Hey. I have a question for some of you. And this question might seem five or six years late — but recent events in my irl social circle have brought it back to the forefront of my mind. The question is (and my fellow conservatives and RadTrads are gonna hate me for this, but):

Why do y’all take such issue with mask mandates?

Please, do explain. I’m so curious. Because never since all this started have I once heard a single intelligent, rational argument against mask-wearing.

I get it. Wearing a mask is no fun. It’s uncomfortable. I don’t even have any respiratory health issues, but wearing one of those things, I feel like I can’t breathe properly. During Covid times I got used to it, out of necessity, but still, as soon as I was alone, even if just for a moment, I’d rip the thing off my face, gasping for air.

And they don’t fully protect you or others agaisnt viruses, that’s true! They’re no guarantee that you won’t get sick! However, do masks help some? Obviously they do! I mean it’s just common sense, right? When you talk or breathe, you expel particles — and, if you are infected, germs — from your nose and mouth. Why not have a shield, a barrier of some sort, to slow the spread.

It’s the same reason we cover our nose and mouth when we cough or sneeze. Is covering your mouth perfect prevention against the spread of disease? No, but it helps some, because of the barrier provided by your arm, and it’s also significantly less gross than just coughing and sneezing in the open air! — or would you propose that we start doing that, too? “Can’t no one tell me to cover my damn mouth when I sneeze! Don’t Tread On My Right to be Fucking Gross! FREEDOM! 🦅”

Covering your mouth and nose is common sense, during an outbreak of a virus. Wearing a mask should be too. Isn’t that why doctors wear them when they’re at work?

Why do people think a mask mandate is “the government trying to control us”? Tell me, please, how does “the government” stand to benefit from us little people wearing masks?

I don’t disbelieve that the government does not have our best interests at heart, us little people, and might even be out to actively harm us — but the thing is, wearing a mask does not harm us (unless you have a serious respiratory health condition, in which case, just stay home). So how is the big bad government “winning” by me wearing a mask? In what way is me covering the lower half of my face serving the corrupt politicians and billionaires? Seriously, can anyone out there explain the logic? Even if the government is evil, making us wear masks is not, and cannot be, one of their evil ploys.

“Well it just makes you look like a stupid government pawn when you wear a mask” — stupid because I believe the empirical evidence that there is an infectious virus going around, and I’d rather not inhale your gross droplets? Stupid because I’m following the rules of whatever establishment we’re standing in? That’s like saying I’m a “stupid government pawn” for carrying an umbrella when there’s rain in the forecast, or that I’m a “stupid government pawn” for not shouting at the top of my lungs in the public library.

You know what I think is really going on? Some of y’all just don’t like to be told what to do.

And look, I get that too. I’m hardheaded and suspicious and fiercely independent by nature, too. I also prefer to not do whatever’s mainstream and normal.

But (1) it’s common sense, isn’t it? Why would you not want to protect yourself and others?, but even if you don’t care about that, there’s still (2) the whole “render unto Caesar” thing: if there’s a mandate in place (and that mandate isn’t telling us to do something sinful or otherwise harmful, which this one is not; I can already sense some of y’all about to call me a hypocrite for supporting the SSPX while coming on here and ranting about good Christian obedience — but the difference is, the SSPX disobeys because they see that obedience would actually support sin and harm souls, therefore they opt for obedience to the actual Catholic religion instead of to the individuals currently occupying the Vatican; whereas, in the case of wearing a mask where mandated, no harm is being done and no sin committed, so it’s totally different) — then we have to obey that mandate!

Which is so funny because most if not all of the mask-refusers are Christians! As Christians, shouldn’t we be the best at obedience? Shouldn’t we be okay with it? Yes, obviously if a rule or law tells us to sin, then we can’t obey it, but the mask mandate does no such thing!

Some people get way too hung up on individual freedom and personal liberties. Personal liberty is not the most important thing. God’s law is. Obeying the mask mandate is keeping the Fifth Commandment. Why do so many Christians not see that?

Obeying legitimate authorities, accepting discomfort for the sake of others — as Christians, this ought to be our MO. And Catholicism has always been pro-preventative medicine. I truly don’t understand this back-asswards crunchy culture trend that insists that modern medicine, which saves tons of lives every day and extends and improves so many more, is somehow satanic (until it serves them in an emergency, that is).

There’s nothing un-Christian about covering your face to prevent the spread of illness. There’s nothing about that little act of service that imposes on your “rights.”

“But you can’t tell me what to do” — actually, friend, as a human being living in a society, sometimes you do have to be inconvenienced; sometimes you do have to be told what to do, even if you don’t like it. Wearing a little paper mask is not even that big a deal.

Can anyone explain it to me, then, why you refuse to comply with mask mandates, why they upset you so much? I’m not being sarcastic, I’m seriously really curious. Because tbh I know plenty of individuals who are much smarter than me and whose opinions and beliefs I deeply respect who are, mystifyingly, anti-mask, and I’m dying to understand why — because it just seems like a common sense issue to me. If you think you can enlighten me, I’m leaving the comments open.