Worldwide shelter in place orders that were implemented in response to COVID-19 resulted in dramatic reductions in particulate pollution levels. *IQAir is the primary entity responsible for this resource. *Nathaniel G Skinner #HST643 @ ASU *This is a research report produced by IQAir, along with a website for tracking air quality.

I recently had the chance to observe a Catholic prayer group, done remotely due to COVID-19. The meeting lasted about an hour. The group was made mostly of women and they performed the rosary, as a devotion to Mary. After this was complete the women went into discussion. What I found was that many of these women were struggling due to recent events. Unemployment, anxiety, and sickness were all cited as problems for them. They asked each other to pray for them. This sort of group therapy, creates a sense of security, belonging, and hope. Many expressed how important the meeting was to them, as they needed an outlet to express their fears. The talk therapy, coupled with the ritual of rosary, helped these women during a difficult time. It is a testament to how many religious people may cling to their faith in times of distress. Karl Marx famously called religion “the opium of the people”. This experience showed me that in a way this is true; it did place these women at ease with their situation. Marx expressed this in a negative light, but what I saw was a necessary attempt to seek out community amidst an ordered isolation. To these women, it seems not an opium but rather a medicine for mental and spiritual well-being.

This is a screenshot of my trip itinerary for my Spring Break in March. I felt that this was a good contribution because this was the start of the uproar of the pandemic. Once I came back on the 14th everything changed. Business shut down, traveling limited, and school moved to online for the rest of the semester. This was a very significant time for me.

This article was written by Rusell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. in this article is stated to learn during this pandemic not only the survival but to also focus on other than yourself. people are suffereing because the pandemic has not hit a certain wealth status but over all, rich poor, young or old families or inviduals. Moore suggested to take away from this pandemic how to love your neighbours as yourself. also she reminds us that every life is vulnerable at this time not only us.

This article is about how the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the lives and ministry in total for 8 Manhattan Friars. The brothers are used to doing things in common. They pray twice a day, eat, and do everything together. With social distancing being put into effect in the NY area, all their normal routines are being challenged. What gives them faith is that the Catholic Funeral Liturgy says, “Life hasn’t ended, it has changed.”

This article talks about how Spain is finding alternative ways to celebrate Easter Sunday. Spain has been devastated by the Coronovirus just like many other countries. Spain is using this Easter as a rebirth of the country.

This article is about how many different people are adjusting their Easter plans due to COVID-19. Some are using the internet for church services, while others are simply putting crosses outside their homes. A few are even defying the stay-at-home order and still attending church services. Some people are fighting against the shutdown of church gatherings through legal battles.

Due to the mayhem following the coronavirus pandemic that has been occurring worldwide, “religious leaders have had to find creative ways to bring their services and communities together” according to Adam Jeffery with the CNBC. Throughout the article, Jeffrey displayed how all around the world religious leaders have thought of very innovative ways to keep their followers still involved in the church and to try to keep communities as together as possible. In Austria, the catholic priest Johannes Laichner is “circulating incense over the photographs of members of his congregation” (Jeffery, 2020). In places like Bowie, Maryland, Rv. Scott Holmer risks his life to go outside and “make the sign of a cross while holding confession in the church parking lot” (Jeffery, 2020). In Israel, Ultra-Orthodoc Jews still show their faithfulness to their house of worship as they “pray along a street outside their closed synagogue while respecting the social distancing regulations'' (Jeffery, 2020). Places all over the world are still keeping their faith in the higher power they believe in during such a sad and crazy time that we’re living in. Both the people as well as the religious leaders all around are displaying their support for each other in various ways to convey the message that regardless of what may be going on in the world, the higher power is still the answer and we’re in this together.

This article discusses the growing tensions between Hindu nationalists and Muslims in India. Hindu's have been blaming many of the problems in Indian society on Muslims and Christian missionaries, but this is another example of them attempting to place the blame on Coronavirus on Muslims. India is ripe for a coronavirus explosion in cases due to the large number of people in these packed together spaces. There are multiple false videos circulating through Whatsapp and other various social media sites like Facebook depicting Muslims spitting and distributing currency and attempting to spread the virus. This video is false. Additionally, there was a massive Islamic conference that helped spread the virus through different parts of the country which has enflared tempers and made the situation worse. On top of the pandemic, India needs to find a way to cool religious tensions or there will be even greater ramifications than the virus. For now, as NPR notes, India needs to focus on the response and figure out how to flag false information on Whatsapp and other social media.

