“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…” is the opening line of a poem by John Donne. There are many references in both secular and liturgical texts that refer to the disposition of humankind being inextricably bound together. That we, as individuals, have a direct impact on other human beings who are within our spheres of influence and everyday interactions. None of us live in the world alone. The things that we do, the 
ways that we comport ourselves as we engage in human communication and commerce have both a direct and indirect impact on our fellow human beings every single day. We can not escape our responsibility as participants in this human race.
We all should have an incentive to create and maintain a world in which we as a species can live, grow, and thrive together. That is why, it is so confusing to hear the vitriolic and self-centered rhetoric of “I have a right to…” and “It’s my choice whether I do this or that…” when as a society we are entering our 3rd year of a global pandemic that we have not yet gained control over? Because we are a part of one another in the places we work, learn, and do commerce, it is inevitable that we will have a direct and indirect impact on one another. So, you cannot just have your own interests in mind when you are a part of a larger community because your individual actions have a direct impact on those who are directly intersecting with you.
The fact that there’s a deadly virus on the loose that has infected and killed millions of people across the globe and that the United States of America has had the highest rates of infection and death makes the situation even more dire within our borders. And yet, we continue to argue about how we can work together to get this deadly contagion under control and mitigate its damage to the general population.
People are claiming “my body, my choice” regarding even the smallest mitigating strategy of containment such as mandatory mask wearing in public places. Why? No one is arguing that individuals don’t have the right to wear a mask or not within the spheres of their personal lives and the spaces that involve people who share their perspectives or beliefs. We say, “You do you if you can do it by yourself!” The problem is when those people who want the freedom and liberty to spread their “rights” around despite how their personal pursuit of liberty and freedom affects everyone else. Your personal rights do NOT include spreading to other people what could be a deadly contagion in the public square. We all should have the right to be free from the fear of catching this deadly virus from someone who refuses to take the same precautions we take when we wear a seatbelt, when we obey traffic signals, when we don’t drink and drive, etc. We are not only watching out for our own personal safety and security, but we are also looking out for other human beings who may encounter us along the way.
Freedom as characterized by Dr. Martin Luther King states, “Neither am I implying that there are no limits to freedom. Always freedom is within predestined structure.” As members of a collective society, a community, a country, we must recognize that our individual “freedom” has its limitations. Within the structure of a public society, we must all make sacrifices to actively participate. One might find these sacrifices constraining or limiting but limitations on your personal freedom, in order to protect your ability to participate within the structure of a free society, would seem to be limitations that we all can live with. If we are unwilling to control our own impulses in our efforts to be our most free and liberated selves, even if our choices adversely affect other humans in their efforts to 
also be free, then we should be willing to exercise those freedoms alone or at least in a place where others might not object to their expression.
Schools have made their entire school community a “peanut free zone” due to the extreme peanut allergy of just one individual student. We do not hear protestations about someone else’s individual right to eat peanuts or have peanuts around! No! Because they are making a sacrifice for the “greater good.” This is what good citizenship and responsibility is all about. Until we are free from this awful pandemic, wear a mask in public spaces for the good and well-being of others.
