Mask Hysteria - I've Solved the Debate

Just a quick note at the beginning of this video, a couple of times in this video, I say mass hysteria. And every time I say that, I meant to say mask hysteria, but it didn't quite come out right. And so, you know, I'm not afraid of being spicy, but mass hysteria sounds a little bit too pejorative, and what I was trying to do was make like a funny, you know, a funny, mask hysteria, because the video is about masks.

This is a video about wearing masks, you know, the masks that you put on your face. So this is the video, hope you enjoy. Remember, mask hysteria. I don't wanna buy into mask hysteria. So I have a few minutes before my next phone call, so I wanted to do a quick video about coronavirus, which I haven't done in weeks and weeks and weeks, because I haven't been on Drudge Report for weeks and weeks and weeks, so I didn't even really know this was a big deal anymore.

But apparently, people are scared as ever, in fact, more scared than before, which I don't quite understand, but hey, it's okay. Everyone has their own agendas and their own feelings on the issue and all of that kind of thing.

Risk, Fear, and the Mask Debate

But I've seen a number of times on Twitter in the last few days, people lamenting and just very concerned that they can't understand how any Christian would be against wearing masks. And so I figured I'd just explain it to you, because I am a true and honest and rational and reasonable anti-masker.

That's right. Anyway, but I wanted to just give you my thought process, because maybe this could help you, maybe it won't. I don't know, I don't pretend to think that I'm gonna solve the debate in this video, but at least you'll maybe understand where some of us are coming from.

I don't speak for everybody, but I think I've got a pretty good hat on my shoulders when it comes to this issue. Because here's what we're doing. I mean, everyone does this at all times, in every situation, we're all managing risk.

Risk is a part of life, it's always a part of life, it's always been a part of life and it always will be a part of life. And people manage risk differently. So let me take it out of the mask issue for just one moment and talk about something else that I think can help clarify my thinking on how we manage risk differently.

Helicopter Parents and Free-Range Parents

Let's think about parenting, right? Let's think about parents who really love their kids. I'm not talking about parents who don't care about their kids, but for the purposes of this discussion, two sets of parents, both of them love their kids.

And we've got on the one hand, we've got a helicopter mom, you know, the kind of person that anything that's even remotely dangerous, they are protecting their kids. No, no, don't do that, don't do this.

And they're managing, micromanaging their kids' lives minute by minute. A helicopter parent, we all know what that is. And then on the other hand, you've got a free range parent, a parent who kind of just lets their kid do what they wanna do.

Go outside and come back at lunchtime and we'll be fine. You do whatever you gotta do, right? And we wouldn't wanna say that either one of those parents dislikes their kid because remember, for the purposes of this discussion, both sets of parents love their children, but they're approaching parenting.

It could not be more different how they're approaching parenting. One person is micromanaging everything the child does at all times. And the other parent is just kind of letting them do and explore and grow and learn on their own.

And it's two different styles of parenting. But when you think about it, both parents are actually doing the same thing. They're actually managing risk. They're just making different decisions and managing that risk differently.

On the one hand, the helicopter mom is thinking, well, my mission is to get my child through childhood with as few scars as possible, right? With as few serious injuries as possible. And there's really not anything like that wrong with that because on the one hand, yeah, that is part of a parent's job is to get the child through childhood alive, right?

You know what I mean? That would be nice if we could get our child through childhood alive and not injured and not seriously injured and things of that nature. I'm trying to think of what I mean to say, but you get the idea, right?

Like that's actually true. So they're managing that risk in a very hands-on, a very overprotective in some people's eyes way. Now the free range parent on the other hand is managing that risk in a very similar way, except they're taking a different approach to it.

See, they're thinking, okay, well, if my kid gets a few bumps and bruises, falls off a tree and breaks their arm, that's not the end of the world. But what I'd really want to do is make sure that I get my kid through childhood in such a way that they're able to be independent.

They're able to work problems out on their own. They're able to choose right from wrong. I'll teach them what to do, but I'm gonna let them make mistakes. I'm gonna let them do their thing kind of thing.

So there there's different, each set of parents is prioritizing something slightly different. On the one hand, the one parent is prioritizing physical safety and health, you know, very much. On the other hand, it seems to be that they're prioritizing maybe more mental health or more mental fortitude and things of that nature.

