In reference to Alistair Taylor’s Jan. 27 article “infringement of rights is in the eye of the beholder.”
SEE: Infringement of rights is in the eye of the beholder
He makes a good point, that in the name of health and safety, we make many restrictions to our behavior. Even in the Bible, Moses recommended that if sick, you were to inform those in your immediate vicinity to distance themselves. The sick individual also wore a mask over one’s mouth (not nose). I suppose breathing comfortably was more of a priority back in those times.
The reason for some of the push back on both mask wearing and lockdowns is rooted in the confusion created by the leadership early in the pandemic. Remember, in January 2020, our Canadian lead, Doctor Tam condemned restricting airport travel from China as racist (grossly unnecessary language).
I remember Dr. Fauci himself expressing the logic of why using masks was of little consequence. There was truth to this argument as the holes in your cloth mask are 100+ times the size of an individual virus. Traditionally, the mask’s effectiveness was related to not expelling saliva with the virus.
Then in June, the same Dr. Fauci enhances the credibility problem when he confessed, he misled us and had done so because they were short on masks in March. There goes truth as the best policy, but keep the faith.
Now, as for lock downs at airports, in late March, some health officials and the Conservatives were still begging Justin Trudeau to lock down airport travel from abroad. You can’t blame him for waffling, his “black face pictures” scandal was still the news. Dr. Tam might still get instructions from the World health Organization to call all that imply such action as Racists. Here we are a year later and anyone returning home is in Justin’s quarantine hotel prison. My how times change.
Time and time again in the last year, a lot of decisions have been made with poor consideration for reason, logic, and consultation. Small businesses are ruined, but big box stores prosper like never before. Churches remain closed but let that booze and marijuana flow. Mask Nazis and Lockdown Fanatics provide witness that would have made the Spanish Inquisition proud. A judge had to tell Bonnie Henry last week she has enough power to shut down those churches in the Fraser Valley. Why do you want more?
At the end of the day, I pull the mask down below my nose to breath better through my weak lungs. I will socially distance, condemn lockdowns, and I will try to do as Bonnie says “be kind, calm and safe.”
Michael J. Barry
Campbell River
