular authorities were successful, depended on the attendees' individual tastes: Should the trust in divinity give in to the allure of carnal woes? Perhaps a theologian should be entreated to resolve this conundrum.
31 March 2020: Florida megachurch pastor arrested for breaching Covid-19 health order. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne cited "discrimination against religion" and claimed "Suddenly we are demonised because we believe God heals, that the Lord sets people free, and they make us out to be some sort of kooks." While he might have been charged for his crime against humanity, it is unlikely that a character as such would be remorseful for his acts. Rather, he would likely be feeling that an injustice had been dealt against his perceived righteousness.
31 March 2020: Coronavirus: Search for hundreds of people after Delhi prayer meeting. On a larger scale on a separate continent, a religion puts further strain on national resources through social irresponsibility.
Social distancing aside, on 2 April 2020, Malaysia reported a quirky piece of news titled at length: Now in the name of Islam, COVID-19 can be caught and put in a bottle (like a jinn!), when a congregation led by a religious practitioner performs a ritual that apparently "catches" the Coronavirus from potential patients and "confines" it into a bottle.
5 April 2020: COVID-19: 20,000 quarantined in Pakistan after gathering organised by the Tablighi Jamaat between March 10 and 12. With an escalating number of infections and deaths at that point, more than 100,000 turned up for the meet despite the government's call to cancel it.
6 April 2020: Malaysia identifies 2 new COVID-19 clusters resulting from mass gathering events, where one of the two has to be of religious nature. On the same day, on the opposite pole of the globe, Louisiana church holds service, defying coronavirus stay-at-home order.On a separate note, US was simultaneously preparing itself for a gruelling week ahead battling the virus on the frontline.
12 April 2020: COVID-19: Good Friday prayer gets out of hand in locked down Italy took place in San Marco, Lamis, amidst one of the highest national death tolls in the world.
14 April 2020: Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says. It has been reported that during a sermon on 22 March, the pastor said "I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus."
16 April 2020: India charges Muslim leader with culpable homicide for coronavirus surge. While the charge had been brought forth only at this time, the social distancing breach happened in mid-March.
18 April 2020: Christian pastor who defied Myanmar law positive for Coronavirus. On the same day, in another part of the developing world, tens of thousands defy Bangladesh lockdown for imam's funeral. Note that the latter was published in a predominantly "neutral" news agency, for I have received certain replies regarding Al Jazeera's alleged slant in their reporting (although I highly believe otherwise).
23 April 2020: Pakistan's decision to allow mass prayers during Ramadan raises COVID-19 fears. While it is easy to condemn Pakistani authorities for making supposed "poor" decisions, it is crucial to take into consideration the potential backlash that might face law enforcement personnel and socio-political stability at large if the majority religious population (certainly a force to be reckoned with) not be pacified.
30 April 2020: COVID-19: Mass prayers still held in parts of Indonesia despite guidance issued by central government. Despite the apparent incapacity of the country to deal with an epidemic (e.g. the low testing rates and consequently unreported deaths), the religious seems to be undeterred in their routine religious endeavours. In the process, also putting other parties who are not involved in these affairs (e.g. those providing essential services like supermarkets, healthcare etc.), with whom they are likely to inadvertantly come into contact, at risk. The inconsideration of such cases is at best appalling and grotesque.
Fundamentally Wrong
"When people are gathered together in one place of one accord, worshipping together, the atmosphere, God's presence in that room is different and more powerful than people tend to experience online," says Pastor James Buntrock, associate pastor of the Glorious Way Church, Houston, Texas, in justifying (as ridiculous as it sounds) why churches should remain open and worshippers encouraged to attend masses against the backdrop of a pandemic.
Granted that parishioners who indeed complied with the above were to be spaced six feet apart, reality is proving that only actual distancing measures in a more narrow sense of the word can ensure that citizens (especially vulnerable segments of the society) do not eventually end up six feet under.
Many religious leaders who propound continuance of religious gatherings would echo the claim made by Pastor Buntrock, that: the digital being a lesser form of worship as compared to praying in person. A similar rhetoric can also be observed: That people should be allowed religious freedom and hence should be permitted to carry out their religious duties to the utmost of their abilities.
Besides the unwillingness to cooperate with authorities to avoid gathering (as illustrated), in a significant number of cases, religious worshippers refused to be tested despite overwhelming evidence of possible contact with positive cases and/or showing symptoms of the infection. This is not exclusive to followers of "unorthodox" sects like those of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea, but also those of major organised religions such as those listed above, citing divine protection and immunity.
One must understand that exposure to the virus as a result of religion-related negligence is completely avoidable.
