Does freedom offer an honest justification for the decisions and opinions of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers? The definition of freedom is the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. When anti-vaxxers decide to not be vaccinated they cite their right to be make their own choices. When anti-maskers refuse to use a proven method to block the spread of a deadly virus they proclaim their freedom. However, their decisions imprison and confine all others in danger. And they also subject themselves to the possibility of death, a “prison” from which there is no escape.
Personal freedom has personal boundaries. Your personal freedom ends when your decision impacts my freedom. Though you may have the right to drive you are not free to ignore stop signs, traffic lights and speed limits. When you take a flight on a plane you are not free to refuse shoe removal requirements or body scans.
The common good takes precedence over individual rights. The present pandemic, a national health crisis, is an irrefutable case where the common good mandates vaccines and masks. Any argument suggesting an individual’s right to refuse the vaccine supersedes the right to eliminate the threat of death to the rest of us is inconsiderate, foolish, and selfish. It is also immoral.
Republican Viewpoints
The insistence of Republican members in Congress, Republican governors, and their followers compels us to question their claims of being the party of law and order. When individuals insist that people are free to choose reckless and threatening behaviors, they are negating the purpose of laws. Protection of the innocent is the basis of law and order. Mandates directed to mask wearing and vaccines are fundamental to the security promised when law and order prevail.
And let’s take a moment to look at the proclaimed stance of the Republican party as the pro-life party. When a Republican governor threatens the right of school leaders to mandate masks as a safety concern for the children, he is dismissing the right to life for children. Pro-life is not limited to the birth of children; it is about the continuing care of children after they are born into this world. Children depend on the adults in their lives to keep them safe. Until a vaccine is available to them, mask mandates are a pro-life decision. And when vaccines are available, getting vaccinated is a pro-life decision, a moral choice required of everyone.
Powerful, accurate and pro life.