I had a fun, online discussion with a guy I knew from very young years. VA just gave their stay at home order, and the gov. didn't include churches in his essential list. This guy was outraged that the "gubment" was outlawing religion by saying it wasn't essential. I told him that the order didn't say such a thing, he said going to the place of worship wasn't essential. I asked him what it meant if his deity couldn't interact with him unless he was at a specific place at a specific time. I checked for a response a few hours later, the post was gone.
They can be reasoned with (in the sense you can reason with a young child), if you pit their insecurities of A against their insecurities of B. Too bad he didn't figure out the real message.
Christians sometimes forget their origins. Early Christians were largely a covert faith. No mega churches, no religious rallies, and yet somehow their numbers grew. Maybe your friend would prefer a return to his Christian roots--an underground faith, hiding in the catacombs with members who philosophically separated church from state, rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar's!
Many believers have such a strong connection to thwir churches that they DO believe that it is essential. Of course then it comes down to the definition of "essential ". They actually believe that they micght slip up and burn on hell forever. This radical extremist thinking is real as I was one of them due to my childhood indoctrination.
This being said church is no more essential than a public place of worship of the real life Scooby Doo. However, rational thought is discouraged in religion.
The only reason most churches want to stay open is in order to keep passing the offertory.
Ghosts don't like locked doors either.
Is this like "gawd can't see you on a cloudy day" thing?