My Religious Exemption to Masks

"I, Norman H. Patterson Jr, will not comply with present mask mandates. Because of my faith in Jesus Christ and the revelation of the one and only self-existing Trinitarian God who has revealed Himself in His self-attesting Bible, I will not and cannot conform to wearing a mask. I base my assertion upon a profound and sincere belief in God and His holy word contained in the Bible. I believe complying to mask mandates violates His revealed Law, and my liberty ensconced in the Bible and the Constitution of the United States of America. So help me, God."

The Purpose of a Religious Exemption

The purpose of a religious exemption is not to gain the approval or acceptance of your exemption from others. It is also not an attempt to convince others as to the merit or reasonableness of why you refuse to comply with a social norm, mandate, executive order, or even a law that has passed through all the proper legal channels. To be a true "Law," it must comport and conform to God's Law. Therefore, any law that contradicts God's Law is not binding and must be actively resisted by all, especially Christians.

I am asserting my religious conviction concerning mask mandates. I could give ample evidence that wearing masks in public does little to prevent the spread of a virus or how long-term wearing a mask is physically and psychologically harmful to human beings. However, I have found that any attempt to do so does not convince those who believe differently than me. I am not seeking the approval of those who disagree with me concerning mask mandates. I am making the proclamation that I will not wear a mask because of my faith and commitment to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Be that as it may, I will express my Biblical reasons for my exemption concerning public mask mandates.

Mask Mandates Violate The First Commandment

The first commandment states: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3) I believe that the State is seeking to play God. He commands personal hygiene, such as in Leviticus 11. In chapter 13 of that same book, we see examples of how we are to handle pandemics. Never does it call for public masking nor the quarantining of the healthy.

The first act of God's grace to mankind was to breathe His breath of life into man's nostrils. No other creature in all creation began life from God's breathe. Breathing is nothing less than the majestic act of God's grace toward humanity. Is it any wonder that we demonstrate this divine breath of life by blowing out a candle upon the completion of another year of life. I think it is a significant symbolic gesture celebrating the breath of God. The act of breathing has been passed to every human being since the birth of Cain and Abel.

The public wearing of masks is a direct assault upon God Himself as it denies the divine drawing of healthy, clean air for life. God's design was for mankind to breathe unhindered and unfettered and not put something over our nose and mouth. It is demonic to require a person, especially children, to inhale their bodily wastes accumulating inside a mask.

The Sixth Commandment

The only time I will wear a mask is when I am working with dangerous materials, such as in an attic with fiberglass insulation contaminated with rodent feces that could potentially harm my lungs. This use of the mask is consistent with the sixth commandment that states, "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13) The positive statement of this commandment is "thou shalt preserve life." More importantly, it is my personal decision, not something required by an outside authority.

The present public mask mandates do not "preserve life." On the contrary, they break the sixth commandment by the consistent and continual inhalation of bodily waste, which is much more harmful than any virus threat.

Bearing False Witness

Another Biblical reason why I will not comply with the present mask mandates is that they violate the ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." (Exodus 20:16) To participate in mask mandates is to "bear false witness against thy neighbor." This is where science is relevant for me.

Mask mandates promote strange rituals that have nothing to do with protection from a virus. To wear a mask to walk to a table in a restaurant for 20 seconds, only to take off the mask for more than an hour, is to "bear false witness." To wear a mask outside is to "bear false witness." To require masks in one venue and not all venues is to "bear false witness." To exempt children two years and younger, but require everyone older to wear a mask, is to "bear false witness." This list can be long and extensive and has nothing to do with public health. It has to do with public control.

Mandates are Unnecessary

Imagine being in a locked room with gas masks available, and suddenly the room begins to fill with deadly gas. People would put on their gas masks immediately. Instead, our duplicitous society is "bearing false witness" because no one truly believes the virus is deadly. If they did, they would not need a mandate to tell them to protect themselves.

I observe, a multitude of times per day, people with cloth masks, masks that fit loosely around their mouth and nose, masks that cannot keep out a virus, masks over their mouth but not their nose, and so on. In short, to wear a mask is to "bear false witness," and I will not participate.

Some people are attempting to wear "proper masks." They wear double masks that fit tightly over their mouth and nose. I watch them struggle to breathe as the masks draw in toward their face when they breathe in and puff out when they breathe out. Their bodies are stressed from the lack of oxygen. Their ability to communicate, verbally and nonverbally, is greatly hindered. I cannot understand what someone says when they seek to communicate wearing a mask over their mouth. I do not have any audible or visual cues to ascertain what they are trying to say while talking.

Some put forth the argument that wearing a mask is a form of "loving your neighbor as yourself." This is another form of deception. Conforming to mass formation rituals is the furthest thing from “love.” To love is to speak the truth. So I am speaking the truth to my neighbor. I pray you heed my love.

God vs. Government

There are many more Biblical reasons for the assertion of my religious exemption to wearing a mask. The last, however, that I will put forth is the gross overreach of government. Romans 13:1-7. The only power God gives to the civil magistrate is the punishment of evildoers. Evil must be defined by God and not man. In fact, in 1 John 3:4, we learn that God defines sin as the transgression of His Holy Law. From the local to the federal, those in government do not have the authority to dismiss or rewrite God's Law. Mask mandates defy God by usurping God's Law with man's.

For these and other reasons, I will not comply with mask mandates. To do so would go against my sincerely held faith in Jesus Christ. So help me, God.