Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Family leaning on religion in the time of crisis/finding new "truths"

I have two stories to describe. The first is about my Father and his ability to put complete trust in his religion during the COVID-19 crisis. My Father has always been religion and recently has been dealing with becoming older. Things such as joint pain, falls, and general wellness. But recently, he has slowly started to trust in modern medicine and instead pray and fast for its healing abilities. During the pandemic, my father has made statements like, "I don't live in fear. No enemy can hurt me becuase I believe in God." Furthermore, I would like to add even though he believes this way, he still will obey a rule and certain regulations, such as wearing a face mask.

The second story is more of an interesting product of how pandemics can change people's views. I have a cousin that has never shown interesting in conspiracy theories or government corruption. However, during the pandemic post on FaceBook from them have been about "finding the truth," and "has opened their eyes." They claim that the Illuminati is behind COVID-19 and that certain people such as Bill Gates have known about this. In fact, the virus was created and possibly fake (their claim)? They have very little to no evidence to prove any claims they are posting. I just found it interesting that during a stressful time, they turned to conspiracy theories rather than a religion like my Father.

May 1, 2020

Missouri