We should respect minority rights especially when we disagree
I am a little concerned with the hysteria the media and authorities are creating in their efforts to achieve full vaccination, with talk of restricted civil liberties and forced inoculation. After the shameful examples of internment camps and residential schools you would think British Columbians would have learned where this kind of thinking takes us.
A few of our fellow citizens have decided to forego the vaccine for their various reasons, relying on their natural immune systems. Some have bought into the political rhetoric of the COVID deniers and well established misinformation campaign on social media, but many have religious objections.
Regardless of their reasons our friends and neighbours have the right to refuse medical treatment. Those of us who have chosen to join the 80 per cent (and rising) majority should think carefully before we listen to the extremists and demagogues who see an advantage in finding minorities to demonize, especially when they talk about exclusion and coercion. By awarding them power over some bodies we concede control of our own. Let’s not go there.
David Lowther
Mesachie Lake