Coronavirus and religious freedom: a preliminary view from the United States

Introduction.
I. The Coronavirus pandemic in the United States.
A. The basic story.
B. Milestones.
C. Churches as superspreaders and scapegoats.
D. Ancillary crises – economic, racial justice, social trust.
II. The impact of government actions on freedom of religion and belief.
A. Legal principles – non-discrimination, reasonable accommodation, compelling state interests.
B. Gathering.
C. Religious holidays.
D. Hospital patients.
E. Weddings and funerals.
F. Nursing homes.
G. Prisons.
H. Religious education.
III. Responses of religious communities and their adherents to government rules.
A. Cooperation and caution.
B. Challenges to government restrictions.
C. Government funding of religion and religiously-affiliated institutions.
D. Vaccinations and anti-vaccine ideology.
IV. Responses of religious communities to the coronavirus crisis.
A. Spiritual and mental health support.
B. Humanitarian responses.
V. The coronavirus pandemic as a stress test.
VI. The problem of the politicization of the coronavirus pandemic.
VII. The Crisis of trust.
Conclusion: Human dignity of and for all.