The New Religion of Covid Compliance

It seems a new religion has emerged. First it was Climate Change and now it's Covid Compliance. People are using very religious language when it comes to this whole pandemic and our obligations to conform. It's actually really strange to be honest. To make things worse, the new Covid religion is being advocated to the injury to other religions. Let me explain how.

I see posts all over the place - Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, various websites, etc - demanding compliance to all the Covid protocols. These posts don't stop at simply asking people to keep distance from one another or to wear a mask. They get right into moralizing and self-praise.

People are getting very self-righteous. "I don't wear a mask to protect me, I wear one to protect you." Some twist the words of Jesus to love one's enemy by making a similar point in the context of the pandemic. "I may not like you, but I will wear a mask to protect you." Oh wow, truly we're living in the time of the Beatitudes!

Anyone not complying to the letter of the ever-changing laws of Covid is deemed to be selfish and immoral. On the other hand, those who comply praise themselves as being loving, caring, and overall great people.

Must be nice to think you are a morally virtuous person because you wear a piece of cotton over your face in public. Every year it seems there is a new morality among the non-religious. One year it's climate change with people proclaiming their moral superiority because they are decrying "others" who pollute. Another year people are patting themselves on the back for being "woke" when it comes to gender. Whatever the topic of the day happens to be, there is an army of people clamoring to show just how virtuous and righteous they are with regards to their ever-changing moral code.

These are all things we have come to expect. But one thing that is new is how these newfangled zealots are not satisfied with simply promoting their cause du jour. They must now intrude on what everyone else is doing and try to stop that as well. It's like they aren't satisfied to live and let live. Perhaps it's out of jealousy. I'm not sure.

So what exactly am I talking about? I'm referring to politicians and others mocking traditional Christianity and telling Christians to just stay home. Using an extremely condescending tone, they are suddenly theological experts who feel qualified to pronounce that you don't need to pray in a church, God is everywhere, you can just pray to him from your house! Yes, because these people know so much about God!

First of all, I feel compelled to respond to this line of reasoning. Should Christians be satisfied to simply "stay home" because God is everywhere and can hear your prayers? Let's break it down. Yes, God is absolutely everywhere. Yes, we can pray to God from anywhere. However, we must delve into the Catholic understanding of worship. The what and the Who.

The Catholic Faith isn't only about a one-to-one relationship with God, where we don't listen to anyone else and we are just free-floating autonomous agents in the world. Rather, we worship both individually and communally. In fact, community is a central part of our faith. In the creed, recited since the earliest days of our Faith, we declare that we believe in the communion of saints. The saints in heaven pray for us here on Earth. We also believe in a communion of believers. This is why we say someone is in communion with Rome. We, the members of the Church, are united to the visible head of Church on Earth who is the Roman Pontiff.

It goes even beyond this. Jesus Christ gave us his body, blood, soul, and divinity in the form of bread and wine so that we can partake of him weekly or even daily. Jesus Christ literally dwells within those who partake of this great gift and sacrament.

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” – John 6:56

Some people are unable or unwilling to attend Mass in person. For many, this is a painful reality. In many places, people are dispensed from their Sunday obligation. I can definitely understand where these people are coming from. There is nothing shameful or wrong about being unable to attend Mass.

However, it is not up to random politicians to decide how important the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is to Catholics. It just really annoys me when some guy or girl, who may or may not even be the slightest bit religious, decides they know what's best in terms our relationship with God Almighty. That is not up to them! How dare someone project their personal beliefs on me when it comes to God. No one gets to say how important in-person worship is to me. That's not for them to decide.

This attitude just represents such unbelievable levels of arrogance. Not only arrogant in that they think they know what's best for everyone else, but also arrogant in they assume the role of speaking for God. I wouldn't even mind as much if they approached the subject with humility but they don't. They approach it with condescension, and even mockery. But God will not be mocked.

It was always my understanding that religion enjoyed a special privilege in society, especially in Canada and the US. It is an inalienable right. And yet, when the slightest thing happens, the slightest infectious disease spreads, all of a sudden our most basic fundamental human rights are thrown out the window for our "safety". We need to really stand up against these tyrants, big and small, if we hope to maintain any shred of independence and religious freedom.

In the early days of the Church, Christians were asked to just make a small "reasonable" offering to a false Roman deity and be on their way. They refused because they did not want to break the first commandment of not having strange Gods before the one true God. Because of this, many of them were martyred. They had such great faith and many are revered to this day. Are we willing to stand up against the tyranny of little dictators in our government?

P.S. I just want to say this is a difficult subject. I'm not setting myself up as an example of someone who always opposes the government. I wear my mask in public places. I am simply saying we need to stand up for our rights and it's not up to politicians to decide for us how important our churches and sacraments are in our spiritual lives.