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As elementary school students return to school this year, many states are requiring them to wear masks unless they have a religious objection to such a mandate. I have already been asked by several parents for my thoughts on such a thing. Now, generally I want to leave medicine to doctors, science to scientists, and politics to politicians (and in the case of mask mandates for little children, it honestly is hard to tell where one of those groups ends and the other begins). However, since the government is allowing religious opting out, that is my wheel house.

This post is an argument for why, if you are in a state that allows religious opting out of mask mandates for children, you should opt out—even if you want your kids to wear a mask. It is not a post denying the reality of COVID, nor is it a post about vaccines. It is not a post that is comparing persecution by the Taliban to mask mandates.

It is a post meant to help parents think through the religious implications and convictions behind ceding to the state the authority to tell little kids to wear a mask all day at school.  

Let me start by asking in religious terms, what is the purpose of education? How you answer that question will help you understand the nature of a potential religious objection to mask mandates.

I answer that question by saying that the purpose of education is to “study reality as a manifestation of God’s glory, to speak about it with accuracy, and to savor the beauty of God in it.” That definition is not mine, but borrowed from Piper’s God’s Passion for His Glory (p. 43; link takes you to a free PDF version). That kind of devotion to reality is at odds with world systems. The world’s approach to education is to dissuade people from finding their satisfaction in the gospel, and instead promise safety and satisfaction through politics, work ethic, or personal self-worth. Thus, the world’s education will be “wrong, because [it] knows neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Mark 12:24).

A Christian approach to education should give children the foundation they need to grow up to be different than the world. We want to make Daniels, who disregard the king’s edict and throw open the window to pray. We want to make people like Moses, who count it a privilege to suffer with God’s people rather than enjoy the comforts of home. We want Rahabs, who are willing to defy the mandates of the city in order to side with God’s people. We want Abrams, who receive more joy from God’s glory than they do from familiarity with their world.

Now, if you have that as the goal, how you get there is key. It is a critical component of Christian education that children learn that the world view that they are being taught is more significant—indeed more true, if there is such a phrase—than the world views of society. Cultural conformity is not a virtue.

Mask mandates don’t correspond to reality

With that said, consider mask mandates for children. They do not appear scientifically based. I know scientists say “masks are an effective way of stopping the spread of COVID,” but that is very different than saying what the scientists say corresponds to reality. This requires nuance. Do you understand the difference between science says and scientists say?

I don’t want to tread too far into verboten territory here, but the idea that mask mandates for little children are political theatre should be evident. I am not talking about mask mandates for adults, and I am not talking about mask mandates for airplanes. I’m talking about places like Virginia, where initially the mask mandate was for kids over 12, then it became 7, then it became 2. Those changes did not come with any corresponding “science.” There were not studies on the spread of COVID to arrive at the age of 12. When COVID was rising a year ago, many states adopted mask mandates for age 12 and up, and we were told that if we complied, they would go away. But rather than COVID going away, it raged out of control despite the mask mandates. How did governments respond? Well most of them simply lowered the mask mandate’s age, as if those unmasked 7 year-olds were why it was out of control. In Virginia it dropped from 12 to 7, then finally to 2. It did so without research, studies, or any evidence whatsoever other than the assertion that “science says.” That’s what I mean by “political theatre.”

Speaking of politics, these mandates are becoming more and more evident in blue states, but not in red states. Why? I am not asking that question from a “mask-denying” perspective, but am literally asking that question: why do mandates for little kids follow the political make up of an area? Could it be that these mandates are more world-view oriented than scientific?

And, while we are on that question, it is also worth asking if mask mandates have been effective at “slowing the spread.” There is plenty of research showing that COVID rates follow patterns, and those patterns are pretty much consistent regardless of masking. Nations without masking follow the same patterns as nations with. Hawaii (strict masks) and Texas (no mandates) follow the same curves. To reference back to how we described the purpose of education, mask mandates for children as a means of slowing the spread of COVID does not match reality.

