Jindal & Todd: COVID's liberal religious revival – how their God-less theocracy's destroying politics, culture

When the first documented COVID case appeared in the United States 16 months ago, few would have predicted the religious revival it ignited. Unlike the four previous Great Awakenings that expanded Christianity’s American footprint, this revival exposed what now is the country’s most politically powerful religion: Secular Science-ism.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed these "nones" really are not without a religious belief structure, however. Their behavior is driven by the kinds of impulses, demands and leaps of faith they sometimes deride in more traditional religions.   The personal voids created by the rejection of traditional religion will always demand to be otherwise filled.   Rejection of the afterlife and focus on this earthly life pulls secular liberals toward caution – perhaps to an extent that risk tolerance drives, rather than follows, political ideology. This zealous pursuit of a no-risk lifestyle leads to ridiculous and self-contradicting requirements like Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s edict that summer campers wear masks while canoeing, or the continued closure of schools after teachers have been vaccinated.