Faith Perspective on Facing a Pandemic
Anglican community
The Anglican Church’s Theology is founded upon Scripture, Tradition and Reason. The latter of these means that the church tries to follow the lead of modern Science. This is particularily true in the midst of a global pandemic. We have a developed pandemic plan designed to keep people safe, follow the science, and continue to work as effectively as possible to fulfill our ministry of caring and compassion.
Theologically our approach is based on the scripture’s call to “be alert” and “stay awake”. This is to be present to the needs and contingencies of the time. Physical signs of this is the way in which our community has taken part in the manufacture of PPE for friends, parishioners, and non-hospital frontline workers. We have given copiously to charities which help to provide relief for those in need, including pivoting our community ministries to the poor and homeless to be able to continue to provide housing and food.
Theologically as well our faith is founded upon the spritual prinicple of death and resurrection, that is that there are many death experiences in life beyond physical death, and we are committmed to meeting those with hope and the expectation of being lead to understand new ways of working and being. Our Bishop actively refers to COVID 19 as a teacher. What will we learn out of this, how will we change our lives, how will we care for God’s work in new ways because of what has happened.
Unitarian Universalist perspective on COVID-19:
According to 2 of the 7 Principles, UU's covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all AND
respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The pandemic has brought these two principles into focus and it guides our actions. As communities of faith, we play significant roles in helping to prevent the spread of infection, in providing a calm and reasoned presence, and in modelling safe practices.
Prayer for a Pandemic - by Anonymous
May those who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those among us whose lives are at stake
May those who have no risk factors
Remember those among us who are most vulnerable
May those who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those among us who must choose between preserving their health or paying their rent
May those who have the flexibility to care for their children when their schools close
Remember those among us who have no options
May those who have had to cancel their trips
Remember those among us who have no place to go
May those who are losing their margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those among us who have no margin at all
May those who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those among us who have no home
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God for our neighbours.
Falun Dafa and the pandemic
Practitioners of Falun Dafa believe that every act has its consequences, so if we do good
we get good rewards, but evil acts have bad results. Many times in history, when people’s
moral values have deteriorated as, for example, at the end of the Romana Empire, plagues
and destruction have followed. Falun Dafa practitioners are aware of this cycle of events
and have been trying our best for over two decades to alert people to what is happening
as our era is becoming increasingly corrupt. At the same time, we practitioners strengthen
ourselves by consistently purifying our minds and bodies in order to help all of us cope
with this day-to-day reality.
Isolation: When people gather an energy is created, and when righteous people gather
together a righteous energy is created. The evil fears that. Atheists fear that. Now that all
faith groups are forced to stay apart, our strength is weakened. Nevertheless, practitioners
obey the laws of our communities. Our primary goal is to tell the truth, but normal means
of communications are now cut off or heavily censored so we go to the streets
Because we understand this period as a cycle of degeneration and corruption, for twenty-
two years we have been warning people that if we do evil things we bring disaster to
ourselves. Our efforts are intended to keep people informed and help them to stay safe
FAMILY FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNIFICATION
VIEW OF THE PANDEMIC
There is no denying that the pandemic is a global tragedy that is touching
everyone. Millions have died worldwide, millions more have been tragically
impacted in their livelihood. There is increase in depression, suicide and family
violence.
But there is a spiritual law that is part of the Unificationists’ belief system, and
that is the law of hardship and blessing; this law recognises that hardships are
linked to what may be termed grace or blessing, reflected in the cyclical nature of
human existence. Our response determines the outcome; if we meet the
hardship with gratefulness and willing endurance, if we take personal
responsibility, go the extra mile and try to understand the lesson being taught we
can turn the hardship into a blessing.
This is true on an individual level, but I believe it to be true on a more global level
as well. We will get through these difficult times. Even now we can see that
things can change for the better. If the pandemic has separated us from those
who are close to us, it has also brought those who are far much closer, thanks to
advance in technology. We are reaching out to family and friends much more
than before. We are coming closer as a community in a renewed desire of
helping each other. It has also pushed the scientific community to work together
to find a vaccine. It took centuries to find a vaccine for small pox, it took a year to
find one for Covid-19. And in times of hardships, we tend to review our priorities
and turn to God, our Heavenly Parent.
Although there is no reason to celebrate yet, there is light at the end of the
tunnel
My Faith and the Covid-19 Pandemic – Baha’i Approaches
Messages from the Baha’i World Centre about covid
Messages received from the Baha’i World Centre at the beginning of the pandemic indicated that
they believed this pandemic would be more severe than generally accepted opinions at the time.
