Unmute! Listening for Religion in the Age of COVID-19

The clips in this playlist offer examples of how religious communities created new rituals, transformed traditional rituals, or otherwise adapted their practices to the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. A hospital chaplain offers a blessing for the washing of hands. An Orthodox Jewish man recites a familiar children’s book to the traditional melody of Torah chanting. A woman participates in an online Buddhist community while the sounds of New Yorkers celebrating first responders can be heard in the background. Cars honk “Amen” at a drive-in church service or neighbors clang pots and pans from their doorsteps to signal their physical co-presence even across social distance. Communities reflect on the opportunities and challenges of gathering together online. Each of these examples offers opportunities to consider how religious practice changed during the time of COVID – and which of these changes may endure beyond this time.

– Isaac Weiner