The faith healing anti-maskers of Phoenix in 2021


It's April of 2021, and I've spent the past year being fascinated by the different responses to the idea of wearing a mask during the current pandemic. I'll admit that I've always had a fascination for those kinds of things, going back to trying to understand why people chose to not wear seat belts (long before there was any law requiring them to do so). And like the no-seatbelt people of my youth, I'm fascinated by the no-mask people who are following their faith.

I have to admit to being a little jealous of people who have such great faith. When I learned to drive, in the mid-seventies, I had a basic understanding of physics, and imagining my face slamming into the windshield on impact was all I needed to convince me to wear a seat belt. No one ever grabbed me by the lapels and convinced me, and I was never threatened by anyone, it just seemed to make sense to me. I had a good friend who never wore a seat belt and who simply said, "If it's my time to die, I die". His faith was great. I don't recall if he had a little religious statue on his dashboard, but he probably did.

My faith, by comparison, is very weak. I visited the dentist today, and while I prayed that all would be well with the old choppers, I've been brushing my teeth, and flossing regularly. And sitting there for three hours gave me a lot of time to ponder, and I pondered the power of faith to heal.

A couple of months ago, while I was out pedaling around Peoria (a suburb of Phoenix) on an early Sunday morning I went past a church that was open for the congregation, and no one was wearing a mask (I slowed down past the parking lot to look). It puzzled me until I went and Googled the type of church, and yes, that's what they do. I couldn't help but wonder how many people there wouldn't wear seat belts if it wasn't the law, and as I pedaled on it gave me more food for thought about how faith healing works.

Of course I'm a man of faith, I can't even begin to understand all of the stuff around me. I take the meds that my doctor prescribes for me for cholesterol without having the slightest idea how it works. I never learned to do my own brakes, so every time I've left a repair place and pushed on the brake, I had faith in them. I've had faith in my bank to not accidentally lose my money, I have faith that the dentist who put my crown in today used the right kind of glue, the list goes on and on. And I take comfort in my faith, because it's right for me. And maybe that's how it should work.
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