They want their kids to be more independent and not have to worry about being micromanaged through all of life's problems. It's not that they don't care and they don't want to help their kids. It's just that they're valuing different things.

And so we can see when it comes to the helicopter mom managing risk versus the free range parent managing risk, it's because they've got different value sets that they come to different conclusions. They've got a different strategies because they're valuing different things.

Why He Rejects Mask Hysteria

And it's the same thing with the anti-masker debate and things of that nature. Like, I think that the idea that's presented so often is that anti-maskers just disregard all human life besides their own.

They won't even be discomforted for a little bit to save a life. And it's like, that's just really disrespectful. That's not what most anti-maskers are all about. I'm sure there are some out there, just like there are some parents that hate their kids, of course.

But from my perspective, I'll tell you this, like, my not wearing a mask in situations where I'm not required to is more about, I don't think that the mass hysteria that's come with this coronavirus pandemic is very healthy for people.

I don't think the idea of shutting down hospitals so that people can't get surgeries that they need and treatments that they need. I don't think that isolating people in these lockdowns and stuff like that, I don't think that shutting down the economy is very helpful.

In fact, I think that these things are gonna end up costing more lives than the coronavirus could ever dream of doing. And that's my position. After looking at the research, after seeing how dangerous the coronavirus actually is, after seeing how other countries have handled it and the results and stuff like that, I don't think that the trade-off is a very good trade-off.

And so I don't want to play into this mass hysteria. And so when I don't have to wear a mask because there are certain situations where I just have to, I don't wear one because I don't want to keep playing into this mass hysteria.

And I think that this message is received by many people. I've joked about it, but it's really true. I'm walking through these stores and most everybody has a mask. I don't have a mask. And the other day at the grocery store, I passed this lady and we gave each other the nod kind of thing.

And it's definitely, there's some camaraderie there. Cause it's like, oh yeah, you too? You're not buying into this hysteria either? Okay, good. It's good for you. And I think people are seeing that. And that's why people get so furious about it.

Cause they, people get really mad when you're not, you know, buying into the things that they're buying into. They get really mad a lot of the time. Not everybody. I mean, there's some people, most people just, you know, wear their mask.

They mind their own business, right? Like that, I'm not talking about those people. I'm talking about the people, like the Karens, you know, the people that get all upset that you're not wearing a mask and stuff like that.

Those people are furious that you don't believe the same thing that they do. It's almost like an attack on their own existence. You know what I mean? Like they just can't imagine someone disagreeing with them to such a degree that they have to, you know, get all snippy because you're just literally not wearing a mask.

I don't think it's healthy to buy into the hysteria and to spread that message far and wide. I think people are going to be hurt by this long-term. And we're already seeing that. We're already seeing doctors talk about how this is going to be a mass casualty event.

The fact that people can't get these treatments and these surgeries and these things that they need to get because of coronavirus protocols and things of that nature. And so I value that. I put a high value on keeping a level head at all times.

I put a high value in that kind of thing. And so what I'm doing is I'm managing risk and I'm doing it differently than people who wear the mask. They're managing risk in a more kind of an immediate sense.

You know, they don't want to catch the coronavirus. They don't want to spread it to elderly people even though the chances of them spreading if they're not sick are very, very low. I understand that risk and I accept it.

And I'm managing it slightly differently than you because I'm saying, okay, I'm willing to risk getting the coronavirus as an asthmatic. I don't want to get it. I believe that there's a real virus. I believe that it could be very serious for me.

You know what I mean? I'm not denying any of those things. But what I have seen in the statistics, I think it's a very low chance that I'll get it. There's a very low chance that it'll be serious for me.

There's a very low chance that I'll spread it, especially if I don't go anywhere when I'm sick. If I just wear the mask when I'm sick kind of thing. I just kind of do what we've always done in flu season since the beginning of time, like just common sense things, wash your hands, don't go out when you're sick, things like that.

We all knew how to do this before coronavirus, but somehow coronavirus has changed everything. And I know, yeah, it's not the flu. I get you. But the thing is I'm managing risk differently here because I think that it's more dangerous to go on like we're doing right now for longer than it is to get the coronavirus and to spread the coronavirus.