The need for the unity of human kind
The central issue of our age is the need for the unity of humanity. This unity is
necessary for the solution of our main problems. Also, these crises are part of a
process which is leading to this consciousness and stripping away obsolete ideas of
national, racial and class identities and loyalties. “The well-being of mankind, its peace
and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is rmly established.”
– Baha’u’llah
Obedience to government
Baha’is are enjoined to obey and be well-wishers of the government in which countries they live.
Consequently, all Baha’i activities during this pandemic are conducted in strict conformance to
the health regulations given by the government.
Truthfulness as the foundation of all virtues
Because of the significant level of misinformation currently being circulated, this principle
noting the importance of truthfulness is included here.
“Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness progress and success,
in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. When this holy attribute is established in
man, all the divine qualities will also be acquired.”
– Abdu’l-Baha
Religion and science
The harmony of science and religion is a major Baha’i teaching and is included here to
emphasize that people and communities of faith have an important contribution go make.
“To man is given the special gift of the intellect by which he is able to receive a larger share of
the light Divine.”
–*Abdu’l-Baha,*Paris Talks
"Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights,
with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a
man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of
superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no
progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism."
'Abdu'l-Bahá - Paris Talks,
Christian Science
Christian Science recognizes that the Coronavirus is a serious issue facing our world.
For many, vaccines offer the hope of freedom from the pandemic. While respecting public health guidelines and laws regarding vaccinations, adherents of Christian Science take a different approach to immunity and healing. A spiritually based approach.
For over 125 years, healing through prayer as taught in Christian Science has provided safe and effective health care for Christian Scientists around the globe.
Our church believes that prayer, based on a spiritual understanding of God, is a reliable and effective way to meet health challenges of all kinds, including the contagion and symptoms associated with this pandemic.
This prayer springs from a radically different view of our lives and the world around us. It is a spiritual view, based on a recognition of God as divine Life and Love - wholly good and the source of all harmony - the source of health rather than sickness, vitality rather than vulnerability.
This is more than mere positive thinking. It’s the kind of prayer Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, attributed to Christ Jesus as “deep and conscientious protests of Truth, of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love” as stated in Genesis 1:26.
This kind of focused, prayerful defense which protects and heals is something we undertake daily – not only for ourselves but for the whole human family. God, good, is infinite: there is no place for pandemics in His kingdom. Actively looking to prove this gives us dominion over contagion and blesses the world.
From an Interfaith Observer with multiple faith traditions.
As an observer on CRIC for my personal sharing and my spiritual growth in interfaith relations, I so appreciated the common and varied religious messages and the pandemic. In my case I indicated that I come from intercultural, inter-racial and inter-faith roots where my father was Hindu from India and my mother was Christian from Czechoslovakia. They were the first Indo-Czech marriage, right during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Their marriage certificate was certified as Hindu only and, the same applied to my birth certificate. The Nazi rulers were not favourable to mixed race but tolerated my parents as only Hindu where, India and Germany had the common enemy of Great Britain. Through my parent’s I became interfaith as Hindu-Christian where, I was exposed to both faiths, in teachings and in practice My wife is Jewish..The racist Nazi approach to mixed race marriage was prevalent in the United States where it was illegal till 1967.The pandemic teaches us that marriages like that of my parents and my interfaith identity are part of reality and alive in interfaith practice. Interestingly, the nominated Vice President Kamala Harris is of mixed race, East Indian and Jamaican with Hindu and Christian influence where, she is married to a jJew. CRIC is inspiring to those in interfaith life.
Latter Day Saints Reflections
During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of the worldwide membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have instructed local leaders and members to follow safety and precautionary measures stipulated by government and health authorities. Accordingly, local church services and class lessons have been received by Zoom. In worldwide virtual conferences and by internet all church members have been invited on two occasions to unite in a 24 hour fast and to pray that the pandemic can be brought under control. Members have also been encouraged to express gratitude to God for the blessings received and to share expressions of gratitude by social media. (As for me, I am particularly grateful for the technology available today that makes it possible to cope with the pandemic and has even shown us better ways of doing things.) Addressing concerns for the pandemic and other troubling events in the world, M. Russell Ballard, a church apostle, said the following in a conference talk: “Today I expand my call for prayer to all people from every country around the world. No matter how you pray or to whom you pray, please exercise your faith – whatever your faith may be – and pray for your country and for your national leaders. -- Humbling ourselves and seeking heaven's inspiration to endure or conquer what is before us will be our safest and surest way to move confidently forward through these troubling times. -- Prayer will influence scientists and help them toward discoveries of vaccines and medications that will end this pandemic”. We are encouraged to pray for our local leaders and health care workers that they may have the strength and knowledge to make the best decisions for the health and safety of all in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.