Christianity and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic interrupted my most reliable rhythms: teaching college classes during the week and attending church on Sunday. While few American Christians competed with medical scientists in explaining the nature of COVID-19, their religious convictions still provided a compass as they navigated the global health crisis. Religious leaders who supported these decisions tended to frame church closures and obedience to other social distancing measures around the Christian obligations to love your neighbour and to care for the vulnerable. While most Americans supported church closures, a vocal minority invoked their religious liberty in defiance of such strictures. The newfound dominance of bacteriology was on full display during this crisis, as researchers hunted in laboratories for the offending microbe, and as many Christians willingly obeyed public health mandates. Religious leaders who supported these decisions tended to frame church closures and obedience to other social distancing measures around the Christian obligations to love your neighbour and to care for the vulnerable. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Dorothea Lüddeckens, Philipp Hetmanczyk, Pamela E. Klassen, and Justin B. Stein;individual chapters, the contributors.