Paul Krugman Thinks Holding Religious Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Like Dumping Neurotoxins Into Public Reservoirs Reason.com

Describing the Court’s emergency injunction in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo as “the first major decision from the Trump-packed court,” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman warned that “it will kill people.” He added: “The bad logic is obvious. Suppose I adhere to a religion whose rituals include dumping neurotoxins into public reservoirs. Does the principle of religious freedom give me the right to do that?” Krugman averred that “freedom of belief” does not include “the right to hurt other people in tangible ways which large gatherings in a pandemic definitely do.”

There are several problems with Krugman’s gloss on the case, starting with his understanding of the constitutional right at stake. The Court was applying the First Amendment’s ban on laws “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion, which includes conduct as well as belief. Krugman, of course, is right that the Free Exercise Clause is not a license for “dumping neurotoxins into public reservoirs” or, to take a more familiar example, conducting human sacrifices. But it is hard to take seriously his suggestion that holding a religious service during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of the safeguards observed, is tantamount to poisoning millions of people’s drinking water.

via reason.com

Every time I think Herr Doktor Professor Krugman has reach peak loathsomeness, he goes and out does himself. But I think at the kernel of his loathsomeness is his carelessness, which we lawyers as you know are not big on. Yes, taken all together, a few elderly people might catch Covid at church. But a few may die of loneliness if not allowed to go to church and are otherwise isolated. Plus, they are choosing to go to church. The odds of their catching Covid at church are very small, especially when compared to many things that are supposedly essential. I do not support banning Krugman’s columns even though they ruin a few people’s day. They can choose not to read him. Indeed they should.