Is lying wrong? Yes…almost always! This is fundamentally the reason I will not wear a mask. It would be a lie. Let me explain and then others can try to punch a 0.12 micron hole in my reasoning.
I will not say its ALWAYS wrong to lie because I’ve read what the Jewish rabbi’s say about answering sensitive questions on a young lady’s wedding day. Would YOU tell the young lady that the dress is all wrong for her body shape, her shoes are the wrong shade of off-white, or that her makeup is incredibly heavy? All of those things may be, in fact, true, but you DO NOT say those things to her on her wedding day! You tell her she is the most beautiful girl in the world…out of love and deep affection…you “lie”.
Out of love and deep affection for God and the general public I want to tell the truth. The wearing of any mask less than an ASTM Level 1 surgical mask for the sake of a 0.12 micron sized virus called SARS-CoV-2 is more a “behavioral reminder that there’s a pandemic and life is not the same right now ― and a reminder not to put our hands in our eyes nose or mouth until we’ve washed our hands.” Gregory Poland, M.D. / Vaccine Research Group / Mayo Clinic
Stop and think about that! A behavioral reminder? Really??? Can we not use a string around the finger or a task reminder? Can we not simply use our sense of personal responsibility to be extra careful during expected flu seasons? Ok…big deep breath…skip the insult to my intellect…
I have wanted to share this thought for weeks now and give others a real-world example to base their decision-making on. It seems that now is the time.
Once upon a time, a long LONG time ago (2016), I was bitten by a particular type of tick under a very specific set of conditions. I contracted an illness/deadly allergy called Alpha-Gal (galactose-α-1,3-galactose, a carbohydrate found in almost all mammalian cell membranes except for humans). Some research will say that it simply means an allergy to meat, but that is a terribly simplistic explanation. I had a very intense case that meant I became deathly allergic to ALL mammalian products.
I couldn’t sit on leather couches. Cow molecules! Seriously!
I couldn’t sit on fabric couches if the owner had pets. Not even neat-freak, vacuum your couch every day, couches without a painful, fiery rash.
I couldn’t take medications with mammalian ingredients, anything with a gel capsule or a binder to hold a tablet together. Think about how that limited me. Most pain meds, allergy pills, and vitamins are pill or capsule based. Unisom became my friend as I fought the allergic reactions.
I couldn’t touch pets without quickly going to wash my hands before I accidently touched my face.
I couldn’t be in the same room where beef was being cooked. The mammalian carbohydrates released into the air in the form of water molecules…steam…would be enough to trigger delayed anaphylactic shock.
I had to carry my own lawn chair to every home I visited to avoid the triggers.
But no masks. Why? Because it would do little to stop the passage of those rascally little carbohydrates into my system. My best strategy was to accept the personal responsibility of avoiding the sources of those carbohydrates to the best of my ability. The careful attention to my own behaviors resulted in freedom from the deadly curse two and a half years later. I have now been happily free for about a year and a half…thanks to God and to me!
[Small note here: I did not insist that the world stop turning because I could die at any moment from a stray piece of bacon! I made good choices. I practiced self-discipline. I used my unalienable rights to pursue Life, Liberty and Happiness without infringing on the rights of others! …and I REALLY MISSED STEAK!]
I want to use one example from my galactose-α-1,3-galactose years. 😉 I began the process of renovating Papa’s shop, a huge old barn full of allergens, cow carbs, and mouse pooh! In addition to all that fun, I began working with sawdust…a LOT of sawdust. During this process we decided that both Ron and I should wear masks purchased at the local/global retailer of all things, Wal-Mart. I will give the honest-to-God truth. They were almost useless when it comes to preventing particles from getting into my lungs and, therefore, causing a reaction…even the sawdust creeped in through the tiniest side cleavage. They were constantly wet both inside and out. They were dirty on the outside, not because of the vast entrapment of dust and mouse pooh allergens detected by smell (if you can smell it, IT MADE IT THROUGH THE MASK), but because of the constant need to adjust the mask. The itching, runny nose due to condensation (not a cold), pulling it away to sneeze because some other allergen made it through all reduced the effectiveness of the mask. Even with use of the mask, I would have reactions to the mammalian carbohydrates floating around in the air as I cleaned. It was a tough couple of months.
What I would like to point out is that, unless you’re a pro or you have a spectacular ASTM Level 1 or better mask AND mad skills at putting them on and taking them off, using a normal cloth mask is of very little help. I am not writing this down to change anyone’s mind or call precious people names like coward, chicken, or intellectual idiot! I will not lie to help someone feel “safer” because I want them TO BE safer using other methods. I should not be required by the government to give someone else “behavioral reminders” that we have some serious viruses being carried around right now. I should not be forced to remind someone to wash their hands because I expect people to be responsible for themselves. I am hoping to provide some perspective from a person who has beaten a far more dangerous piece of atmospheric debris AND inhaled a lot more sawdust than any good girl should.
In hopes of being thorough without causing the reader’s eyes to glaze over, I will share some comments from a friend of mine who has a PhD and a finer intellect than I will ever have.
“Let’s say that the virus is the size of a golf ball, and a mask is a sort of fence. An N95 mask has holes in it smaller than the diameter of a golf ball, so almost none of them would get through if the mask is properly worn. They would just pile up on the other side of the mask material even if fired at the fence one at a time. But this virus is transmitted by droplets and possibly aerosols (finer mist droplets), sort of like being a bag of golf balls. So a less fancy mask, say a surgical mask [ASTM Level 1 or better], may appear to be like a chain link fence to an individual virus particle, but will still stop most of the virus particles arriving in bags of them. A few may sneak through, but most will be held up at the fence. A normal cloth mask in this analogy would be like a fence with basketball sized holes or larger in it. It won’t stop much, maybe 5%, but it’s better than nothing. This is assuming you’re wearing the mask correctly, which is very hard.”