I'm managing that risk differently than you. And that doesn't mean anything about what I say or what I think about the seriousness of coronavirus. That doesn't mean that I hate my neighbor because it doesn't mean that any more than I can say that you hate your neighbors that aren't able to get the surgeries that they need, or you hate your neighbors that are committing suicide because they don't have a job and they're lonely and stuff like that.

Or I don't say you hate your neighbor that hasn't been visited in the nursing home and so they've lost the will to live. They haven't been visited for weeks and so they've lost the will to live. That's really happening.

That happened in my town. There was just this old woman who hadn't had a visitor and her friend said she just lost the will to live. And so she passed away. And so I don't say you hate her. I'm saying you're managing risk differently.

God-Given Spheres of Authority and Personal Responsibility

And you see, this is the thing. Christians have to have a chance as Christians to look at the spheres of authority that God gives people. And when it comes to dealing with sickness and when it comes to dealing with your family and whether or not they go out and whether or not they go to church and what they do in order to protect others and stuff like that, that is firmly in the realm of the family.

And so we can manage that risk differently. It's the same thing with parenting. The father is in charge of the home. And so we understand that some fathers are going to manage their homes slightly differently, emphasizing certain things, valuing certain things more or less than my own family.

The way I parent isn't gonna look like the way that everyone parents because we have different goals, slightly different goals and different values. So some people are gonna value the immediate safety more so than others.

And other kids, other parents are gonna value sort of the long-term ramifications of helicopter parenting more so than others. And so I'm not saying that there isn't a right or wrong answer. I think that there is in many cases.

But we have to understand that managing risk is something that every person does. And we all do slightly differently because we all have slightly different values. And this is one of the key reasons why I think that the only way forward for masks and the whole situation for masks, the only way that actually respects God's law and also each other as Christian, love your neighbor as yourself, that's something that we ought to be doing, is the position of if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask, and if you don't want to wear a mask, don't wear a mask.

That's the only thing that makes sense. Everyone should be deciding for themselves and managing their own risk according to their own unique situations because your situation is different than my situation.

My situation is different than someone who has an immune deficiency disorder situation. My situation is different than an older, elderly type person's situation. So everyone knows their own situations better than you do.

So stop pretending like the state should jump in and just make a one-size-fits-all blanket edict for everybody. That doesn't make any sense. That's a very extreme position. And I don't see how that's reasonable or rational at all because the state can't possibly know the details of everybody's context, the details of everybody's situation.

A one-size-fits-all edict from the government is very likely to cause more harm than it is to cause good. And so we shouldn't just have your values insisted upon everyone because we all manage risk differently.

This is the same thing. We shouldn't have the state mandating certain parenting. Like the state shouldn't be able to mandate you be a helicopter parent versus you being a free-range parent. That's obviously something that's the purview of the individual, the family unit.

And so it would be stupid for the state to mandate something like that for everybody. And so the law of God, that's why the law of God is so important. We gotta respect the different spheres of authority that God has given each unit, the family, the state, and the church.

See, I'm not a rebel. Like the thing is like, this is not an extreme position. Like if I have to wear a mask, I'm not gonna not wear a mask just to prove a point. I'm not a rebel. So if I walk into a store and they say, sir, can you put on mask on?

You have to have a mask to shop in the store. I'll make a choice. Either I'll leave the store or I'll put a mask on because that's their property. They have the right to do what they want to on their property.

If they want me to wear a mask and it's their property and I want to buy one of their items, then I better put a mask on because they have the right to tell me that. And likewise, my church, if they ask me to wear a mask at church, that's their property.

They have the right to do that. I'm not gonna rebel against that. But the thing is like, we can't just transport those property rights to every situation for every person of all times. If you don't own the property of where I'm standing, you have no right to tell me what to do.

You don't have any right to tell me how to manage risk. You manage your own risk. I'll let you mind your business. Let me mind mine. It's a very rational, reasonable, middle road kind of squish position, but it's the only thing that makes sense if you look at the law of God, like let everyone decide in their own minds what to do with these masks.

That's kind of how, that's just what we do. I mean, that's how life was before coronavirus and it worked just fine. And it'll continue to work just fine if we just rediscover that the fact that everyone manages risk differently and that's part of what makes this country great.

Anyway, I hope you found this video helpful. God bless.