I had an interesting thought this morning. Honestly, interesting is not the right word; better words would include dark, diabolical, and insidious. This thought goes way beyond just a conspiracy theory, if true, it shows just how evil the hearts of some are and how open many of us are to fall into traps. I am not saying that this thought is true and even if it is, there is no way to prove it. I suppose, more than anything, it is just food for thought.

Now, I am in no way, shape, or form a supporter of Governor Reeves these days. He lost me when he promised one thing and did exactly another in an effort to appease. To me, it was like when the first President Bush made the statement, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Reneging on that promise was part of the reason he was a one-term president. However, Reeves made a comment today that set the wheels in my head to spinning. He stated in a Facebook post, “I, for one, am very grateful that there seems to be an emerging consensus around masks. I am frustrated—even angry—at the smug dismissal of masks from the world’s experts at the start of this pandemic. They pushed for painful shut downs that cost livelihoods and lives instead.”

What if those that are vehemently anti-mask are being played? It was an easy guess that many would reject mask mandates and refuse to wear them on the basis of "nobody is going to tell me what to do with my own body." What if there are those in power that want to destroy the economy in this country to remake it into their own vision? If people reject mask mandates and the virus continues to surge as it is, the next step will be another shut down of businesses and services thus, effectively, damaging our economy possibly beyond repair. For that matter, why did we as a country, at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis go straight to shut-downs instead of beginning with masks? For those saying mask mandates are a strike against their personal freedom, do they think a mask mandate is more of an attack on personal freedom than the inability to go to work, school, or church? Many that oppose masks and mask mandates do not have a problem with other mandates that either already exist or ones that they would like to exist.

What is the difference between mask mandates and vaccine mandates? No, I am not being sarcastic, I am being completely serious. We vaccinate our children as much to protect others as to protect them. There are risks of personal harm to our children when we have them vaccinated up to, and including, infection of the disease we are trying to prevent, other illnesses, and even death. But, we have them vaccinated anyway because the risks are minutely small and the potential risk of the disease running rampant is large.

What is the difference between “my body, my choice” regarding the subjects of abortion and wearing masks? A rallying cry of those who are proabortion is often “my body, my choice,” yet I see those who are prolife using it to support their choice not to wear a mask. It seems to me that if someone’s concern lies with the health and wellbeing of a person still in the womb, they should also be concerned with the health of their neighbor and the person standing near them in the grocery store.

What is the difference between a store requiring masks before you can enter and a bakery refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding? Again, this is a serious question. If a business owner can refuse to make a cake, photograph, or do floral arrangements for a same-sex couple, why can they not implement a mask mandate for its customers.

What is the difference between medical personnel and the general population when it comes to wearing a mask? Doctors and nurses wear masks, in part, to prevent the violent expulsion of their own germs toward a patient when coughing, sneezing, or even just talking. While unpleasant to wear, we have not heard many (any?) stories of medical personnel suffering self-infection or brain damage from continued use of masks and it is quite disingenuous to purport that the general population experiences such damage from masks.

Anyone that knows me knows that I firmly believe in personal rights and freedoms. However, I do not see any difference between requiring masks and requiring vaccinations. I do not see any difference in protecting unborn people and people already born. I do not see a difference in a store owner deciding to require masks of its customers and refusing to perform certain tasks for its customers, and I do not see any difference between doctors protecting those around them and me protecting those around me. I do not like wearing a mask! I hate them, they are hot and they are uncomfortable, but I have never seen it in the Constitution where it is a civil right to not be hot or uncomfortable.

Do I believe that masks limit a person’s ability to spread the virus, yes. Simply because any barrier will block some viral emissions. When two people are talking to each other, if they are both wearing masks and keeping six feet between them, the ability to transmit the virus to the other person is severely limited. That is not junk science or a government conspiracy, that is fact. Whether or not Covid itself is junk science or a government conspiracy is not something most of us will never be able to know for sure. But if the virus even has the potential of killing people and you want our lives to get back to the point where we have real personal freedom – the freedom to go back to work, back to school, back to church – wear  the mask if you are going to be within six feet of someone.