This morning,
thousands of churches
in America
figured out ways
to hold their services
without putting their followers
in danger.
They might have broadcast the services
over the internet
or on TV,
arranging slots
with
local channels or,
in the case of megachurches,
national channels.
They might have,
as my Mom’s small church did,
called each follower.
(She told me
she loved that
MORE
than the regular services.
It was the highlight of her day.)
These churches did the hard work
of adapting
and they showed
they valued
their followers’ lives
and health.
A few churches,
however,
didn’t bother to adapt.
They insisted on
holding in-person services,
knowingly placing all their followers
in danger.
These followers trusted
their religious leaders.
They trusted them
to have their best interests
at heart.
They trusted their religious leaders
to keep them safe.
When these leaders
told them
in-person church services would continue,
they showed up.
But these religious leaders
abused that trust
because there was no way,
at this point
of the crisis,
they COULD keep
their followers safe.
The leaders knew this
and, in my opinion,
they are responsible
for any health issues or deaths
that will be associated
with their services.
We have people
who trust us also.
They could be children,
business partners, employees,
parents, neighbors.
They are trusting us
to keep them safe,
to put their lives
and their health first.
We should make the best decisions
we can
for them
using the best information
we currently have.
Our businesses can recover
or they can be restarted later.
That is more challenging
to do
with people’s lives.