Masks in schools: whose freedom is really threatened?
The science is not in dispute. Masks work to combat community spread of COVID-19.
Instead, anger has flared up around the concept of freedom. Somehow, the small act of wearing a protective mask to keep our school kids safe has been framed as a totalitarian power grab. This is absurd.
Parents claim that they don’t want to co-parent with the government, yet they entrust the safety and education of their children to a public institution. This is not about freedom, this is about opting out of the social contract on which this very country was founded.
The founding fathers derived the founding documents directly from social contract theory. Jefferson quoted John Locke almost verbatim in the Declaration of Independence. Safety, domestic tranquility, welfare, and happiness are all words of equal weight in those documents. We consent to be governed in exchange for the protection of rights and the maintenance of safety.
Freedom isn’t free indeed. Freedom requires us all to keep each other safe. My daughter’s freedom and right to an education are under threat because people are not holding up their participation in the social contract.
Parents’ choice not to mask in school creates an unsafe environment that eliminates other kids’ freedoms, other kids’ choices, other kids’ rights to an education in the least restrictive environment.
We need everyone to do their part, parents and elected officials, to ensure everyone can access education in safety. Wear your mask.
Marc van Bree
Buda
I pray your voice be heard
Where are the brave men of God and followers of Jesus Christ? Where are true Christian Leaders in America? Afraid to lose 501C that’s where they are. Afraid the government will remove the tax exemption if they use the pulpit to tell the truth about what this government is doing to our country and its people. What makes it right for the News Media etc. hiding behind Section 230 to hide, say and do just about anything and not be accountable, yet the church is held to separation of Church and State, therefore not allowing the freedom from the pulpit for fear of losing 501C status. Its time Church Leaders take to the airways and let the people of our America know what is really going on before it is too late. Too many Pastors are afraid that if they give up 501C their members will stop giving for fear of having no tax cut. What a shame. Be brave Pastors the day will come when you will have to answer to the one true God. You have the ability to speak out to millions that follow your words, be brave and feel the power of Almighty God fighting back the evil that is now in power. In the name of Jesus Christ I Pray Your voice be heard.
Jim Jackson
Manchaca
