R.R. Reno, the editor of First Things magazine, recently wrote a piece titled “Keep the Churches Open.” Here is the first sentence: “Cancelling church services is the wrong response to the coronavirus pandemic.” Read it here.
Historian and cultural critic Eric Miller recently e-mailed me with this response to Reno’s piece: “Which of your fellow parishioners, Mr. Reno, are you willing to expose to the virus? Could you tell us their names? Will you be sure to let their families know? “
Fans of the poet Wendell Berry will recognize Miller’s words:
By Wendell Berry
1. How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.
2. For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.
3. What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.
4. In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.
5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security,
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.
Eric also recently called my attention to John Ganz‘s recent piece at The New Republic:
Again and again conservative intellectuals have fastened themselves like barnacles onto demagogic movements such as the ones led by McCarthy and Trump; if they don’t they risk cutting themselves off from mass politics entirely. That specter always means doom for right-wing intellectuals, wince it effectively dispels what small amount of influence they can have, as well as their subscribers, viewers, and donors.
Law professor John Inazu, author of Confident Pluralism: Suriving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016), has also criticized Reno’s piece:
As we head toward the weekend and many religious observances, I want to flag my strong disagreement with @rr_reno‘s advice that “closing churches is utterly unnecessary.” https://t.co/WnLXqkhu2W
— John Inazu (@JohnInazu) March 20, 2020
Yes, keep buildings open for small staffs to run virtual services & to allow people to come for solitary prayer. And if your church only has ten members in a huge building, then maybe keep meeting. But most larger churches and houses of worship should cancel in-person services.
— John Inazu (@JohnInazu) March 20, 2020
Don’t close out of fear and anxiety. Close because you are a joyful and hopeful people who care about your neighbors and the good of society. Find creative ways to check in on each other and especially those who are relationally isolated.
— John Inazu (@JohnInazu) March 20, 2020
Also, for any state and local officials wondering whether you can include churches in otherwise comprehensive shutdown orders (exempting only essential services like hospitals and grocery stores), the answer is yes: https://t.co/sE3gLdyDOH
— John Inazu (@JohnInazu) March 20, 2020
Please stay home this Sunday. The churches are working overtime to help you stay connected to God and each other in these troubled times.
