By Jeff Harris

September 23, 2020 - Let’s face it, Amerikans love convenience. Big box stores like Home Depot, WalMart and Target have ridden the convenience train to untold wealth. Amazon has tapped into the love of convenience by enabling us to “shop” from our couches. No more pesky hunting for the credit card and having to type in all that info. Just one click and you’re done.

I’ll admit I enjoy convenience too; but too much convenience can be a trap if we’re not careful. The American Revolutionary War was fought to throw off the shackles of tyranny in a quest for freedom and liberty. It was very inconvenient for the American colonists to leave their homes, farms, businesses and loved ones to fight what many believed was a hopeless cause against the most powerful military in the world at that time.

Yet they were willing to gamble their lives, leave their families for long months and even years, and suffer deprivation, exposure to the elements, hunger and misery for what? A chance, slim though it might be… for FREEDOM!

Freedom to live life as they saw fit. Freedom to worship when and how they chose. Freedom to gather with whomever they chose. Freedom to travel wherever they chose. Freedom to speak their minds without fear of retribution. Freedom to trade and do business wherever and with whomever they chose. Most importantly, freedom to be left alone to pursue life, liberty and happiness as they saw fit.

Yet today, virtually all of the freedoms our forefathers fought, bled, and died for are in grave jeopardy. So the question is, do you value your freedom and liberty enough to be inconvenienced? I ask because when I go in a WalMart or the grocery store or Home Depot, virtually everyone is wearing a mask, except me.

I’ve spoken with any number of people who’ve said basically the same thing. “I don’t necessarily believe the mask makes much difference but I just don’t want to be hassled, so I wear it.” In other words, what they’re really saying is their right to live as free men or women isn’t worth being inconvenienced or heaven forbid, marked as a troublemaker.

Refusing to wear a mask is inconvenient for a variety of reasons, but I think it’s critical to push back against the COVID tyranny as best we can. No sane, rational person seeks needless confrontation at every business they try to enter. But you have to ask yourself what price you’re willing to pay to retain some semblance of freedom and liberty?

Is it worth the bother of invoking your rights to a mask exemption that virtually every mask mandate offers? Virtually every state mask rule has a mask exemption for health reasons; and you don’t need a doctor’s note to use this exemption.

All you have to do is say, “I can’t wear a mask safely due to a medical condition.” Personally, wearing a mask makes me feel like I can’t breathe comfortably, which is a legitimate medical condition. I have no illusions that a few people who invoke their mask exemption are going to magically make the COVID scam go away. But if we don’t push back, if we meekly surrender our rights to the tyrants, they will only demand more control over our private lives.

They will never be satisfied until they have total control over the public. Trying to wait it out and hope it all goes away is a fool’s game. As long as people meekly submit to tyranny they will only get more of it. Bullies only respect a punch in the nose. Taking your stand to invoke your right to a mask exemption is a very small but not insignificant step toward retaining freedom and liberty.

Yes, it’s inconvenient, awkward, and sometimes heated. But is your freedom and that of your children and grandchildren worth a little inconvenience? I will not comply!