Covid has shown us what the types of people who want to govern others are really like. Thinking people will never view them, police or public 'servants' in the same light again. We have had a taste of what it is like in totalitarian regimes - and it could get worse. There will be no naive hope or confidence at the turn of this year as there was at the close of 2020.

Christianity is on the downward slide, along with democracy. But, but I see no problem with closing churches and diminishing congregations, as it is the organised church that is a big part of the problem: it has been politicised, politically corrected, enwoked, and driven to the Left.

Even the most visible churchman on Earth, the Catholic Pope, is more socialist than he is Catholic.

"The media is part of the transformation of Australia is undergoing". It certainly is, but it's just another symptom of lack of political courage. The media clearly has no respect for a so-called leader who won't call them out; who has no values; will not fight the culture war, and will only go where he thinks the votes are. He's even got the vote buying wrong, too.

And, of course I believe that an Anglican church is closing its doors on Christmas Day. The Anglicans were among the first to go woke and render themselves irrelevant.

It could be said that this essay is part of a now popular trope promoted by right-wing Christians that there is some kind of over-riding conspiracy waging a "war against Christmas".

Never mind of course that Christmas has been celebrated in all kinds of changing ways all over the Christian world ever since Christian-ism became the official "religion" of the Roman State

But is there really such a "war against Christmas", and, more importantly, who were the original perpetrators of such?

Check out the essay on the conservative website The Bulwark by Daniel Gullota titled When Christmas Was Really Under Attack

Greg asks - "I know of one Anglican church near me that is closing its doors on Christmas day – do you believe this?"

Actually, I find it hard to believe that a church would close its doors at present solely because of Covid, as the article implies. Perhaps there is another reason instead, or at least as well.

Nice for Christians that they can adapt - not so for other religions.

Physical pilgrimage to holy places cannot be replaced by virtual-reality. Electronic devices may pass the sounds, sights, perhaps even the smells, but no device can pass the sanctity of a location.

The author's example is incorrect:
"How do Jews celebrate their deliverance from bondage when Passover Seders must take place on Zoom, with the elderly left to wonder why internet connection froze?"

Jews cannot have Seders over zoom because the use of electrical devices is forbidden during the major Jewish holidays.
One can celebrate their deliverance on any day they like, but the specific instruction for that particular night, which is the essence of the Seder, is for the father to relate to his children all about the exodus events. This they can still do, but only when the children live in the same household. If the children are grown up and have their own family, then that necessitates the physical presence of 3-4 generations together.

But yes, innovation is possible in emergencies, just as they did in Israel: holding the Seder outdoors, separating households with transparent plastic sheets or sharing prayers with neighbours across the street and over opposing balconies. I don't think this will become a "reform" post-COVID: people will be most happy to resume their old traditions.

Dear Yuyutsu

I’m not sure if it is true in other religions, but in the Judeo-Christian tradition, crises that made conventional worship impossible have also been occasions for great changes in faith sometimes. For the ancient Jewish leadership, exile to Babylon and the anguish of being unable to worship according to tradition (”how can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” – psalm 137) led to the realisation that YHWH is not just the tribal God of a particular people who lived in a temple or tabernacle, but could be encountered by any people in any place. The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70CE laid the basis for both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.

I don’t expect the same to happen with Covid, but perhaps the necessity of online expressions of worship will also lead to something enduring and fruitful.

Dear Rhian,

Thank you for the insight!