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I went along with ‘social distancing’ and avoided my father’s house as he was dying of cancer. Never again.

By Matthew Hennessey
Aug. 28, 2023 6:02 pm ET

... President Biden told reporters Friday he’s asking Congress “for funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.” Why should we believe that after the long litany of noble lies and the coercion they were used to justify? ...

I’ll take my stand. Whatever happens, I won’t participate in meaningless gestures. That means no masks, under any circumstances. Never again.
I’ll also pledge no fist bumps, no grocery washing, no crossing the street to avoid my neighbors, no locking myself away from the world, no health attestations. I won’t present my papers. I won’t swab my nose morning, noon and night. And I won’t submit to mandates that fill my veins—or, more important, my children’s veins—with new drugs and vaccines that haven’t been tested the way drugs and vaccines normally are.

When I was a kid, the loudest voices urging me to “question authority” and “fight the power” came from the left. Now those same voices urge obedience to state control. Conservatives once stood for social conformity and personal discipline. Now they preach resistance and revolution. ...

To my mild shame, I largely did as I was told during the pandemic. I wore the masks, got the shots, worked from home, worshiped online. I even stayed away from my father’s house as he lay dying from cancer. I should have been there. I’ll never get over that.
I complied because everyone seemed to be complying and I didn’t have the guts to say no. In hindsight I can’t help but feel I sold my God-given freedom too cheaply. I won’t get fooled again.