A right to worship — responsibly

Houses of worship are conspicuously — and thankfully — absent from Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest restrictions (Dec. 11, “Three-Week Closure Includes Indoor Dining, Bars, Gyms”), especially during this holiday season.

The absence of such restrictions in Pennsylvania can be traced to last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning restrictions on houses of worship in New York. The court found New York violated the free exercise clause of the First Amendment by unfairly imposing more restrictions on houses of worship than were placed on secular businesses. As the unsigned opinion stated, “[E]ven in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.”

This does not exempt houses of worship from implementing health and safety guidelines. It does reflect an appreciation of our Bill of Rights and a recognition that houses of worship have not been sources of coronavirus spread.

Nevertheless, the court’s decision has drawn ire with commentators accusing “activist conservative justices” of misplaced priorities that improperly benefit religion. The exercise of religion is seen as having no value or as being detrimental, reinforcing the notion that there is no reason to practice faith during a deadly pandemic.

This could not be further from the case. We need to be searching for meaning and truth. Instead of the wide cultural support religious freedom had in the Clinton administration, today it is, in the words of Justice Samuel Alito, a “disfavored right” that is considered code for discrimination. Many think it inconceivable that people of faith have legitimately sincere beliefs that are central to their ways of life.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court got it right and Pennsylvania (regardless of the merit of other restrictions) is acknowledging that religious freedom matters.

We need to fight coronavirus and take it very seriously. We also must recognize that we are a nation of laws and principles, including the protection of religious liberty. People of faith have a clear constitutional right to worship, and a duty to do so reasonably and responsibly.

JORDAN BUZZA

Crafton

The writer is the director of CMF Curo, a Catholic health care ministry.