This article discusses pastors in various states suing their government over gathering restrictions that are believed to infringe on religious freedom rights. Specifically, Barry McDonald emphasizes that if proper social distancing was maintained, churches may be able to make a case to be considered an essential service.

Muslim people in India have been the target of brutal attacks, after the Indian Health Ministry blamed the spread of covid-19 in India on the Muslims. People of Islamic faith prior to this virus were already racially and religiously persecuted in India, and this claim is making it even worst. The fact of the matter is that the Health Ministry's claim wasn't wrong. The spread of coronavirus in India can be traced back to one Islamic Seminary. Once they began being attacked and broken up, that group of Islamic worshipers fled all throughout the country, spreading the deadly virus. In an already Muslim-hating country, the prejudice and violence is growing even stronger because of this coronavirus claim.

This article does a great job detailing how religious leaders in Christianity and Judaism are aware of the major problem of Covid-19. They have shut down their temples for prayer, but they will still get their message of unity and faith across to the community. The article also details the major changes to usual rituals in churches and temples.

The article discuses how Covid-19 has been ignored and not taken seriously by some of the Christian Pastors and leaders within the relgion by not dismantling all social gatherings. The article explains how for some Christian leaders, they have been disobeying orders given by their states to no longer hold any more social gatherings until further notice which have resulted in arrestment. These leaders are/were trying to convince the masses that through more intensive Christianity practices, those who participate will become immune and from a global scale, the virus can be defeated.

This article is about twelve states which have allowed public religious gatherings during the current COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. The twelve states listed to the left have deemed religious gatherings essential and have created adaptations to maintain distance between members. These gathers are highly criticized and have been sourced as the cause of several outbreaks across the country, including in Sacramento, California.

This article discusses how some countries in the Middle East view the religious restrictions such as the closure of Shia shrines in Iraq and Iran and the cancelation of the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia as a form of violation of religious practices and repression of religious minorities. It is said that these restrictions will negatively impact how people view their government leaders.

This article goes into detail on how many “Chaplains” are keeping faith/ religiosity alive during the Corona Virus pandemic. Many individuals in the hospital who are ailing or have the Corona Virus are unable to have access to their religions, or any type of contact with religiosity. There are a select handful of individuals who will go into the hospitals infected with the coronavirus and bring religiosity to the sickly. Not only the sickly, but also bringing religiosity and faith to medical professionals or anyone who takes care of the sickly in the hospitals. This article outlines some of the work done by these people in the hospitals and what it means to them, and the people they are providing help for.

Though nearly every religion has used online streaming to connect with their congregations during the pandemic, preachers and parishioners alike are missing the personal contact that comes with in-person services.

This article speaks to the actions that major religious groups are doing around the world. We see how Christiany had to change up a lot of touching and huging to stop the spread. They also had to do more onlice services as well. We go to Islam and see how they closed down the Kaaba and stopping people from other countries from coming into Mecca and Medina. We look at the Hindus and how they still do Holi but they are asked to take more steps to be careful like wearing masking. Finally we see how Judaism trys to stop kissing and touch many things in order to slow the spread.

This article by Brooks says, how during the coronavirus is great time to make arts and crafts. In time religion have always encouraged the pursuit of happiness and well being along with science books. Brooks tells that in three equations is a formula to help oneself to contrast their life into an art form. Then magnify what we draw from the activity to help us see and think from a subjective view. This activity worth thinking about during the bad times we are all going through (Brooks,2020).

This article addresses some of the issues faced by various religious communities across the United States of America in the wake of restrictions due to COVID-19. It mentions some ways in which organizations are adapting services to comply with social distancing restrictions, and it provides more examples of organizations that have actively opposed these restrictions. It also incorporates the thoughts about compliance versus noncompliance from others across different religious traditions. The article points out that, for many of the religious traditions addressed, the measures being taken in response to the pandemic, such as social distancing, are in line with the central principles of their beliefs. The article closes by addressing some of the issues that communities face in their attempts to adapt services to these restrictions.

This article explains that a pastor from Virginia named Gerald Glenn still held in-person services at his church. The governor of the state ordered that all non-essential businesses and gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited. However, the pastor continued with his in-person services. According to him, his God and preachings needed to continue because they're bigger than the virus. On Saturday, April 11, the pastor passed away due to coronavirus. His wife also tested positive with COVID 19.

