Masks are well-worn topic of controversy. Why are so many against the greater good?

One side says we all have a responsibility to wear masks, in the middle of a little-understood and highly contagious pandemic, featuring a virus that is transmitted through respiratory droplets. The other declares our right to choose whether to wear a mask or not — even threatening to oust leaders who “disrespect” individual rights by following health experts and mandating mask wearing, all for the greater good.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, I stand foursquare for universal mask wearing during this plague. As a religious leader, I understand the interdependent web of all existence, and I know that we all are, in fact, called to be our brother’s keeper.

You don’t have to be religiously oriented to see the simple practical necessity of everyone cooperating to overcome this virus, which is so much bigger than any one of us. You don’t have to be spiritually inclined to look around and see how common sense, reason and consistency are being dishonored by the anti-mask faction. Adults already, as a matter of course, give up part of our precious individuality for the safety of others. (Think driver’s licenses and driving laws.)

It is common sense to wear a mask. But there are also moral and ethical issues at the heart of this issue. Selfishness is generally considered a character flaw by people who take their ethics seriously. Compassion is a virtue deeply held by the world’s religions, and by thoughtful atheists, agnostics and humanists.

The Dalai Lama, a Buddhist, says, “My religion is kindness.” Christian St. Paul said that faith that moves mountains is worthless without charity. Rabbi Hillel said that the Golden Rule is the essence of Jewish teachings; “the rest is commentary.” Religious scholar Karen Armstrong tells us, “The bedrock message of the Quran is a summons to a just and decent society … where vulnerable people are treated with absolute respect.” The Humanist Manifesto’s first paragraph affirms living “ethical lives … that aspire to the greater good of humanity.”

Compassion — “to suffer with, to feel with” — leads to generosity and open-heartedness. It leads to realizations that the world is full of suffering people, and it is our responsibility to show kindness, to work in aid of the greater good. It leads us to take Jesus seriously, when he tells us that we are serving him when we reach out to “the least of these.”

Selfishness leads to division and hate — and now, even death.

So what is going on in the hearts of people who rail against a requirement to wear masks, a foundational step toward calming the pandemic and protecting the vulnerable? I wish I knew. I am imagining that these folks love their families, perhaps attend church, get their driver’s licenses, stop at stop signs and contribute to worthy causes. What could it take to persuade them that, if we unite in aid of the common good, we will grow our hearts — and, not incidentally, solve our horrible shared problem and save lives? What could it take to find the compassion that cares for the weak and the sick?

I do not know the answer. I can only pray that their hearts will be softened, and that they will turn toward compassion and common sense. May it be so.