Dear Editor, During this ongoing epidemic the churches are performing somewhere between unevenly and quite badly. Some of the earliest and worst spreader events were at regular or annual-type meetings held almost to spite authorities. Then, when stricter policies were enacted, churches cried First Amendment foul and even sued to be relieved of the large gathering guidelines they were subject to. They wanted to be treated like the God-favorite citizens it has always been clear to them they are. This is a strange record for a western religious tradition linked heavily to high achievement in medicine, underscored by the personal public health leadership of figures like Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Churches today refuse to let go of theology even for a minute in order to survey what they might learn from history, law, health science.