The article discusses changes that have been made to religious grieving ceremonies as a result of COVID. Various world religions have traditional services to honor their the dead. For example, Hindus have traditionally burned corpses on pyres near the Ganges river and Muslims have gathered to wash the bodies of their loved ones. However, due to government restrictions on social gatherings, these elaborate ceremonies are unable to continue normally, forcing people to temporarily suspend cultural practices and prioritize health safety.

I’m a freshman at Arizona State University, which was a big jump since I started off my life in a small town in Ohio. But I was ready for an adventure.College just finally started to get good. I was making some really good friends, enjoying work on campus, and doing well in my studies. And then it hit. COVID-19 hit. My job closed down, my friends moved back home, and school went all online. I was distraught. How could I do this on my own? How will I mentally get through this? But my community built me up. Zoom classes turned into a Zoom get together‘s with my classmates and friends. My teachers were understanding and even more helpful during this time. My coworkers and I grew even stronger bonds through this. At the beginning of this worldwide pandemic I thought to myself “how will I manage”, but now I am here to say we have gotten through the bulk of it and it has not only made me a stronger person but a stronger friend and student. All in all, though I thought this would have been the worst thing that could ever happen I’m here to say I’m more confident my studies, I know I have amazing friends and mentors to back me up, and I know any day now things will go back to normal and we will all be grateful and cherish how lucky we are to have the things that we have and to attend a university as amazing as Arizona State. #REL101

The article talks about how Iranian police are forced to break apart crowds of people who're forcing themselves into shrines which are normally used for prayers around the clock. It also states that COVID has affected mainly important festivals. The Article also talks about how Italy has opened private prayers and confessions. Europe and the US churches mosques and synagogues have been suspended for public celebration as well. It also talked about how 2/3rds of the confirmed cases of the virus inMalaysia can be linked back to an Islamic conference attended by about 16,000 people.

"The nation is growing increasingly nonreligious. Last year, the Pew Research Center reported that 26 percent of Americans now say they are not affiliated with any religious tradition, compared with 17 percent in 2009. Many of those unaffiliated Americans still believe in God and incorporate spiritual practices into their lives. But the share of atheists has doubled, from 2 percent of Americans in 2009 to 4 percent in 2019. An additional 5 percent now call themselves agnostics, compared with 3 percent a decade earlier."

This article is about churches in Georgia, Texas, and New Mexico having to adapt the upcoming Easter services through livestreaming options. However, in some states Governors have determined that church is an “essential” service which would allow Easter services to go on. These churches would use social distancing in order to worship and to avoid the spread of the virus. Moreover, some smaller churches plan to carry services how they normally would without practicing social distancing.

This article is about church members who lined up on Palm Sunday for communion at a Calvary Church near Los Angeles. Ten people were allowed inside at a time, but by the end of the day the church had seen hundreds of memebers. While people were attending church, protesters were lined up in the parking lot of the church honking their horns becuase this church was not closed and members were disregarding Los Angeles "stay at home" order due to COVID-19.

On March 31st Texas governor Greg Abbott added religious worship to the state’s list of essential services. This order allows for in-person religious gathers after other local officials had already ordered religious gatherings to be live-streamed only. The governor’s order proceeds the news of the arrest of several religious leaders for holding services with hundreds to thousands of attendees.

writer and priest James Martin grapples with the "problem of suffering" during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. He poses the question of why does God allow such suffering and tribulation to plauge the world. He comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to know and that the faithful must be able to keep their faith even when they don't understand the actions of their God.

The article describes one church community's response to COVID-19 and Gov. Ducey's proclamation to practice social distancing except in "essential activities." A spokesperson from the church community stated that they are not practicing social distancing and would continue to meet.

This article talks about Trump's towards the corona virus pandemic and how the denial of science and critical thinking amongst religious ultraconservatives is affecting the American repsonse to the covid 19 outbreak. The article talks about how religious ultraconservative people in America are in denial of the facts about the pandemic because they have a religious response towards the virus which in result causes a lack of concern amongst those groups of people.

In the article, it is discussing how a Muslim gathering increased the number of coronavirus cases in India. Many Indians, especially the Indian government, are angry because Muslims recently held a large gathering with people who came from abroad. From this situation, many Indians are seeing Muslims as individuals who are creating more problems in the country by attending these congregations carelessly and not following the government’s advice. Therefore, there has been an increase in Islamophobia due to this event, and the Indian government has even charged the Muslim clerics for not taking the coronavirus despite the government’s warning.

