COVID-19 made 2020 an incredibly hard year, but governors and mayors made it worse by shrinking religious freedom. Across the U.S., as restrictions on travel and in-person gatherings were created, many localities trampled on religious freedom by treating religious gatherings more harshly than their secular counterparts. These unfair restrictions, ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, took a toll on both religious liberty and public health. Social isolation and “deaths of despair” had been declared a public health crisis even before the pandemic, and these unfair restrictions barred people from one of the strongest antidotes to loneliness: communities of faith.

Join our panelists for a discussion on why the hope of religion is essential in the most comprehensive sense and how we can protect the vital role of faith in our society.