Again, let me stress the nuance here. I’m not arguing overtly against masks, but against mask mandates for children. That is a huge and critical difference that I hope is clear, and leads to the next part of this religious objection to mandates. I visited one school recently for a sports practice that required masks on little kids. But when the kids went to recess, all the students put their masks in a shared basket. Then, after recess, they all fished their masks out to go back to class. It was an incredible scene to watch, and if you think your kindergartener’s mask is more sanitary than that…well, if you have a kindergartener, you already know it isn’t.

My point is that these mandates, despite all of the “experts” agreeing on their efficacy, don’t actually correspond with the world as it is. Some parents might say “I don’t think the mask mandates for kids do anything, but at the same time, we should just go along with it, because we don’t have a religious objection.” But I’m saying that is a huge problem in Christian education. If you are teaching kids to comply with a mandate that does not correspond to the real world (especially when the state lets you opt out), that in and of itself is the big deal. I’m not saying it should be a matter of martyrdom—don’t die over masks. Don’t’ get thrown out of stores (or schools, for that matter). But if the stores (or schools, for that matter) allow you to opt out for a religious conviction, then the mandate’s lack of correspondence to reality is that religious conviction. The uniquely Christian purpose of education to teach kids a vision of the world that corresponds to reality.

Ephesians 6:4 teaches that it is the family’s job to raise their children, not the state’s

In the Christian family, fathers are supposed to “raise [their] children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” and children are supposed to “obey [their] parents,” so that they may “live long in the land” (Ephesians 6:4, 1). While the phrase “discipline of the Lord” may sound benign, there is an entire world view behind it that is relevant today.

In the Greco-Roman world, that word translated in Ephesians 6:4 as discipline was a critical world-view level word. In the New Testament era, the Romans continued the Greek tradition of believing that it was the state’s job to “discipline” children. Don’t confuse this with parents spanking their children—that’s not what this word describes. Rather, it describes the kind of cultural discipline required to function well in society. Think “discipline” as in “military discipline.” In the Greco-Roman world, it was the state’s function to instill those social norms in children. TDNT (a Greek dictionary) describes the word translated discipline this way:

“Even ideas about family education in the classical period are mostly presented as demands of the legislator. For strictly all education is a public affair. At issue in discipline is the relations of man to the polis (political element of society), and…the indissoluble tension between man’s freedom and the claim of society… Political education (in the Greek Empire) is introduction into the political relation created by the legislator. Thus the state attains to radical superiority over the individual; [in this vision] education is fully a matter for the state.”

TDNT paideuo

Into that world, Paul tells fathers the opposite. He pierces the loyalty educators have to the state, and instead claims that it falls to the family to instill into their children the kind of discipline that will prepare them to function well in the world God created. My eyes often just glide through Ephesians 6:4 but it is helpful to remember that Paul is saying “Fathers, it falls to you to make sure your family understands reality for the glory of the Lord. Don’t give that burden away to the state!”

To be clear, I’m not even particularly arguing against masks. If you have done the research, and you want your children to wear a mask at school, then by all means have them wear a mask at school. If they are the only kid in a mask, tell them that it is a good reminder that they are being obedient to their parents, and that obedience will give them a longer life than the mask will (Ephesians 6:3). Own your decision, and teach them that they can be a Daniel by doing what their parents tell them to do, not because the state says so, but because Mom and Dad say so. Religiously opt out of the mandate, and then have your kid mask up.

But whether you want your kids to mask up or not, I hope you agree that it falls to parents to say “God has made me responsible for my children’s wellbeing and safety; I do not want them to be pawns in some sort of political game. God gave my children to me, I will decide if they should mask up at school, according to the authority God has given me in Ephesians 6:1-4, and for that reason I have a sincerely held religious belief that precludes me from having my kids participate in this mask mandate.”

If you are in a place with a mask mandate and God has providentially provided a way for you comply without violating your conscience or neglecting your parental responsibilities, and without provoking the state, then you should avail yourself of it.

At the advice of attorneys from the Liberty Counsel, if you are opting out for religious reasons, and you are in a state that allows you to opt out for religious convictions (like Virginia), then a simple notification to the school should suffice: “I have a sincerely held religious belief that, in accordance with the governor’s emergency order, allows my child to decline to wear a mask while at school.”