In this article it shows how an observance is affected for Catholics. Bishops around the nation are given special permission for parishioners to eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Their reasoning is that people have giving up so much already, i.e. gatherings, mass and other activities. In addition to social distancing food stores have sparse if not empty shelves in terms what is available for the special dietary rules for Lent. They want to ease the difficulties in finding food as well as making sure they are not endangering their health in order to fulfill their requirements for Lent.

The parking lot at a large church sits empty, and volunteers explain to anyone who tries to enter that all services will be held online in order to decrease the risk of spreading COVID-19. Regular church attendees are currently having their sense of community challanged. This is because their relgious practice routines have been disrupted.

Many state governments are being pressured by health professionals to set restrictions on religous gatherings. However, some state governments feel like they do not have the authority to set restrictions on religous practices, while others are limiting the amount of people per gathering, or even banning it completely.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton issued guidance for houses of worship and religious services. In the state of Texas, churches and other houses of worship are classified as essential services. The guidance document states that institutions can provide these essential services under certain conditions. The governor is directing religious activities to be practiced at home or through audio or video services. If they cannot conduct activities remotely, houses of worship should follow White House and CDC guidelines for social distancing, personal hygiene, and sanitizing public surfaces.

In the presented article it focuses on the challenges that Covid-19 has imposed on religion by challenging religious leaders to be more innovative in how they practice their faith both privately and in public, while simultaneously getting their members to actively participate as well. The social restrictions have challenged the way people are able to participate as a community to fulfill their religious endeavors, which as a result has altered their understanding of community and collectivity. Throughout the article it discusses that religious leaders are being proactive and are finding ways to get people to participate religiously. Although, self-imposed distance has carried a negative stigma since most people are beginning to miss socializing and fulfilling the emotional void that only in person human connection can resolve.

This article is about a Muslim and Jewish paramedic who work together in Jerusalem, a land of so much conflict. Despite general tension between the two religious groups, both men find time during the day to pray together, in their own ways. The picture of the paramedics is powerful because it shows how both men have faith in God, respect for each other, and the desire to be of service to their community.

The article describes how the COVID-19 virus is being used to promote Islamophobia. The COVID-19 virus is being used by political groups to promote Islamophobia. For example, in India the BJP named the COVID-19 virus “corona jihad” and blame Muslims for spreading the virus. Multiple media outlets have presented Islamophobic ideas that Muslims are responsible for the COVID-19 virus.

This article explains how Vatican City is being affected by COVID-19 (with the first few cases of COVID-19 having been reported just as the article was written). The article then further explains how the Catholic Church in Mexico specifically has responded to COVID-19, and the extent of the church shutdowns.

This article explains how three Kentucky citizens are accusing Governor Andy Beshear and other government officials of violating their religious freedom. The three plaintiffs attended Easter church and were issued quarantine notices on their cars that instructed them to quarantine themselves at home for at least 14 days. They claim that because they practiced social distancing at the church, they have no need to quarantine themselves and are refusing to do so. They are filing a class action lawsuit to fight this order and to ensure their religious freedom in the future.

Three Southern California churches filed a law suit against California Governor Gavin Newsom and other government officials’ due to the stay-at home order. The churches are “arguing that social distancing orders violate the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion and assembly”. Church officials state that they can practice the same social distancing manners that occur in grocery stores and other outlets. The article also mentions that similar lawsuits are occurring across the nation.

This article discusses the continuation of the First Amendment "even in times of emergency". As a small Baptist church in Mississippi was supposedly penalized for continuing to hold drive-in church services, the Justice Department confirmed its support in the church's lawsuit against the city of Greenville, and showed their approval and understanding of their new drive-in services. The main argument and point of support they touched on was the fact that even as times are changing and the world around is chaotic, people are still given their religious freedom and their right to defend it.

Law students from Arizona State University will be accepted students without the LSAT or GRE scores during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of donors contribute to relief fund set up with the goal of raising $1 million to assist the Navajo and Hopi Nations during the pandemic. #IndigenousStories

Amid uncertainty about the impact COVID-19 would have on the Maya villages of the Toledo District of Belize, several villages enacted their own curfews. These signs were posted as one enters the Queche Maya Village of Laguna. #IndigenousStories