"In his landmark analysis of the social impact of religion, scholar Bruce Lincoln argued that there is no realm of life that cannot somehow be made religious. This is not because there are topics that are specific or unique to religion, but because of what happens to the authority of a claim when religious language is used. In other words, when people use religious speech, their authority is often perceived to be heightened.

For example, if someone plans to marry a partner they don’t appear to like very much, their claim that “we’ve been together a long time” may not come across as a convincing argument for a wedding. But what if that same person says that “God has brought this other person into my life”? That reason may be more readily accepted if the public hearing these words is already open to religious ideas.

Taking this approach to religion doesn’t mean that all religious claims are factually true or ethical. It also doesn’t mean that the people who use religious language are insincere or even wrong. Rather, the function of religious speech is to amplify the authority of an idea through appeals to seemingly unquestionable authorities, like deities and “ultimate truths.” If a statement does this, Lincoln concludes, then it is religious."


https://theconversation.com/why-masks-are-a-religious-issue-144391

In Islam, they insist you wear a mask. If a woman.

Is "wall" the same as "mask"?

And many muslims live in non-muslim/non-religious countries, and their usage varies, so calm down. Facts are better than polemical cherry-picking.

Muslim yashmaks, hijabs, niqabs, battoulahs, shaylas, haiks, bushiyyahs, abayas, burqas, paranjas etc are are all fact.

Yes, and few of them are face masks.

I don't think that is true. Name the dozen countries that require a full facial covering.

And then tell us what makes a country a Muslim country. Because there are nearly 2 billion Muslims in over a hundred countries.

Some things are true if you believe. Other things are true even you don’t. I think masks are on both sides. Some people believe that they control covid, some just think it’s nonsense.

Religion as authority might be our problem here. This is mostly a liberal crowd who bristle at church authority especially under the factual circumstances. To TBMs, authority is a feature, not a bug. They want to be told what to do and how to live their lives.

The science (i.e. observing what actually happens) shows that it protects people around the wearer from about 80% of the risk and protects the wearer from at least 30% of the risk. AS it's about risk prevention and I have to use Paris public transport (RER suburban train+bus+metro) and am forced to work in an open-plan office with 10 other people, I wear a mask all day and so do all the people around me, at work and in public transport, so I am maximizing risk PREVENTION. That's all we can do. There's no "belief" about it.

Where's the "Like" button?