PROSPECT

Is the pandemic killing God?

YESThe last 12 months have seen fear and upheaval on a scale most of us never imagined. A deadly virus has crossed continents and infected tens of millions. The economy has crashed on a scale to make 2008 look like small fry. And a government with libertarian tendencies has imposed lockdowns that would usually cause a public uprising.

There are endless examples from history of what to expect in such times: from the Black Death to the Spanish flu, both interpretation and response were coloured by faith. In our own time, the bleakest scenarios, involving the breakdown of society, thankfully remain confined to the movies. But for many of us these have nonetheless been the toughest months we’ve ever experienced.

Despite this, there hasn’t been any noticeable turn to faith. While it remains a source of fortitude for many-as evidenced by the controversies over closing places of worship during the first lockdown-there has been no widespread moment of spiritual reflection for society at large

Coronavirus has given us an enforced pause from routine, and time on our hands from the loss of whatever social lives we previously had. It’s hard to imagine a better opportunity for people to turn to faith, reflect on their religiosity or ask questions about their secular existence. And yet there’s no public sign to suggest we have in any great number. If not now, when?

What’s perhaps even more telling is the lack of piety in the fringes and cults. Where once we might have seen preachers declaring the pandemic God’s judgment on a sinful society, almost all the movements on Covid-19’s margins have kept their villains strictly secular. Our ancestors looked for demons; today’s conspiracists are looking to Bill Gates and microchips. When even your demons are secular, that’s a sign that we’re in a new era, and one in which religion is much diminished.