Do You Discriminate against those with Special Needs?

Read The Sneetches to your kids and
remind them to respect others.

In my experience, two subjects on Facebook bring out the big guns among Catholics: diocesan mandates about masking and Communion in the hand and the SSPX. Sad to say, the shooting begins almost immediately whenever these subjects come up.

I'm going to focus on the mask-on/mask-off controversy in this post with an analogy from Dr. Seuss and his story, The Sneetches. 

For those who've never read The Sneetches, there were two groups: the sneetches who had "bellies with stars" and the "plain-bellied sneetches with none upon thars." Best on the beaches were the star-bellied sneetches. They wouldn't play with the unstarred sneetches or invite them to their weenie roasts. In fact they treated the poor starless sneetches abominably. I won't ruin the story for you; but it's a great lesson in true tolerance and respect for differences and also a warning about the temptation to be social climbers and snobs who look down on your neighbors.

Ever since the crazy mask debates began, I keep thinking about the sneetches, only they've morphed into snurches. And, like the "best sneetches on the beaches," the masked snurches are the best in the churches! While many people in my parish wear masks, only a few are nasty about it, thank God, including one lady who suggested those who receive on the tongue or won't mask be given goldfish for Communion. Really!

Condemning non-maskers (especially those who receive Communion on the tongue) is becoming a cottage industry in some dioceses. "Those people (the unmasked who insist on receiving Communion on the tongue) are selfish, disobedient to the bishop, uncharitable, and willing to kill people." (Yes, they really say that!) The virtue signalers judge the unmasked snurches to be the the worst in the churches. In some places, in fact, pastors decree that unmasked snurches may not attend church under any circumstances. No mask, Snurch? No church! Communion on the tongue? Forget it! 

The unmasked snurches are generally less excitable and more willing to live and let live. You wear a mask, good for you. I don't wear a mask, good for me. Of course, some non-maskers accuse the maskers of being lemmings and slaves to a leftwing government using an illness that is equivalent to a serious flu as the pivot point for The Great Reset. But that's a post for another day.

As for me, I just choose not to wear a mask and not to argue about it. The last time someone accosted me, I asked her if she takes Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and zinc which give more protection than a face rag that is germ laden within minutes of putting it on.

I have a medical reason not to wear a mask that is no one's business, but I also just think they are unhealthy in general and increase the likelihood of getting sick. Seeing children in masks makes me angry. They need to lead normal lives and "the science" shows they are not the spreaders. And please don't lecture me. Scientific experts disagree on whether masking is helpful or harmful. Dr. Fauci, the guru of the left, has been on both sides of the debate and even suggested there was no problem with hook ups. If you want to shag a stranger under the sheets, just wear a mask while you do it. So much for "the science" coming from some idiots with Dr. in front of their names.

Additionally, my grand niece brought up a good point yesterday at brunch that I hadn't thought about. Autistic individuals, those with PTSD or those suffering from anxiety or depression may not be able to wear a mask. And here was her point. Isn't it discrimination against those with special needs to harangue them for not masking? How do you know the person you're yelling at doesn't have a serious issue that makes mask wearing impossible? How do you know your assault (I use that term in the legal sense.) won't cause so much stress you do serious damage to the person you're attacking?  

Those attacking non-maskers (some are rude and even vicious) may very well be attacking a person with a severe disability. Are non-maskers the new minority group not allowed at the lunch counter or in the church or in the front of the bus? I have to laugh over that one since, when we rode the shuttle in Williamsburg recently, we sat in the back of the bus to avoid getting accosted. Hardly anyone was on the bus, but, like everywhere else the sign on the front said masking was mandatory. Fortunately the bus entrance being used was in the back. No mask, no problem. The bus drivers may not have even noticed.

But is this the new normal forever? Some sources are saying this will go on for a decade. Really? Are you willing to tolerate that? Especially in church? The thought led me to this revision of the Sneetches story. I call it The Lament of the Snurches.

In church the masked snurches all snug in their pews

Did cover their faces with masks of bright hues.

the non-masking snurches wore none in their places.

They all liked to see bright smiles on bright faces.

But masks were a sign of the snurches with virtue

The unmasking snurches, some said, want to hurt you.

Because they wore masks some mask-wearing snurches

Would brag, "We're the best kind of snurch in the churches.

With their mask-covered snoots they would sniff and they'd snort.

“We’ll have nothing to do with the non-masking sort!

In church make them all take a place in the back.

Save the pews for masked snurches, they're on the right track.

If unmasked stick their tongues out to take the small host,

Pour hot sauce upon them and watch their tongues roast!"

And so, sad to say, life in church is a stress,

With snurches divided, a terrible mess.

Snurches unmasked from some masses are banned

"To the end of the line if you won't receive in the hand!"

"To the end of the line, to the back of the church,

We'd rather not welcome your kind of snurch."

And so life goes on in this new kind of land.

Where all common sense has been brutally banned. 

Where families are told that hugs are a danger,

We should treat every loved one as if he's a stranger.

Where porn shops are open but schools are locked

Where riots are blessed and free speech is mocked.

But hope springs eternal in every brave heart.

And it's never too late for us to get smart.

There once came a day when the sneetches decided

that sneetches are sneetches and shouldn't be divided.

Can we hope for the snurches to get that smart too? 

Shall we all hope and pray for that, yes please, let's do!

And let's all treat each other, masked or unmasked with respect and courtesy.