Letters to The Editor
Posted by Sheila Harris, November 25, 2020
Disclaimer: The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to editor@4bca.com
Dear Editor,
While I am not a member of the Cassville City Council or a resident within their limits, I cannot stand by without commenting on the ridiculous statements and beliefs made by Jan Anthony in last week’s letter to the editor.
She wants the city to make mask wearing mandatory. She mentions that Springfield and Rogers did it, so we should, too. Is there anything else those two cities have passed that we should follow as well?
She mentions wearing a face shield works, too. If an article of cloth over the mouth can somehow collect those tiny virus particles ("germs"), then a piece of clear plastic should work as well? Face shields are something a responsible person wears while grinding metal, to keep a cutting wheel that might break from striking their face & neck. The wearing of a mask or face shield to keep us safe from this virus is a joke & only provides people a false sense of safety in order for us to move on with our lives while we wait for a vaccine to be available. She may as well demand us to 'wear our placebo'.
She goes on to say that we wear a seat belt, so why not a mask? Well, many people don't wear a seat belt either. Does that have any effect on you, who is wearing one, when someone else collides with you, who is not wearing one? By her logic, that is equivalent to saying seat belts only work if everyone in the vehicle(s) wears one. I wear mine because I know without a doubt that they work and can save my life. When I wear a mask, I can still smell the environment that I am in, including other people’s body odors, but it somehow collects a microscopic virus? She says, "This has nothing to do with your party-affiliation or religion," but she is demanding that our local government force people to do something they otherwise won't do on their own free will.
These forced behaviors, whether from a new incoming president, our state governor, or a city council are very political and do create a great deal of conflict for anyone who believes that our rights come from our creator, not our government.
It is not the government's job to protect my health. It's the government's job to protect my rights. It's my job to protect my health.
Wear your placebo if it makes you feel safe, but please be respectful of everyone else's rights while enjoying your own.
Titus Trotter
Cassville (rural)
Dear Editor,
I just read the letter from a resident who wishes for our elected officials, who are in place not to rule us, but to manage certain prescribed duties, asking them to order free citizens to wear a particular item because that citizen feels said item protects her from a virus.
I am here to strongly suggest our elected officials maintain their current stance of preserving individual rights. I assume that there is not one person who tells a person they cannot wear a mask, I know I wouldn't do it. And the exact same principle should apply to those of us who do not wear masks.
Our governor has stated he will not make such an order, nor should he. No elected person should be considering such a violation of rights to free citizens.
There are no circumstances under which I will comply with such an order.
Should anyone be interested as to why I take this position, other than the gross overreach of government, I shall state it.
Cloth and paper do not filter viruses. And if they did, they would not function as an airlock, with the virus able to pass through the mask one way but not the other, which has been the position of the "scientists" who are most outspoken. To believe that one wears a mask for the protection of others, not oneself, requires the suspension of all credulity.
Ladies and gentlemen, wear a mask if you wish, and stop trying to force your choice on other people.
Kathy Casey
Cassville
Disclaimer: The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to editor@4bca.com
Dear Editor,
While I am not a member of the Cassville City Council or a resident within their limits, I cannot stand by without commenting on the ridiculous statements and beliefs made by Jan Anthony in last week’s letter to the editor.
She wants the city to make mask wearing mandatory. She mentions that Springfield and Rogers did it, so we should, too. Is there anything else those two cities have passed that we should follow as well?
She mentions wearing a face shield works, too. If an article of cloth over the mouth can somehow collect those tiny virus particles ("germs"), then a piece of clear plastic should work as well? Face shields are something a responsible person wears while grinding metal, to keep a cutting wheel that might break from striking their face & neck. The wearing of a mask or face shield to keep us safe from this virus is a joke & only provides people a false sense of safety in order for us to move on with our lives while we wait for a vaccine to be available. She may as well demand us to 'wear our placebo'.
She goes on to say that we wear a seat belt, so why not a mask? Well, many people don't wear a seat belt either. Does that have any effect on you, who is wearing one, when someone else collides with you, who is not wearing one? By her logic, that is equivalent to saying seat belts only work if everyone in the vehicle(s) wears one. I wear mine because I know without a doubt that they work and can save my life. When I wear a mask, I can still smell the environment that I am in, including other people’s body odors, but it somehow collects a microscopic virus? She says, "This has nothing to do with your party-affiliation or religion," but she is demanding that our local government force people to do something they otherwise won't do on their own free will.
These forced behaviors, whether from a new incoming president, our state governor, or a city council are very political and do create a great deal of conflict for anyone who believes that our rights come from our creator, not our government.
It is not the government's job to protect my health. It's the government's job to protect my rights. It's my job to protect my health.
Wear your placebo if it makes you feel safe, but please be respectful of everyone else's rights while enjoying your own.
Titus Trotter
Cassville (rural)
Dear Editor,
I just read the letter from a resident who wishes for our elected officials, who are in place not to rule us, but to manage certain prescribed duties, asking them to order free citizens to wear a particular item because that citizen feels said item protects her from a virus.
I am here to strongly suggest our elected officials maintain their current stance of preserving individual rights. I assume that there is not one person who tells a person they cannot wear a mask, I know I wouldn't do it. And the exact same principle should apply to those of us who do not wear masks.
Our governor has stated he will not make such an order, nor should he. No elected person should be considering such a violation of rights to free citizens.
There are no circumstances under which I will comply with such an order.
Should anyone be interested as to why I take this position, other than the gross overreach of government, I shall state it.
Cloth and paper do not filter viruses. And if they did, they would not function as an airlock, with the virus able to pass through the mask one way but not the other, which has been the position of the "scientists" who are most outspoken. To believe that one wears a mask for the protection of others, not oneself, requires the suspension of all credulity.
Ladies and gentlemen, wear a mask if you wish, and stop trying to force your choice on other people.
Kathy Casey
Cassville