The most contentious of the religious freedom issues raised by the coronavirus pandemic has been some governments’ outright bans on religious gatherings, as in the earliest days in the U.K., or the now more common stringent limits on most religious gatherings. This has been a persistent and growing issue in the U.S. (and elsewhere).
There are several cautions necessary, lest we exaggerate how widespread has been the resistance by churches to restrictions on worship, and the effects of theology on this resistance. First, the vast majority of churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other houses of worship have followed government guidelines for lockdowns and restrictions on in-person worship, and many have self-imposed limits more stringent than those ordered by governments.
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