By Joe Darby
First things first. I want to wish you the Merriest of Christmases and the hope that you, your family and friends will have a wonderful, blessed holiday weekend. And I sincerely hope (really, really) that the New Year, 2022, will be the best in several years. Unlike the ’20s of a hundred years ago, the 1920s, which were called Roaring, our own 20s are getting off to a very dubious start. But perhaps in 2022 things will turn around and the rest of the decade will go well, too. (But I ain’t holdin’ my breath.)
So I will visit family in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas and I look forward to seeing them, hugging them, talking with them and dining with them. Although the insidious Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like mad, I probably won’t be wearing my mask at all times during these family get-togethers. But I might.
I don’t have anything at all against wearing a mask. And a mask mandate does not make me feel like the big, bad government is trying to take my rights away. I don’t think anyone knows exactly how effective the masks are in preventing the spread of the virus, but I would have to think it helps some. And if it is just, say, 20 or 30 percent effective — and it’s probably a little better than that — it is worth it to put the mask on our face and stop many cases of Covid from spreading.
As regular readers know, I am a moderate conservative. I don’t like Big Government trying to tell us what to do. But some things need to be regulated by rules and just because the rule comes from the government doesn’t mean our rights are being taken away.
Are your rights at risk because you may not run a stop sign or red light? Are your rights at risk because you may not pocket the money in the church collection basket? Are your rights at risk because you may not punch your neighbor in the nose because he has complained about your barking dog?
The only things that keep civilization functioning are rules, rules that should be followed because if enough people start breaking them the result will only be chaos and the breakdown of civil society.
I didn’t really intend a Merry Christmas column to morph into a sermon on the need to follow rules. But it’s really important, friends. We need to do all we can to get these darned Covid viruses under control so we can get back to normal life. We don’t want to be going through this for years to come. It’s a war against the germs that we really need to win. So, be good soldiers and do your part. God bless.
