By Filings on
Society & Culture
John MacArthur
Church COVID Restrictions
Church and State
Christianity vs Culture

“The 2,000-word document has received signatures so far from notable figures including John MacArthur, Tom Buck, Voddie Baucham, Phil Johnson, James Coates, and James White.” - C.Leaders

The Declaration

Discussion

Thu, 09/08/22

[dgszweda]
dcbii wrote:

When Americans can see that what is done in the name of common good is not really for the common good, of course the long tradition of freedom in this country will cause people to act differently than they would in a nation like China, where there is no freedom.

The second the mask rules started coming out, a lot of people were in an uproar. You can’t breathe, they don’t do anything…. The general consensus is that the mask rule was a move toward tyranny, and how dare the government tell us what to do with our bodies. Whereas, in many countries they were not viewed as that way. In fact in most of Asia, masks have been common for decades. The view in Asia, is that wearing a mask when one is potentially sick or been around someone who might have been sick is a courtesy. To not wear one, is considered highly offensive. So on the one hand in America, it is offensive for the government to impose a mask mandate, and in a place like Asia, a mask is an obligation for the common good of those around you.

I’ve lived in East and SE Asia most of my adult life, and this point has made the rounds but is greatly exaggerated.
When you say “common,” you mean you might see a handful of people wearing them during flu season or if they had a cold. Maybe a couple of students in a class, max. A few on a plane.
Usually you saw none.
That’s hardly “common,” and very, very different from masking your whole populace.

I had never worn a mask in Asia in more than 15 years before the pandemic, and nobody found it offensive. A lot of my students in both E and SE Asia would simply blow their noses openly and stack tissues in a pile like anybody else.
In SE Asia currently, we are very sick of masks, thank you very much. Countries have been rolling back mandates, but a lot of people on the streets have just been ignoring them anyway.

Mon, 09/12/22

It is one thing to say it is showing love to wear a mask if you are sick. It is another thing to force a healthy person with asthma or past trauma to wear a mask. It can be very unloving to force someone to cover their face. At the height of the question over whether or not Sioux Falls should extend their mask mandate, their was a public forum held with many testifying. Two different woman got up and testified about assaults they had experienced in the past and how traumatic it was for them to have their faces covered now as a result. If the science had actually shown that the masks would stop the covid particles it would be one thing, but it is unloving to force people to relive past trauma when the science does not even support it. Further the science does support that long term mask use does make people more susceptable to other bacterial infections. If we really want to show love for others, we need to be concerned about that as well.