<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1576172304708.png" alt="Benjamin P. Marcus is religious literacy specialist at the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute." />
 <figcaption>Benjamin P. Marcus is religious literacy specialist at the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute.</figcaption>
 </figure>As a child, I attended weekend classes at our local synagogue to 
learn about Judaism. I remember one lesson above all from those years: 
past Jewish experience of pogroms and the Holocaust demands that Jews 
speak out against authoritarianism in the present and future.Government interference in Jewish religious life represents one 
common sign of creeping authoritarianism. Historically, when governments
 prohibited Jews from exercising their religious rights, arrests and 
death soon followed. But how should we respond when the government 
imposes restrictions on religion in order to protect life?That is the question that ran through my head when I saw a video on <a href="https://twitter.com/YiddishNews/status/1240472711249494016" target="_blank">Twitter</a>
 last week of New York City police officers dispersing a crowd of Jews 
in Crown Heights at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters who were gathered 
for evening prayers. Dissenters were <a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/news/nypd-fdny-disperse-orthodox-jewish-groups-amid-covid-19-outbreak" target="_blank">threatened</a> with arrest. Again I considered the question when I saw <a href="https://collive.com/fdny-disbands-crowd-filled-jewish-wedding-in-williamsburg/" target="_blank">pictures</a> of the New York City Fire Department <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/nyregion/coronavirus-hasidic-weddings-brooklyn.html" target="_blank">disbanding</a> a Jewish wedding in Williamsburg.Despite the negative visceral reaction I have to those images, and 
despite the reservations I would otherwise have as a religious liberty 
advocate who is grounded in Jewish history, I fully support the 
government’s decision to limit religious gatherings to mitigate the 
COVID-19 pandemic.Around the world, governments are implementing measures that enforce 
social distancing in order to reduce the spread of the novel 
coronavirus. For example, last week the New York government banned all 
gatherings of 50 or more people. The measure applies to all gatherings, 
religious or not.Some religious communities have reacted with anger and defiance to 
action taken by towns, states and the federal government. Last week, 
three plaintiffs <a href="https://onenewsnow.com/ap/religion/new-hampshire-ban-on-large-gatherings-challenged-in-court" target="_blank">sued</a>
 New Hampshire’s governor for issuing an order prohibiting gatherings of
 50 people or more. In their complaint, the plaintiffs list disrupted 
activities in which they want to participate in person, including 
Baptist church services and Sunday school. Other religious leaders have 
openly defied state bans on large gatherings. On Twitter, a <a href="https://twitter.com/rhowardbrowne/status/1239295863173910529" target="_blank">video</a> shows Rodney Howard-Browne,
 pastor of The River at Tampa Bay church in Florida, inviting 
congregants to shake hands with one another. “This church will never 
close,” he declared. And in Louisiana, the Rev. Tony Spell brought together hundreds of people in Life Tabernacle Church, <a href="https://apnews.com/21cb04e62aba8144ee0672883dc6eddb" target="_blank">saying</a>, “We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.”But religious freedom — like all freedoms — is not absolute. As my colleague Lata Nott <a href="https://www.freedomforum.org/2020/03/19/in-crisis-times-balancing-safety-and-freedom/" target="_blank">wrote</a>
 last week, rights and government interests must be balanced. The 
government can enact laws that disrupt the free exercise of religion if 
the government can demonstrate a “compelling interest” for doing so. In 
this case, the government has a compelling interest to protect public 
safety and health in the midst of a pandemic by limiting large 
gatherings. The limits apply equally to religious and non-religious 
groups, so they are neutrally applicable — another key religious freedom
 test by courts. And the laws against gatherings are the least 
restrictive option available to the government to ensure public health.Importantly, the government has not prohibited other types of 
religious activities that do not involve large public gatherings. Many 
houses of worship have chosen to live stream their services so that 
their members can still participate in religious life. For example, last
 week more than 25,000 people watched a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/03/15/dc-churches-open-sunday-coronavirus-outbreak/" target="_blank">live stream</a> of a service at the Washington National Cathedral. And religious groups around the country, including <a href="https://www.umnews.org/en/news/churches-overcome-social-distancing-to-continue-outreach" target="_blank">Methodists</a> and <a href="https://www.jta.org/2020/03/11/united-states/preparing-for-the-worst-case-scenario-jewish-aid-groups-scramble-amid-the-coronavirus-outbreak" target="_blank">Jews</a>, continue to provide critical social services like meal deliveries to the elderly and the food insecure.In addition, despite handwringing by some religious leaders about 
government restrictions that disrupt gatherings, some religious 
institutions have elected to cancel their own services to protect the 
most vulnerable in their communities. Numerous Catholic dioceses chose 
to <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/03/19/masses-cancelled-how-can-catholics-practice-their-faith-home" target="_blank">suspend</a> celebrations of the Mass. The ADAMS Center in Virginia — the second-biggest mosque in the country — decided to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/03/13/dilemma-facing-religious-leaders-when-close-doors-during-pandemic/" target="_blank">cancel</a> Friday prayer services. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, often referred to as the Mormon Church, <a href="https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/3/12/21177623/mormon-church-lds-meetings-canceled-worldwide-coronavirus-covid-19" target="_blank">canceled</a> all meetings and activities worldwide. And many Jewish leaders have <a href="https://forward.com/news/441834/at-least-100-test-positive-for-coronavirus-in-hasidic-brooklyn/" target="_blank">called for</a> synagogues and yeshivas to close — and thankfully, communities have begun to <a href="https://thecity.nyc/2020/03/hasidic-leaders-sound-the-alarm-a-fire-is-burning.html" target="_blank">take heed</a>.Religious liberty advocates should nevertheless pay close attention 
to government action in the coming weeks and months. A pandemic does not
 give the government carte blanche to abridge fundamental rights. 
Thankfully, a number of governmental and civil society organizations are
 serving as watchdogs to ensure that governments do not cross any bright
 lines. For example, the U.S. Commission on International Religious 
Freedom has published a <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2020%20Factsheet%20Covid-19%20and%20FoRB.pdf" target="_blank">fact sheet</a> about the global pandemic and its impact on religious practice and freedom. And a multi-national research group called <a href="https://diresom.net/" target="_blank">DiReSom</a> — Diritto e Religione nelle Società Multiculturali, or Law and Religion in Multicultural Societies — is tracking legal regulations on religion during the COVID-19 outbreak.But the best way to guard our rights, now as always, is for every 
person to read or watch the news, contact their representatives when 
necessary, and insist that we responsibly balance our individual rights 
and responsibilities to others. COVID-19 will be with us for a long 
time. Religious freedom will survive this pandemic if we are vigilant.Benjamin P. Marcus is religious literacy specialist at the 
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. His email 
address is: <a href="mailto:bmarcus@freedomforum.org" target="_blank">bmarcus@freedomforum.org</a>.

FIRST FIVE: Can religious freedom survive COVID-19?