hypothetically If I were to characterize the “good news” of UUism–the thing we have to offer that you can’t get elsewhere in the same way–it would be that we offer an alternative way of being. We emphasize love and tolerance over prejudice and hate, abundance over scarcity thinking, sharing and a concern for others over crass accumulation…and on that list could go of ways we challenge dominant narratives and tradition. Our worldview and values place great emphasis on communitarianism and a concern for the wellbeing of others.

http://blumberger.net/wso.php It seems to me that this is why UU churches continue to insist on mask wearing. Masking is not about “why do I have to inconvenience myself just because there might be a couple of scaredy cats here?” That kind of a response or protest is grounded in American individualism–I don’t want to wear a mask and you are “forcing” me to behave a certain way and infringing on my freedom. That position is entirely about breathing in and personal risk calculus. Yet our nation is not having 335 million individual pandemics that we can each choose our way out of. There is a single public pandemic. We also breathe out and that is a public, not private, act. When it comes to an airborne virus, our choices have public consequences.

If we reframe masking in a UU manner with a communitarian ethic, it can become a gift and form of hospitality to others. If we dial down the individualism, and dial up the communitarianism, we can describe masking as “I care enough about the wellbeing of my church community and those around me that being mildly inconvenienced (by wearing a face mask during the service) is something I can do for others.” By masking we are saying that this communitarian gain, reducing the risk any of us can pose to those around us, not forcing others to assume our level of personal risk, and maximising inclusion, means more to us than the loss of that personal convenience and choice.

Whatever your personal feelings and choices about dealing with covid, please follow our safety guidelines so our services are safely available to all. That UU norms may be different from social ones right now bothers me not at all. In fact, I take pride in that because we are living our values.

Rev. Joel