Too many politicians hiding behind masks to steal your liberty

For power-hungry opportunists around the country, the ongoing COVID-19 scare continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.

On June 23, for example, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee apparently saw the need for the emergency powers he assumed back in March evaporating, so he ordered the state’s Department of Health to create a mandatory mask requirement.

The following week, King Inslee doubled down by requiring businesses to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask.

As if it wasn’t bad enough when Inslee four months ago exercised powers, he doesn’t have to impose an arbitrary stay-at-home order that killed dozens—if not hundreds— of private businesses while his allies in state government continued to draw a regular paycheck.

But his latest edict, requiring masks for every large and small public gathering, was even more irresponsible and will almost certainly set neighbors against one another through selective enforcement.

If inciting violence is a criminal act, what do you call the passage of a proclamation directing agencies to require citizens to wear face masks in public and requiring businesses to refuse service to non-masked patrons?

In our highly charged political climate, COVID-19 is both a health concern and a political matter. Depending on whom you talk to, some believe it is not political but purely a matter of public health; meanwhile, others do not find there is any legitimate concern for public health to justify any extreme actions being considered and believe it is entirely political.

What happens when Inslee tells Washingtonians they must wear face masks? Those who believe it is a worthy health concern do so, and those who think it is political hype don’t.

Meanwhile, when there are those who’ve been told their safety is at risk because of another person’s unwillingness to don a mask, you end up with peer pressure and mask shaming.

911 dispatchers nationwide are asking citizens to please stop using the emergency line to report people in public who are not wearing masks. They need the lines open for actual emergencies—like when a woman is attacked in a grocery store by a neighbor whose anger has been stoked by a public health apparatus more interested in giving their governor political cover than keeping people safe.

Not since the Jim Crow laws and segregation have we seen government policy so calculated to inspire division and violence.

With an almost reverse of the Star of David armband or the yellow badges worn by Jews in Nazi Germany, those without face masks will be the ones being targeted and attacked.

It is being said that those who do not wear face coverings are selfish and don’t care if they kill those around them. People are being called murderers for nothing more than walking in the park without a mask.

Gov. Inslee may hide behind the asterisk in his proclamations that the orders will not be enforced or that they should not be enforced by the public, but in our highly divided society, when you use the words “required” and “mandatory,” along with framing the issue in terms of morality, you’re guilty of creating an environment of violence and civil unrest.

Inslee claims there are exemptions for some individuals. Even in Nazi Germany, there were Jews considered essential workers who weren’t forced to wear a Star of David.

But what good are exemptions when you are never able to exercise them in any practical sense? How are businesses supposed to know if a person has a medical or other exemption? Are they going to start asking for a doctor’s note?

In the interest of simplicity, more and most will simply adopt a policy of “no mask, no service.”

Putting the burden of proof on free Americans to show why they shouldn’t have to wear a mark rather than the state to explain why they should is outrageous. The government is manipulating business owners into being the enforcers of the state using Gestapo-like tactics. 

It’s hard enough for a small business to earn a profit without also having to comply with regulations sure to anger its clients and customers.

While the Germans used badges to stigmatize and humiliate the Jews, they also used them to segregate, watch, and control their movements.

Non-mask wearers are now being watched, reported, and tracked. Individuals are being embarrassed and publicly shamed every day.

Governors need to be held accountable for the violence and division they are creating. Americans are free and should never be subjected to wearing a mask or what amounts to a political statement or virtue signaling.

The government does not have the right to force people to take the mask to engage in society and purchase goods and services.

“So that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark.” Revelation 13:17, ESV