Covid-19 is becoming a new religion - a quasi-religion

In one of his pre-election speeches, US President Donald Trump, who as of the time of writing is still in office, very aptly pointed out that it is no longer possible to get information about what is happening in the world and in America, because the only thing you hear from major information channels is: “Covid, covid covid, covid!" Others, while assessing the current global flow of information, joked that if aliens were to watch us starting from March 2020, they would unequivocally conclude that the entire Western world is dominated by a religion whose followers worship some powerful divine mystical being called Covid-19, and gather that there is a mysterious cult of Covid ruling this part of the Earth.

There's a grain of truth in every joke. An objective assessment of the political and informational conditions prevailing in most of the Western world this year suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic is already turning into a quasi-religion (false religion).

In the 21st century, the change of religious values is continuing in the Western civilization. A large part of the population no longer identifies themselves with the religious beliefs that once characterized their country. Old and traditional religions are losing out in competition with religions from other parts of the world (Islam, Buddhism, modernized Hinduism, etc.), and at the same time new quasi-religions are easily filling the void. I have already commented in Neatkarīgā that the current dominant religion in Russia is not Orthodoxy, but an atheistic religion - Faith in the Great Victory (in Latvian), stating that in order for something to be considered similar to religion, it must follow several conditions. The minimum requirements set by, for example, Latvian legislation for something to be considered a religion are: one's own religious affirmation, teaching and dogmatics, as well as cult traditions (Article 1 of the Law on Religious Organizations). If we use even the minimum requirements set out in Latvian legislation to formally recognize a religious denomination, then Faith in the Great Victory in Russia can be defined as a new (quasi) religion. However, we will achieve exactly the same result by defining as a religious belief the measures to limit the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 quasi-religion already has its own peculiar religious affirmation (to repeat the mantra: "face mask, soap, two meters"), its own rituals (to publish the previous day’s infected count every day, etc.), its own teaching and its own dogmatics that cannot be challenged or questioned. Covid-19 disciples believe that those who disseminate alternative views on the effectiveness of any politically determined measure to stop Covid-19 infection are fake news distributors who have sold their souls to absolute evil. The Covid-19 quasi-religion has its own sanctities, rituals and traditions. Its own martyrs. Anyone who dies while infected with Covid-19 is counted. Their number is solemnly announced every day. The fanatical believers of Covid-19 completely ignore the fact that on average about 75 people die every day in Latvia. The causes of death are various - non-Covid illnesses, car accidents, crimes, accidents, etc. If on a given day there is a record number - 5 or even 7 deaths who were positive for Covid, then it is truly a tragedy for the relatives and friends of the deceased. However, for the relatives and friends of the other 75 who died that day, the greatest tragedy is the death of the person. Especially when other people die because the priority is not all patients, but only Covid positives, because due to restrictive measures, medical care for those who were not infected with Covid was provided with great delay.

It now appears that those who set the political agenda and the content of the information flow in Latvia, the EU and the leading Western countries have replaced the first commandment of the Christian faith with another. Let me remind you of the first commandment of the Christianity: "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me."

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Covid-19 quasi-religion follow another commandment that might read, "Covid-19 is your Lord; you shall have no other gods before it."

A new infectious disease is a serious problem and challenge, but subordinating one's life to one singular problem alone, making it a major object of worship, is a very serious sin in all Christian denominations. The first commandment forbids the worship of anything else in God's place, no matter what - idols, faith in the omnipotence of any Covid-19 restrictive measures, alcohol, drugs, etc.

Any new problem must be tackled rationally. In March, when the whole world was facing a great unknown, feverish and misguided decisions might be forgivable. But now there is more knowledge and the basic truth must be understood that if a virus with very high adaptive properties has entered the human environment, then it will be necessary to learn to live with it forever.

It will not go anywhere and you will have to live with it in the long run. Therefore, Covid-19 should not be treated as a new deity and satanic rituals in order to establish a new quasi-religion based on Covid-19 should be stopped.

This disease must be treated rationally, bearing in mind that it is only one of the diseases that threatens us, that sows suffering and death. For those who set the tone on the political agenda and in the media, the mantra “Covid, covid, covid, covid” should be replaced by another: “Cardiovascular diseases, tumors, digestive diseases, trauma, alcoholism and drug addiction, self-harm, violence, infectious diseases (including Covid-19)."