The Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress has monitored the role of religion and faith communities during the coronavirus crisis. This includes conducting policy analysis of religious exemptions to public health orders and amplifying the positive role played by faith leaders in flattening the curve of the pandemic. Here are some of the Faith Initiative’s top coronavirus-related resources.
Religious exemptions and COVID-19
As states issued stay-at-home orders and bans on mass gatherings, almost half included specific exemptions for religious communities. The Trump administration made repeated gestures of support for these exemptions, despite the mounting evidence that continuing in-person gatherings of faith communities would place congregants at significant risk. CAP conducted analyses of these religious exemptions and what is behind this conservative campaign to misuse religious freedom.
- Religious Exemptions During the Coronavirus Pandemic Will Only Worsen the Crisis
This CAP column analyzes the use of religious exemptions and includes the only comprehensive list of the 20 state-based exemptions at the time of publication.
- The Plan for Reopening Houses of Worship After the Coronavirus Crisis
This CAP column provides a framework for reopening houses of worship and explains how the Trump administration misused “religious freedom” to reopen prematurely.
- Distorting religious freedom will put people in danger (CNN)
CAP’s Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons analyzes how conservative legal groups are distorting religious freedom during the coronavirus pandemic. CNN Español published this piece in Spanish: Distorsionar la libertad religiosa representa un gran peligro para EE.UU.
#StayHomeStayHoly Campaign
Despite religious exemptions to coronavirus-related orders, the vast majority of faith communities chose to follow clear public health guidance. As several major religious holidays approached, CAP launched the #StayHomeStayHoly social media campaign to encourage people of faith to commit to continuing to follow public health guidance while observing their holidays.
- The faithful response to coronavirus: protect one another (CNN)
This op-ed by CAP’s Maggie Siddiqi and Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons was one of the first pieces in national news arguing for religious communities to suspend in-person services. CNN Español published the piece in Spanish: La respuesta fiel al coronavirus: protegernos unos a otros.
- RELEASE: Clyburn, Faith Leaders Urge Americans To #StayHomeStayHoly During Upcoming Holidays
This CAP press release provides highlights of the press call CAP held with U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and faith leaders Sister Simone Campbell, Rabbi Sharon Brous, and Wajahat Ali.
- The #StayHomeStayHoly Pledge
CAP’s Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative launched this pledge along with its social media campaign to invite faith communities to engage in their regular worship in ways that are in accordance with public health guidance.
To find the latest CAP resources on the coronavirus, visit our coronavirus resource page.