I’ve just returned home from church after attending Mass for the first time in 507 days.

It’s a bad thing that I have come home feeling morally compromised at having worn a mask during the celebration.

In church we are asked to wear a mask if we can… physically it’s no great imposition (obvious references to fogged glasses, too much warmth and difficulty understanding people can be inserted here), but I really wonder whether I have done the right thing by wearing one?

  1. I don’t believe wearing a mask in church protects me or anyone else. If I did believe wearing a mask protects others then there would be no moral dilemma - I’d wear it.
  2. One reason for wearing a mask is to provide reassurance for those who do think it keeps them or others safer.
  3. I was pleased to see there were children at the celebration (no, they were not asked to wear masks). I’m concerned about what adult mask-wearing is doing to children (for example, my grandson has just turned ten; so for more than 10% of his life he has seen adults who think it’s OK to wear masks while going about their daily lives). It’s more difficult to determine the emotional state of a person when they’re wearing a mask (happy, sad, angry, anxious, eager, reluctant?) so mask-wearing inhibits a major source of learning feedback for kids.
  4. Me not wearing a mask might be seen as a statement of normality which would be a good thing in my opinion.
  5. I worry that me not wearing a mask might provoke fear or anger among those who do believe that masks are protective.
  6. By wearing a mask (I felt so strongly about this that I was initially going to write ‘By caving in and wearing a mask’ but that might be over-hyping it) I feel I have contributed to the continuation of the panicked overreaction to the bug.

In the balance of harms I worry whether I have made the right choice. This is not how I expected or hoped to feel.

Updated 11 Aug 2021:

After considering the above (and point 4 in particular) overnight: Within the context of the Mass it is not my place to make any statement about anything. Now that I’ve realised that not wearing a mask at Mass might be seen by others as some sort of statement, I must not do it.