Tracking the news over the course of three months, certain religions seem to resurface time and again. However, the point here does not run as deep as to single out particular religion(s), as I do not have sufficient statistical data to prove anything other than reading pockets of news arbitrarily from around the world. Yet, an undeniable common denominator sticks out like a sore thumb: Religion.
It seems extremely easy for followers of (certain) religions to fall prey to herd mentality within their individual communities, hence overwriting civic responsibilities with religious beliefs, or what has been propagated by their respective religious leaders.
While it is simple to point the finger at misguidance and/or poor leadership of these individual leaders, it is however also essential to highlight a common characteristic of religions in incapacitating followers to think in a more worldly (and less other-worldly) sense, and independently. After all, we need two hands to clap. Followers are not hauled to religious gatherings under restraint.
I shall not delve into the history of major religions—histories that are often fraud with mind control amidst power struggle. It is not uncommon, hence, to witness stark imbalances within the power dynamics between leaders (as "messengers" of supreme beings) and followers of organised religions. Yet, in this piece today, the urgency lies in a modern history built on this extremely flawed and outdated foundation of religions.
The detrimental effects of religions, in the era of COVID-19, can be felt on a very substantial (more concrete than any professed gods) level. When principle concerns are to compound merits for the afterlife and/or to venerate sublime entities (neither visible nor verifiable), terrestrial diseases and suffering naturally get relegated to the posterior. On this note, it is somewhat safe to say that religion has become a threat, and a contrary to progress (and virus containment).
It's Not Only A Wrong Message
Of course, any well-informed person can throw back at me instances of sensible decisions carried out by religious authorities around the world—those that advocate a general message on the "sanctity of human life". A very heartening example would be something like this, at least at the start.
However, what makes Mustafa Akyol's article interesting is that it precisely highlights the point of my wanting to write this article. Yes—some religious authorities have heeded health advisory to encourage prayers/worship from home. Yes—other defiant ones should practice reason instead of blind faith, emulating their more sensible counterparts as much as possible.
Then it comes to the point where I would like to divert from Akyol's perspective. No—One does not need to ask Prophet Muhammad if he should tie his camel or not. Instead, one should have been posed the question in return: Does it appeal more to common sense to tie her, or to not tie her? In other words, there is no room for religion to come into the picture as it only serves to cloud the view of believers (while they exist).
Common sense, I believe, is intrinsic in majority (if not all) of humanity capable of tying their shoelaces or buying a bag of nachos at the corner store. 'Common sense' is termed this way for a reason.
In a health emergency, health authorities should be the rightful ones to release information and advice, not religious leaders.
Condoning supposed "slippages" in religion, "It is the kind of blind faith that prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris have long been criticizing," says Akyol. No—Richard Dawkins' views on religion did not end at "blind faith". In fact, the following should give a rough idea of Dawkins' take on "moderate" forms of religion and their proclaimed compatibility (and/or mutual exclusivity) with science/reason:
"But does Gould [Stephen Jay Gould] really want to cede to religion the right to tell us what is good and what is bad? The fact that it has nothing else to contribute to human wisdom is no reason to hand religion a free licence to tell us what to do. Which religion, anyway? The one in which we happen to have been brought up? [...] And if we have independent criteria for choosing among religious moralities, why not cut out the middle man and go straight for the moral choice without the religion?"
This was taken from Dawkins' The God Delusion, from a sub-chapter titled 'NOMA' (non-overlapping magisteria), which I found to be exceptionally relevant in substantiating the point of the current writing.
Clearly, if as Akyol claims, there exists such a vast threshold for "subjective interpretation of faith", is religion then not an awfully precarious ground to be on?
Conclusion
On a closing note, I would like to pinpoint (without euphemising) religion's capacity to maim a person's ability to reason. Instructions coming from beyond the religious circle are often perceived as threats to a believer's reality and hence, are deliberately blocked out or defiantly flouted. In the devastating climate of COVID-19, religion is no longer relevant and cannot be consulted to thwart secular efforts in regaining normality.
In any case, religion has proven itself in the COVID-19 example (and numerous others which will not be addressed here) to provide an excessively generous leeway to be out of touch with reality, making it easily susceptible to manipulation and the whims of unscrupulous/deranged individuals. Besides, the very essence of organised religions is designed for such exploits.
Yet, it is also in times of human vulnerability and constant reinforcement of mortality, that a vacuum is created—a gaping loophole for organised religions (and newfound sects initiated by opportunistic, charismatic individuals with a hunger for power) to seize upon, to act as a bulwark for their troubled herd. Often, this is done with the freewill of countless (otherwise thinking) individuals as a trade-off.
Note: Sources have been diversified to minimise bias.
Note 2: The following is reality.
