Is anyone missing not going to church, besides those on the "business" end of it?

For many Americans, this Sunday passed rather uneventfully, especially without any sporting events to watch. However, when I was younger, I was obliged to “dress up” and tramp on down to church. My parents at least in the beginning were typical Roman Catholics like their parents were, and going to church was a routine that one performed like eating and sleeping. It became even more so during the eight years I spent in a Catholic school, attending an abbreviated mass every school morning, and taking confession once a week, lying about lying. Things changed when I enlisted in the Army; there might be a chaplain and something that passed as a “chapel,” but few soldiers could be bothered, and it didn’t take long for me to take up that habit. It wasn’t that I didn’t “believe,” it was just that the world or my life didn’t seem to change whether I went or not. My parents also eventually stopped attending Catholic mass upon the discovery of less “traditional” preaching that didn’t make as many demands on achieving one’s eventual “salvation.” Mere “faith” was enough, not necessarily “good works” as required by the Catholic religion.

Yet Donald Trump has succumbed to the anguish of millionaire evangelists and proclaimed that churches are “essential” and thus should be open for “business.” Many megachurches have been openly defying stay-at-home orders, and why not? The emphasis should be on “business” of course, since these churches are in the “business” of making money rather than saving souls. I mean, why would a God want to allow in heaven far-right white nationalists,  racists and other assorted bigots who think that “believing” that there was a  Jesus but not actually taking his teachings seriously is sufficient to save their souls? They apparently don’t mind being “entertained” by a blowhard and give away that extra cash to feed those fakers expensive life styles rather than to the “underserving” poor and hungry. For many of these “faiths,” it is the will of their God that there are people who should be poor and starving, no less so that their God has bestowed his “grace” on billionaires who are permitted to be grasping selfishly in their cupidity, and whose “philanthropy” tends to be in support of their selfish interests.

A Reddit post notes that the ten richest megachurch “evangelists” and “televangelists” are worth over $1 billion, although Kenneth Copeland is the holder of the majority of that wealth; the post claims that they have donated exactly $0.00 in COVID-19 assistance, which of course isn’t surprising given their attitude toward the seriousness of the pandemic and reflective of their anger for the inconveniences it has caused them. They love  money as much if not more than they “love” spreading the “word”—and obviously their present lamentations have had no effect on reducing the number of deaths from the COVID-19, since that is not the subject of their “lamenting.”  

The majority of churches have seen decreases in “giving,” especially those who receive most of it at the collection plate, although some have been creative in setting-up online giving programs in the interim. But even in the best of times, parishioners in the Catholic church have not been particularly generous; the Catholic News Agency notes that the average contribution by Catholic families is $10 a week when they actually go to mass, and that money has to be “spread” around to service various needs. One of those needs is apparently not building maintenance; according to the CNA, “routine maintenance on old buildings is often delayed or neglected. Few parishes account for depreciation. When something breaks, the cost is high. And with dramatically decreased collections this year, what little maintenance might have been done is likely to be deferred.” 

And things may get worse, and not just for the Catholic church.  The Economist notes the phenomenon of “accelerating dechurching” in the U.S. caused by the virus—meaning that people who go to church because they feel they “have to” may after a few months of not attending church may get “used” to the idea and no longer feel “guilt” by not going. This more than anything is will hurt the “business” end of religion, because some prior churchgoers will no longer buy the idea that it is “essential” for themselves to pay someone to preach the gospel to them; they can read the Bible themselves and “practice” being a good Christian—and then hope that somebody up there actually notices.