Why I Don't Wear a Mask

I can remember something like 14 days to slow the spread, I can remember closures, I can remember churches being told not to gather, and here we are still under increasing mandates and extended measures. I read a post from Mike Rowe today which I shared on my Facebook page, you should check it out. He was speaking about 'Safety Third' and responding to a woman who was feeling depressed. He mentioned how nearly half of those who came here on the Mayflower died on their voyage across the Atlantic. I knew that fact but it had escaped my mind for some time so it was a good reminder. I was blessed this year to be with my father as he passed away in his home that he built on the same land that he grew up on and where he lived almost his entire life. My brother Tanner said it well when he said that our father's passing really was like a Norman Rockwell painting. It was. The days leading to his passing, the music, the tears, laughter, and those final moments are some that I will never forget.

What I find terribly sad is that many people have been restricted from being able to say goodbye to loved ones. Not only that, I find it sad and frustrating that many people aren't allowed to say hello to loved ones. You might find it as a bit of a surprise but I have not yet put on a mask. And you might wonder why that is. Am I uncaring? Do I have no concern for the life of others around me? Am I just a rebellious person? Do I have no empathy? Don't I know that I'm to obey the governing authorities? Don't I love my neighbors? I'm sure there are many other questions but I'm not going to answer those right now. There are few like me but I hope what you might see the next time you encounter me, hopefully greeting you with a smile, is a man who is fighting for you.

There are some famous words from Martin Luther that have impacted my life of which I truly seek to honor in my day-to-day living. In being tried by the Roman Catholic Church and told to recant from his teachings even under the threat of death Martin Luther said, "I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen." That is my response as well. It is, for me, an act against my conscience to comply with such restrictions like a mask mandate.

For millennia we have treated the sick as sick and we have not treated the healthy as sick. I cannot emphasize enough the real danger in the psychological shift that the entire world is participating in, with few exceptions. Laws in the Old Testament concerning leperousy did allow for quarantine. But the quarantine laws were only for those who had verifiable symptoms for their illness. Yes, even leprosy can be asymptomatic. Covid-19 is not new in being asymptomatic. The flu can be asymptomatic. This shift of psyche and governmental overreach should not be something to which we so easily acquiesce. No, wearing a mask in itself is not a big deal. We often use masks in my field of work. I don't have a mask phobia. But I do have a prick in my conscience to go against such fundamental and foundational principles in how I view fellow image bearers. And this is why I cannot participate. If I become sick I will remove myself from others as has been my common practice. But I do not expect you as a healthy person, which is what I should assume from the beginning, to wear a muzzle as if you are sick. I will not be pretentious and see you as guilty before being proven innocent. I will see you as healthy, clean, before assuming you are sick, unclean. This is my Christian duty as I seek to obey Christ in all of his Commandments. Unless I am convinced otherwise from Scripture and sound reasoning I will not recant. To do otherwise is to go against conscience which is neither safe nor wise.