Religious Views and Religious Struggles in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic
Religious Views and Religious Struggles in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic

Summary/Abstract: Recent findings demonstrate a growing interest in religiosity during the COVID-19 pandemic and indicate a positive link between religiosity and mental health, agreeableness, and higher emotion regulation skills. On the other side, some surveys describe religious people as reluctant to follow the public health experts’ recommendations. They also tend to score lower on intelligence and analytic thinking measures. Religiosity is a ressursfull in facing adversity, giving a sense of meaning, comfort and closeness. Religion/spirituality can also be a source of stress and strain during major life crises raising profoundly unsettling doubts about religious beliefs. Therefore, it is essential to study how religion in our country has influenced the psychological process of perception of the pandemic and how religious views impact religious struggles. This study analyses the religious notions of the COVID-19 pandemic and religious struggles. How do different religious interpretations of the pandemic affect different struggles? For this purpose, we interviewed believers from different religious communities - Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims. The analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals two main points of view. The focus of the first religious interpretation is pandemic as retribution for the self-forgetfulness of man and the consumerist attitude toward God’s creation. The main narrative in the other interpretation considers diseases and suffering that accompany human life as a natural consequence of original sin and perishable human nature. Both points of view relate to different struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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