There is something odd about this corona virus panic, er, pandemic that is intriguing. Consider the whole face mask situation.

We have been told (hectored, nagged, browbeaten) to wear face masks for months now to the point where it is not uncommon to see near-universal compliance. Widespread coverage, please pardon the pun. Yet, in the wearing of these masks, there is nothing like a concerted effort on the part of many to ensure that they are being worn “properly” or “effectively”.

How many times have you been out in public, surrounded by a sea of masks, but many of them are pulled down below the nose, supposedly to allow the wearer to breathe more easily. How many times do you see someone wearing the mask below their chin, which is just a completely useless application. Or they are constantly fiddling with the adjustment, touching the mask against all the “rules”, moving it up, down, or sideways, supposedly to make it fit better and, perhaps, allowing for easier breathing. Or maybe masks are “required” for entry, but a large percentage of the people inside simply ignore the signs and go about with bare faces and no one says anything to them about it.

These things (and more) tell me that the vast majority of people really don’t believe the propaganda that is being passed off as medical truth. If they did, they would follow the orders advice religiously, as if their lives depended on it, which they are constantly assured is the truth. Oh, there are true believers out there and I have some (small) respect for them even though I think they are deluded, but most people are probably just going along with the farce because it is easier and less complicated than standing up for what they know to be true.

Cloth or paper masks really don’t have any effect on the transmission of aerosolized corona viruses and will not prevent anyone from spreading the disease or contracting it. N95 masks which are individually fitted and tightly sealed might, but the average mask does not. Instead, this has become a charade, a masquerade, in which most of the participants know and realize that the game they are playing is false. Yet, they continue on, acting as if their role actually might contribute in some meaningful way to the overall success of the show.

Utter theater, with the curtain already lifting on Act II. Second verse, same as the first. Little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

Why? I can think of at least two reasons which apply here.

1. Peer pressure and public opinion. It is much easier to go with the flow than to go against the current. After all, if everyone is doing it, then who am I to say that it is wrong or ill-advised? And I really don’t want to incur the wrath of the mob onto my own head, so I’ll just become a white sheep in a herd of white sheep, minding my own business and not drawing attention to myself–like a black sheep would.
2. In the world of men, there are only three types: those who order, those who resist orders, and those who follow orders. The first two categories number just a few of the general population. The vast majority are made up of those who jump when someone tells them to. It is hard, perhaps impossible, for the average person to resist or disobey an order from a perceived authority, even when that person knows or suspects that the order is wrong. The compliance of the German people in the Nazi era is a good example of this.

If you give them a choice, the mass of people will always take the easiest path. This correlates with what Jesus Christ said about human nature. (Matthew 7:13-14)

“Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Considering the topic of this post, it would be well to point out the very next verse.

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

There are those who seek power to order. There are those who resist those who seek power to order. And then there are those who are taken in by the message of false prophets.

Time for a little introspection, perhaps?