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5 - Apocalyptic Christianity, Democracy, and the Pandemic

from Part I - Power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2020

By
Stanley Hauerwas
Edited by
Miguel Poiares Maduro  and
Paul W. Kahn
Miguel Poiares Maduro
Affiliation:
European University Institute, Florence
Paul W. Kahn
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

“Barmen! We need something like the Barmen Declaration that challenged the German Christians’ accommodation with Hitler.” That was my first thought on May 22, 2020, when I read US President Donald Trump’s order for churches, synagogues, and mosques to open and welcome all those ready to respond to his desire that everyone to return to church. After prohibiting the gathering of diverse groups in the first weeks of response to the virus, Trump suddenly commanded Christians, Jews, and Muslims to open their places of worship as if the virus did not exist.

On reflection, I thought I was letting my dislike of Trump tempt me to overreact to his sudden call for religious people to attend church. Trump was urging Christians to return to church as a sign he had defeated or come close to defeating the virus.

Type
Chapter
Information
Democracy in Times of Pandemic
Different Futures Imagined
 , pp. 77 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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