I was not at first happy that Ron DeSantis, Florida's governor, issued an executive "stay-at-home" order. It is not as if Florida had been without them before: they had been issued at the county level, allowing each county to tailor them for their individual, very different needs. I saw no need for state-level action, and concluded the governor was merely caving to pressure to flex his gubernatorial muscle.
However, it turns out that this order has done at least one thing that is very important. Not that I've read it in detail—it's full of legalese and unexplained references to other documents—but this part was abundantly clear (emphasis mine):
Section 3 Essential Activities
A. For the purposes of this Order and the conduct it limits, "essential activities" means and encompasses the following
- Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship; and
- Participating in recreational activities (consistent with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, or swimming; and
- Taking care of pets; and
- Caring for or otherwise assisting a loved one or friend.
As I wrote to the Governor this morning,
Dear Governor DeSantis:
First, let me be clear that our church is continuing to be creative in meeting both the spiritual and the physical needs of our people in this time of crisis: cancelling, postponing, and moving activities online wherever possible.
However, I have been very concerned, seeing other examples of stay-home orders, to note that church services are not usually considered essential activities. It is true that not all people see them that way, just as not all people consider day care centers or laundromats to be essential. But for a significant part of the population each of these is vital, and it is a very dangerous precedent to make rules as if a worship service were merely a social gathering.
You are to be highly commended for taking a stand against this trend, and in your recent Executive Order making the clear point that "Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship" is considered an essential activity for the purposes of compliance with the order.
This doesn't mean it is wise to continue with "church services as usual" at such a time as this, and most churches, like ours, are voluntarily complying with health recommendations. We must not abuse any freedom, including religious freedom. But it is vital that it be confirmed as the essential activity that it is.
Thank you very much, Governor DeSantis. I pray for you daily.
As for ourselves, we did skip Monday's church service, on the grounds that the in-place County order enjoined gatherings of more than 10 people, and we didn't want to be responsible for contributing to the delinquency of a priest. As it turns out, we would have been fine. But we didn't know that.
I'm reminded of conversations I used to have with my step-daughter who lives in North Carolina and routinely drove around while holding her cellphone in one hand. "It's not illegal here," she would say. I always responded by telling her it was a stupid thing to do nonetheless. It occurs to me now that the risk was not just to herself but also to others she might have hit who were driving, biking or walking around.
That idea applies more so today with stay at home orders. Those who insist on congregating pose a risk not only to themselves and each other but to those they may infect and to those THEY may infect, etc. This virus is so contagious that voluntary stay at home orders are of little use if everyone does not volunteer. Parts of Europe learned this the hard way and are now fining people who do not comply. We had the benefit of seeing this coming and seeing what helped mitigate it yet many elected officials, like the governor you so highly praise, dragged their feet for political reasons. The sad part is it probably works for them. When election day arrives the thing foremost in your mind may well be the fact that Governor DeSantis declared church services essential rather than the Floridians and other Americans who needlessly died because of his inaction.
The thing is, Don, the Governor didn't need to act. It is good, not bad, to act at the lowest feasible level of government, and that's what the county ordinances did. What the new orders do (as far as I've been able to understand) is to set a standard below which counties cannot go, but recognizes their authority to enact stricter measures, which many have. The needs of Miami are not the same as the needs of sparsely-populated rural areas.
I don't know what you have observed, but from what I can see Floridians have been social distancing since well before the rules went into effect. (The insane spring-breakers from out of state are another story.) Stores set up their own rules to keep things under control. People shopped less, and faster, and were generally more considerate of others and in good spirits. All but a handful of people attended the online version of church. Mind you, I didn't see everything, since I've been mostly isolated myself—but that's what I observed when I did go out. And when the rules went into effect, most people seemed happy to comply.
Sure, there will always be those who don't. Making something illegal doesn't make bad behavior go away. But the social pressure to keep one's distance is probably even stronger than the laws.
The really scary part is that people don't seem to understand that "flatting the curve," while extremely important, doesn't solve the problem. They act as if we can just hunker down for a few weeks and then come out of hiding and COVID-19 will be a thing of the past. Guess what? The virus is still going to be there, and barring some miraculous mutation that severely weakens it, we're still going to have to deal with it. It's not like a hurricane that will blow through and then be gone. The value of staying home lies in holding off the days of reckoning until we have vaccines, treatments, or at least medical facilities that are better prepared. Here's a good article about the problem.
