I was just going to say that my online Zoom yoga classes have been fine, although videotaped classes don’t work for me.
Actually the Zoom classes have been better than fine, simply because I can take classes from anywhere. Even though I live in N.C., I’ve been able to take classes at the places I went to when I lived in NY and with my yoga retreat group that’s based in Texas.
The gist of my post was simply to point out that the idea of fellowship wasn’t limited to churches.
But I’m also acknowledging that religion is different, legally if not practically and I’m not comfortable with forbidding services like they were yoga classes. But I think still think church services are a really bad idea, and churches, with their older congregations and singing and outloud praying are possibly the least safe place around.
I also think that with a responsible and consistent government response, we could have had close to 100% voluntary cooperation from churches, even evangelical ones. but again, I’m not going to elaborate in QZ.
This is your opinion about what makes church “essential”. Plenty of other people would disagree with you that participation in the faith community requires a physical presence in a specific facility.
I did yoga for several years at a yoga studio. I can easily imagine my yoga instructor recommending to the class a yoga app to help us keep practicing during a lockdown. And you know what? I would accept this recommendation without a negative kneejerk reaction, because I would recognize that she wasn’t implying that a yoga app is a complete substitute for a real-live yoga class in a real-live yoga studio. I would understand that she was only presenting the yoga app as a tool. Plenty of yogis maintain their practice with similar tools, so why would I take offense to that kind of suggestion?
For lots of people, yoga is both a form of exercise and spiritual journey. But as susan pointed out, you don’t see yogis storming state capitals and declaring yoga an essential business. None of the yoga enthusiasts I know are flouting social distancing out of a belief that they will be protected from the virus through supernatural intervention. Plenty of churchgoers are doing these things. So forgive me for not being convinced that these folks are all being driven by an innocent need to participate in their respective faith communities. I really do think some of them are ignorant blowhards who don’t like a bunch of scientists telling them what to do.
I’m going to say that my quarantine yoga experience isn’t less adequate than my real life experience. It’s just different. In many ways it’s better.
I’m taking classes with teachers I like that teach all across the country. I’m taking class and reconnecting with friends I haven’t seen in years . The variety of available classes is mind-blowing and i have more choices when it comes to times. I get to play my own music. I don’t have to drive anywhere to class and I don’t have to stress about being on time.
I admit I resisted the online classes for awhile, just because I didn’t think it would be the same. And it isn’t. But it’s just as good, if not better.
And I bet if some people wanted to try, they could find the same advantages in online church. Go to the church you used to go to before your last move. Go to church with your friends from across the country. Find the silver lining.
The article only says that the congregation (40 people) was exposed, not that any of them have tested positive yet. And even though the headline says “services”, the exposure only happened at one service–the one this past Sunday.
If g-d knows all, sees all, people who believe in Him are going to church for the social part of it, not so He can see you doing so. Yes, it’s a very important part of their lives but is fear of g-d a bigger hill to (literally) die upon than fear of fat?