In God We Trust
Community and Immunity in American Religions during Covid-19
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3438417 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julia Brown (0000-0002-2719-7064, Stony Brook University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 428 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14030428 |
| OpenAlex | W4353091223 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
From the systemic issues of race and class division to political partisanship and religious identity, the pandemic has affected many aspects of American social and political life. I interrogate the role that religions have played in communal identity-making during the pandemic, and how such identities shaped ideological responses, particularly in the US, stymying public health efforts to stop, or at least significantly slow, the spread of COVID-19. Drawing from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera as a historical case study, I use Garcia Marquez's depiction of religion's identity-making power during the cholera pandemic depicted in the novel as a comparison by which to understand current experiences of white Evangelical Christians in America during the current COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those who reject risk-minimizing practices such as mask wearing, quarantining, and vaccination. Drawing both from representations of Roberto Esposito's theory of immunity and community, and from Lauren Berlant's concept of "cruel optimism", as well as sociological understandings of religion and identity, I argue that the boundary-making practices of religion and of communal and national identity are related to the complex and often contradictory set of moral practices that led many white Evangelicals to disregard public health policies surrounding COVID-19. A concurrent analysis of Garcia Marquez's novel and of current events will allow me to explore this phenomenon, as Lauren Berlant would put it, both through the historically affective aesthetic and through the affective present
Aesthetics · Depiction · Garcia · Humanities · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Gender Studies · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy
Modeling compliance with Covid-19 prevention guidelines
Religious characteristics of U.S. physicians
Cruel Optimism
Are high levels of religiosity inconsistent with a high valuation of science? Evidence from the United States, China and Iran
Are the religious suspicious of science? Investigating religiosity, religious context, and orientations towards science
Coping with Illness and Threat
Intention to Vaccinate Against the Novel 2019 Coronavirus Disease
When the going gets tough, the tough get—Creative”
Conservatism and infrequent mask usage
Religion as Identity in Postwar America
Individuals’ Use of Religion in Response to the Covid‐19 Pandemic as Complementary to Their Use of Medically Recommended Responses
Religion Protected Mental Health but Constrained Crisis Response During Crucial Early Days of the Covid‐19 Pandemic
Religion at the Frontline
Culture Wars and Covid-19 Conduct
The Growing Social and Moral Conflict Between Conservative Protestantism and Science
Church-Based Social Support and Religious Coping
Why Aren't We Paying Attention? Religion and Politics in Everyday Life
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |