Autonomy: Various

This is the last of a series on autonomy.

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

In this last post on autonomy, I want to briefly cover two hot-button issues. 

Masks

Ever since the pandemic’s start, the government’s power to mandate the wearing of masks has been the subject of debate. While most people see no controversy in the government mandating masks, there was a noisy minority who balked at this. Leaving aside the misinformation about masks, some insisted that the government didn’t have the right to mandate masks. 

Masks were not some form of puritanical dress code or sharia law. Masks have been proven to reduce the spread of disease, specifically Covid-19. Mask mandates are saving the lives of others and preventing the national hospital system from being overwhelmed.

Therefore, since wearing masks reduces the chances of harm to others, either directly or through the impact on services, the government has the right to override the autonomy of someone and require individuals to wear masks.

Gun Rights

According to the website sandyhookpromise.org "Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America." This doesn’t include the mass shootings like what occurred in Uvalde, Texas, in May of this year. These examples show a simple fact, firearms’ sole purpose is to kill. Indeed, there are sporting events with firearms, but that’s secondary to their primary purpose.

Because firearms are by nature designed to cause severe harm, an individual’s autonomy to own one can be restricted by the government.   

Conclusion to This Series

Dark Paganism teaches us that autonomy is the default nature of humans. Therefore, restrictions on our autonomy can only be justified when there is a risk of harm to another. In most cases, such as gender identity, sexual preferences, and reproductive rights, the individual’s autonomy cannot be regulated because there is no harm. However, in cases where there is harm to others, such as the spread of disease and weapons, a person’s autonomy isn’t absolute and can be regulated.