Poll: Masks and Face Shields

[Ernie]

Exactly what kind of person insists on wearing a mask in a restaurant? To wear it from walking from the door to the table, where they then take it off?

The kind of person who does it as a habit, except when they are eating.

[Neto]

Exactly what kind of person insists on wearing a mask in a restaurant? To wear it from walking from the door to the table, where they then take it off?

The kind of person who does it as a habit, except when they are eating.

We dropped these practices as restaurants and places of business in our area no longer had signs up, and when almost no one did it anymore, but we do always have a mask with us (when outside of the Berlin area, where it was never widely practiced), and do what ever is requested or expected, based on what we see others doing. Perhaps with the current (drastic) spike in cases here in Ohio (and in Holmes County) it would be well to do it more again, voluntarily (and even here in the Berlin area).

[Ernie]

Poll results as of 9-22-21 7:30 AM

1. 5
2. 3
3. 25
4. 11
5. 14
6. 2
7. 2
8. 4
9. 15
10. 21

Feel free to update your poll selections as of today.

[Ernie]

Not allowing people to mask, even if they want to:
https://nypost.com/2021/09/20/texas-res ... -risk-son/
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... chers-face
At least there is not a state law requiring people to unmask.

Here is the opposite attitude expressed by Dorcas Smucker on Facebook. If everyone in the world had this attitude, the world would be a better place.

If you're in Lancaster County, PA, or Harrisonburg, VA, next week, please stop by and say hi.
FYI if you or a family member are extra vulnerable to Covid: the PA events will be outside.
We'll be happy to wear a mask to speak to you. Just ask.

[Josh]

Exactly what kind of person insists on wearing a mask in a restaurant? To wear it from walking from the door to the table, where they then take it off?

The kind of person who does it as a habit, except when they are eating.

The person in question in that article frequently takes off their mask for many selfies, such as at weddings. (It can all be seen on her blog.) I have a difficult time understanding why she decided to make a big deal out of this restaurant.

Her stated reason is to avoid her infant son who has CF getting covid - but the official reasons for masks are to prevent transmitting covid to others, not to prevent getting it. And her husband’s very thick bushy beard makes it basically impossible to wear a mask correctly. And if they went to a restaurant where nobody else wears masks, it is hard to see how they are really that concerned.

This is just a political stunt for attention, which this person is notorious for doing. I feel kind of sorry for them. She shares endless very personal details in public for attention, such as a suicide attempt with a shotgun in 2018. A few days later, she shared pictures of the scars and of herself in a (mental) hospital.

During 2020, she has many stories of flying to quite a few different places or driving for vacations in the middle of the pandemic - flying to Denver, for example (again, complete with selfies on planes). If someone is really concerned about covid, you don’t get in a plane packed with tons of people in middle seats for several hours.

It’s very hard to take a person like this seriously as if they are some kind of public-health authority.

[Ernie]

It’s very hard to take a person like this seriously.

True.

My reason for linking to the article was not to defend the couple's logic or reasoning for wearing a mask, but rather call attention to those who forbid others from wearing a mask if they want to. All the rhetoric from the far right about rights and freedom to do as they choose, etc. can eventually go the the extreme of being intolerant of those who think differently than them.

Dorcas Smucker is an example of the opposite. She chooses to not wear a mask outdoors, but is glad to do so if that would make someone else more comfortable, regardless of their reasons for masking.

[Ernie]

The extreme far right has effectively stirred up their base to the point that some people have died or gotten their teeth knocked out over the matter.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/german-gas-s ... covid-mask

https://nypost.com/2021/06/14/woman-kil ... ar-a-mask/

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nation ... story.html

The far left has stirred up their base to the extreme of requiring facemasks to be worn outdoors and even encouraged them to do so when attending virtual meetings.
Extremes almost always result in ridiculousness.

[Josh]

It’s very hard to take a person like this seriously.

True.

My reason for linking to the article was not to defend the couple's logic or reasoning for wearing a mask, but rather call attention to those who forbid others from wearing a mask if they want to. All the rhetoric from the far right about rights and freedom to do as they choose, etc. can eventually go the the extreme of being intolerant of those who think differently than them.

Dorcas Smucker is an example of the opposite. She chooses to not wear a mask outdoors, but is glad to do so if that would make someone else more comfortable, regardless of their reasons for masking.

I think it’s unreasonable for some people to think they can demand other people cover their faces. It’s inherently anti-social.

Before 2020, most places had rules or laws against concealing one’s face in public. This was not new; such rules had existed for a long time. It used to be viewed as anti-social and associated with criminal behaviour.

I see no problem at all in someone who maintains social expectations that have existed from the 19th century into 2019. Those of us who don’t want to cover our faces 24/7 have been told “it’s a private business, they can do whatever they want to”. Perhaps the reverse should apply as well?

The number of places where you can’t wear a mask is vanishingly small: apparently, just a single bar and grill in Texas. The number of places where people like me, who have never spread covid, aren’t sick, and at zero risk to spread it, are required to conceal our faces, numbers in the millions. It is not a reasonable comparison to equate the two.

[Josh]

The extreme far right has effectively stirred up their base to the point that some people have died or gotten their teeth knocked out over the matter.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/german-gas-s ... covid-mask

https://nypost.com/2021/06/14/woman-kil ... ar-a-mask/

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nation ... story.html

I suspect this has zero to do with reading far right wing information and everything to do with people who have a culture of refusing to back down when asked to do something and thinking violent responses are OK.

If you want to talk about political violence, almost all political violence in the last year has been from the far left, not the far right. I don’t think such a political discussion is fruitful for the cause of Christianity. You need to disengage yourself from hate based politics.

[Ernie]

If I am being charged with engaging in hate based politics, then I do not see any basis for further discussion.