I want people to think seriously about the size of a piece of sawdust using this helpful image below. It is somewhere around the size of a period. Now compare it to the smallness of the virus in nanometers (0.12 microns). Now checkout the size of that glucose molecule similar to the galactose-α-1,3-galactose molecule that plagued my life for two and a half years!
Figure 1 – Pandey Nitesh, Scientist, IARC. Mission Specialist, Bijayan.
In reality, an a-gal molecule is orders of magnitude smaller than a virus, the virus is orders of magnitude smaller than a piece of sawdust, and both the a-gal molecules AND the sawdust were making it through the store-bought masks. If this is true, then how on earth could the mask prevent the passage of the virus through to the uninfected person? Even if we look at the size of droplets made up of many water molecules that the virus hitchhikes on, the size of that little taxi is likely smaller than the sawdust. The droplets that we hear spoken of that are greater than 5 micrometers are the ones that fall very quickly…within one meter or roughly three feet…and hang out on surfaces. Fine particles of sawdust are commonly greater than 10 micrometers.
I will acknowledge that a mask of any sort will filter out a certain amount of atmospheric debris, but store-bought or homemade masks do such a poor job of it that I see them, from experience, as practically useless in comparison to the many other measures that could be taken. If the hope is to protect the elderly and susceptible, then one could argue that wearing a mask does more harm than good. Here are some additional thoughts from my Brainiac friend:
“The line of argument scientists and doctors who argue against social distancing, mask wearing, etc. are using acknowledges that masks may be helpful in slowing the spread of the virus, but that it is possible to slow it too much and prolong the duration of the pandemic. The longer it goes on, the higher the risk to the elderly and susceptible for severe illness and death. The sooner we get to herd immunity, the sooner it will be over. Wearing a mask when you are in a low risk group is actually increasing the risk to the elderly and higher risk populations. They argue that we need to focus our energies and resources on protecting nursing homes and the elderly and others at risk and encourage the spread among all the lowest risk groups. This will shift the burden of developing immunity to those of us who are better able to weather the infection, the vast majority of whom will be asymptomatic for the duration of the illness. Both sides seem to agree that the virus will continue to circulate until herd immunity is achieved, either by the development of a vaccine or by naturally developing immunity through an infection with it. Actual vaccinologists do not believe a vaccine is possible any time soon, not even in 2-4 years, because they’ve been trying to make a vaccine to other Coronavirus viruses for decades now with absolutely no success, and nothing significant has changed in the science.”
If you are truly at risk, defend your health in a peaceable way without infringing on the rights of others! If you are among the lowest risk groups, go get some mud on you, rub elbows with some good people, open your business and do what you do best, and absolutely love on your family! Be free! Do not place your trust in hypothetical solutions and unsuccessful vaccines. Get out there and let nature do what IT does best! As for me and my house, we place our faith in the source of our inalienable rights (Constitutional language is “unalienable”, meaning unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor). We will do what no vaccine has managed to do…take on the risks of living life out in the real world, fight the battles so the weaker vessels don’t have to, and with courage provide the cover of immunity to support those who need to stay behind.
“If we wish to continue to treat this as a “war,” then everyone in the world is currently standing in no man’s land with no cover, exposed to the virus bullets whizzing by on every side. The only protection from incoming fire is to get across the battlefield and behind cover. If we can get enough of us behind cover (herd immunity), then the bullets stop flying so often and so fast. Some of us (the low risk) can run faster or are smaller targets and are vastly more likely to make it to cover if only we’ll run for it (stop wearing masks, stop social distancing, let the virus run its course in the world). However, the longer we delay seeking cover, the longer EVERYBODY gets shot at, especially the high-risk groups who cannot run as fast or who are easier targets. In this analogy, a vaccine would be an attempt at a bullet proof vest capable of stopping a bullet that no other vest has ever managed to even slow down despite decades of development. Also, some people (medical personnel in hospital facilities, nursing home personnel, people working with cancer patients, people who have elderly family in their home, etc.) will need to stay back and care for the high risk groups, so they should at least take whatever cover they can find along the way (masks, hand washing) while they try and protect those at high risk.”
My remaining thought concerns integrity, the state of being whole and undivided. If I say that I treasure God and my family, America along with its’ Constitution and Bill of Rights, and gathering with people of like mind, I must be undivided. My words MUST be supported by action! I must defend what I know to be true.
I cannot be silent for that would, by my silence, imply consent.
I cannot act in contradiction to these principles for that would be hypocrisy.
I cannot forfeit even the smallest of freedoms for that would be to dishonor the Giver.
I cannot lie about what I believe we have done as individuals to dishonor each other.
I cannot lie about what I believe we have done as citizens to dishonor the Founding Fathers.
I cannot lie about what I believe we have done as governments to dishonor everyone’s essential purpose.
I cannot lie about what I believe we have done as Christians to dishonor the Creator Father.
Is lying wrong? Yes! For me to act as if I believe what the government says about something as simple as the wearing of lay-person masks, that they will protect me, would be a profound lie. I will not wear a mask when I know that they will not prevent my being exposed to the virus. I will not wear a mask to provide others with a “behavioral reminder” to wash those hands. I will not sacrifice my freedoms and permit the needless intervention of an invasive government. My integrity demands that I do the proper research, analyze the data, and make a proper risk assessment for myself. My conclusion is that if I can fight and win a battle against a pervasive and ever-present glucose/carbohydrate without a mask, then I am perfectly able to protect myself against a virus that poses little threat in comparison. Freedom ensures that others can do the same thing for themselves and come up with totally different conclusions.
