As a teenager growing up in a fundamentalistic Pentecostal church that strongly believed in miraculous divine healing, you can imagine the disdain when I indicated that I was interested in science and specifically medicine. Our pastor at the time, when he heard that I had enrolled at Stellenbosch University in the med-school, he felt inspired to preach a sermon that specific Sunday about the young people who lose their way, go to University, and then come back with three sixes written on their forehead (the anti-intellectual and anti-science stance of the Pentecostals still bothers me). One of his favourite sayings at the time was that the only Pill we needed was the Gospel. From that evolved the tittle of a lecture I often do – The “Gos-Pill Truth” about medication and spiritual healing.
As a therapist, what you personally believe and think about medicine, health, and healing, will without a doubt effect the way that you counsel and support the individuals you interact with. This especially comes into focus during a pandemic. Caregiving is never value free, and your values have the potential not only to influence people, but to hinder or help them in their journey towards wellbeing. We have seen this demonstrated during the pandemic in how the church responded to it.
There are many voices, opinions, and demands directed at people who have health issues and/or a mental disorder, and about what to believe about pandemics and scientific data. Many present their ill-informed opinions and demands as “truth-claims”, but many without any scientific and or theological support. They seem to believe that social media and Google make us all “experts”.
People struggling with their mental and psychological wellbeing during a pandemic turn to us as counsellors for guidance and support. In the cacophony of discordant opinions, they look towards us Christian caregivers, to come alongside them with compassionate wisdom and clear unambiguous guidance and support – they expect professional care.
Religion featured prominently in the early reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, often in a negative light. Gregory Elder writes in his article, Professing Faith: Pandemics historically a challenge for religious communities, and reports that the church throughout history has not dealt well with pandemics – in 1832, 1918 and now in our own day disease has swept across the world. These major pandemics were not the only ones, we can add smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic all ravaged the world. In each of these, there have been voices blaming the diseases on the most colourful possible causes, such as business (Bill Gates) and governmental conspiracy (the deep state, Hillary) – etc. In the past the blame was laid at the feet of an angry God, the sins of the people, evil spirits, the Irish Catholics, the Jews, the bad air, various ethnic groups, and unchecked immigration. In the 19th century, one outbreak was blamed on gravediggers, who were accused of spreading disease to increase their business. Sound familiar, there are those who blame the pharmaceutical companies for creating the disease so that they could sell more vaccinations. An Anglican bishop in South Africa declared that while the 1918 influenza was not a manifestation of God’s wrath, it was a direct result of men and women not living as the Creator had told them to. Still sounds familiar.
The historical and habitual distinctions between faith and science, and the rejection of science, exaggerated differences at a time when inclusion, bridges, and clear leadership was urgently needed. The history of health, healing, and medicine in the church is quite damming and sad.
The high-profile religious gatherings that captured headlines quickly became “super-spreader” events. Non-religious gatherings, like sporting events and concerts, posed similar risks. So, it made sense in terms of public health for authorities to move quickly to limit large gatherings. But congregation, of course, is deemed a central part of the ethos of many religious communities (or at least the pastors that missed their adrenalin performance fix of each Sunday). Efforts by public health officials to limit events like Easter church services, Ramadan Iftar celebrations and Passover Seders have led some adherents to see these measures as an imposition on their freedom of religion, creating significant tension between the public and the state. Again reaffirming the conflict between science and faith.
It poses the question; can faith and science ever go together? One author commented and said that having fixed beliefs “predetermined” by some higher power, made people “irrational.” He concluded with the blunt suggestion that the church should keep their “religion” to themselves and not interfere with common-sense and science, especially in these difficult pandemic times. The fact that Evangelicals also politically aligned themselves with “conservatives” who strongly supported anti-masking and anti-vaccination, and even supported conspiracy theories, will prevent people from returning to church and hinder potential new believers joining churches.
Historically the church has not been able to overcome the mind-body-faith split, and the rejection of science rained uninterrupted for a long time and is still strongly present among many believers.
We can excuse people’s ignorance, but we cannot allow the ignorance to turn into spiritual abuse! When peoples believe-system (including their misplaced conspiracy theories) is harmful, and if they force their harmful belief-system on others, we have to step up to the plate and speak on behalf of those who are struggling with physical and mental illness – those who cannot speak for themselves or who don’t know any better, those who are trustingly follow the pastors (and political leaders) instructions to discard their medication, refuse to follow health instructions (anti-maskers), and refuse to get the vaccine.
This brings us to the question, what will the results of the pandemic be on the church? Kelsey Dalas poses this question in the article Church participation has been declining for decades. Will the pandemic make it worse?
The answer to that is probably, yes for a significant number of people, said Ed Stetzer, an evangelism expert who serves as executive director of Wheaton College’s Billy Graham Center. This could very well be a pivotal point where people who were not heavily engaged in the church, choose to disengage! If this prediction comes true, houses of worship will suffer. Many denominations already face budget shortages and program cancellations due to emptying pews and budgets. Recent research found that around half of U.S. adults who attended church before COVID-19, are unlikely to return to church even if public health officials deemed it safe.
Bottom line is this, if the church in general does not find a way to reconcile their beliefs with scientific findings, the Christian counselling fraternity must at least be a shining light in the darkness. It is up to Christian counsellors to show the way.
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Reverences
Marshall, Katherine. What Religion Can Offer in the Response to COVID-19. World Politics Review. Accessed on April 17, 2021 from https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/28789/religion-and-covid-19-faith-during-a-pandemic
Dallas, Kelsey. Church participation has been declining for decades. Will the pandemic make it worse? Deseret Church News. Accessed on April 17, 2021 from https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/6/5/21279399/coronavirus-church-attendance-religion-data-pandemic-covid-19-online-worship-reopening