The future of religion and religious practices in the post-pandemic period

Abstract

The article is based on the analysis of scientific literature, expert interviews, information resources of the world computer network Internet, in particular electronic versions of such publications as BBC news, BBC Future, Financial Times; official Internet portals of international organizations of the United Nations, WHO, Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies, etc. the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious practices during the «hardships of grief» it has already carried out and what awaits them in the future when the pandemic ceases to be devastating.

The author set the goal - based on the analysis of the latest information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious practices to identify and present those important points that are already relevant to them at the moment, as well as those that are still begin to manifest and will be relevant in the post-pandemic era. As a leading research method, the Desk Research method was used, which allows to quickly obtain information and fruitfully compare sources of information with each other in order to achieve an effective research result and formulate reasoned conclusions.

The article addresses the following questions: What were the reasons that the pandemic actually «turned the world upside down»? What does this mean for the future of religious gatherings, rituals and travel, given that all of this can increase the transmission of viruses globally? Is there a radical transformation of the whole religious life of mankind? Isn't this the beginning of the end of religions, as some sociologists of the past predicted? The questions, as we see, are fundamental. And they were set before us by the pandemic.

So, obviously, those scientists are right who have always noted that crises bring not only negative phenomena, but also give a chance for positive change in human society. And, comparing the views of philosophers of the past, who believed that religion, this «old magic» and «disappointment of the world», will soon be a thing of the past, and «tourism will be the totem of a new species» with how the COVID-19 pandemic affected religious consciousness people around the world, the author concludes that these predictions do not come true. Religion will not go anywhere (and the article shows why), but the teachings and religious practices themselves are waiting for some transformation. Just as churches will be required to comply with epidemiological safety requirements during church events and travel.

Since the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the scientific community are still being understood and the literature is just beginning to appear, this article presents the author's position on problems that arise in it.