Two Cents Worth on Masks

I have avoided the issue somewhat of mask wearing, primarily because it is to me between God and His child, or between one’s conscience, depending on his/her belief system. So that being said, I am going to write about a few of the non-physical effects of wearing one.

With school opening up and the choice of remote learning or masks at school, the effects of mask wearing on the children will color their worldview for the rest of their lives. This article quotes a doctor suggesting a parent have the child wear a mask at home for 10 minutes at a time, to acclimate the child to mask wearing at school. However, later in the article he says to watch for “potential long-term psychological effects.” Stated in the article included chronic stress, PTSD, and depression from being isolated.

Does wearing a mask affect one’s morality? According to this article, the answer is yes. Governments have historically mandated no mask wearing to maintain public order. Ceremonies and rituals use them to allow a person’s inhibitions to decrease to carry out activities. An experiment in 1976 showed that the subject wearing a ski mask could be bought for less money to do what they were asked to do. (Discretion advised if you open up this link.)

One friend told me he missed seeing everyone’s smiles. Another told me she could not tell if someone was angry or smiling.

The fallout of the physical effects of mask wearing is being seen, but the mental, emotional, and spiritual effects will take longer to see in our generation. The psychological literature is already out there, but to see it up close and personal is another matter.

In my Psychology 101 class in college, I learned about Harlow’s monkey experiment. The terry cloth “mother” was chosen more than the wire-mesh “mother.” Or paraphrased, the warm mother was chosen over the sustenance mother.

No one is exempt from this, we all are affected one way or another, mask-wearing or no. Our constitutional ability to congregate and be social with one another has been cut off to a large degree, and this invites depression and hopelessness and division. God created us as social beings. And the answer in the days ahead will be God and only God, for hope and healing.