Churches in Maine can now reopen, and assemble in groups of up to 50 as of June 1. If you didn’t know that, you’re not alone.
In contrast to the daily Maine CDC briefings and press releases, the Mills administration’s decision on church guidelines was decidedly low-key. It appeared on the state’s website without fanfare, and isn’t mentioned among significant milestones, unlike the status of campgrounds and nail salons.
As a result, only one television reporter picked up the story immediately; newspapers waited until the Catholic Diocese announced possible reopening in its own news release. One story mentioned the prior guidelines, applying to all churches.
This under-playing of news concerning institutions to which some 400,000 Mainers belong could have various explanations.
Some churches, impatient about restrictions, had already hosted impromptu services in parking lots. One in Orrington filed suit against the shutdown order on the grounds of religious freedom, but its requested restraining order was rejected by a federal judge May 9.
It will be difficult to convince judges there’s a First Amendment right to spread coronavirus, but there’s a much better case that churches should treated the same as businesses and other private organizations – as the administration’s order has now done.
In practice, it’s going to be a while before churches can reopen fully, just as it will be a long time before the traditional shopping and eating out return. Yet it’s odd that less attention is paid, in print, to church life than to, say, high school sports events, which have far smaller constituencies.
What might be called, gingerly, a secular bias has been developing for some time. On the left, irreligion has become prominent, and is often resented by those for whom church communities are still important.
This has left a curious situation where the president can recklessly call for full reopening of churches – and the convention center hosting the Republican National Convention – and score points with believers. How many is uncertain; last Sunday, the mask-less leader spent his time on the golf course.
What the secular orientation fails to recognize is how important religion still is to life in America. True, church membership is down, but even in Maine – lowest among the 50 states – 30% still belong, and twice as many identify as Christians, according to the Pew Research Center.
Belief in God is even more striking. Nearly half of Mainers say they “absolutely” believe, and another quarter are “fairly certain.”
These aren’t just polite responses. In much of Europe, few attend churches regularly, and disbelief is openly expressed, and almost required for intellectuals.
But America is not like Europe, for a couple of reasons. One is clearly the founding myth that emigration across the Atlantic was based on dissent from the established Anglican Church; however flawed an interpretation, it contains a grain of truth.
The other, more profound reason, comes from the genius of Thomas Jefferson. The greatest of the framers, he listed just three points on his tombstone. The first was the Declaration of Independence, while the second was Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom.
What we now call “separation of church and state” is nearly as important, in our community lives, as the radical notion that “all men are created equal.”
Jefferson grasped that the entanglement of clericalism and monarchy, and the religious wars that ravaged Europe for centuries, weakened both church and state. He helped put this country on a course toward both democracy and freedom of religion.
When I was a young reporter, an old daily editor, who’d staffed one of the many big city dailies that had shut down during the 1950s and ’60s, commented that the biggest story he’d missed was the shift to the suburbs that began following World War II.
Along with television news, it was the departure of the urban audience that sapped readership – something his colleagues rarely attempted to address.
Similarly, newspapers may be missing important stories about religion, too. One came after the September 11 attacks, when many people began attending church again, for a time.
The effect wasn’t lasting, especially as the nation sent troops to Afghanistan, then engaged in a misbegotten war in Iraq.
Coronavirus could be different. The pandemic, still in the early stages of its effects on our lives, has pointed up deficiencies not only in our public health system, but our overweening confidence that we have “the good life” all figured out.
A need for spiritual sustenance, and a quest to repair our frayed communities, could lead to a revival of belief not seen since the 19th century. If it happens, let’s hope we don’t miss the story this time.
Douglas Rooks, a Maine editor, reporter, opinion writer and author for 35 years, has published books about George Mitchell, and the Maine Democratic Party. He welcomes comment at drooks@tds.net
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