"When you tell people they need to mask in an indoor congregate setting when you're in a zone that has a high dynamic of infection — that is looked upon by a lot of people, not everybody, as an encroachment on your freedom."

Looked upon?

Such is the banality of evil, as the writer Hannah Arendt described another mild-mannered bureaucrat, in another time and another place. It is the same in every place, every time. 

Yes, looked upon. As if no big deal. As if without reason. Purely defiant and contrarian, for  their own sakes. Why – how – could anyone object? It's "just a mask," after all. Of course, it was – it is – so much more than just that. 

Symbols are important, especially when worn – for the wearing is a form of expression.

Of belief.

In a religious context – in a voluntarily religious context – there is nothing wrong with belief. Indeed, such belief can be positively powerful, as for example when it comes to dealing with the existential problem – of evil. Of reconciling belief in good – a benevolent creation – given the fact of evil's existence. Such belief – in a higher purpose currently beyond our ken but in keeping with the plan of a benevolent deity – helps many to maintain hope that, ultimately, it will all balance out.