A Christian mom is being dubbed “school board Karen” after calling coronavirus safety measures, such as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing, “pagan rituals of Satanic worshippers” during a school board meeting in Wisconsin.
The woman, who has children within the Elmbrook School District, has been identified as Heidi Anderson. Anderson’s comments against required safety measures should in-person learning resume were made on Tuesday in front of the school board. The meeting was filmed and posted to social media, where it—specifically the portion that featured Anderson’s comments—went viral.
“Six-foot distance and wearing masks are pagan rituals of satanic worshippers,” Anderson says in the video. “My kids are Christian; they are not subject to wearing masks.”
The school board was holding a meeting and subsequent vote on whether to resume in-person school. Members were deciding between in-person learning five days a week, virtual learning five days a week, or a hybrid of the two, according to WTMJ. Schools in Wisconsin, much like those in the rest of the country, shuttered in March to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“You are relying on the advice of doctors who are under control of large medical organizations, which benefit financially from the continuation of this emergency,” Anderson says. “My family has for generations fought for freedom all the way back to the Civil War. I have relatives who have fought and died, and paid the ultimate price to ensure that their children and grandchildren and generations to come could live in a free, representative republic that guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
“These draconian measures for a disease that has very low morbidity, which is much less likely to happen to our kids than them getting in a car accident and dying, or their grandparents falling in a nursing home, is a draconian socialist tactic and overreach,” she continues.
Children can catch, spread, and even die from the coronavirus. They, according to some studies, are thought to spread COVID-19 just as easily as adults, and in-person learning poses a risk not just for students but for teachers, custodial workers, and cafeteria workers, among other staff. More than 2,000 students and staff members have already been quarantined across five states where schools have recently reopened, according to CNN. At least 230 others have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Wall Street Journal called face masks “one of the most powerful weapons to fight the new coronavirus.” Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Journal of the American Medical Association that if everybody wore a mask for four to eight weeks, the pandemic could be “under control.” Social distancing has also proven to be effective in helping slow the disease’s spread.
While the Elmbrook school board voted 4-3 to resume in-person school five days a week, it is mandating face masks and giving students the option of virtual learning.
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H/T towleroad
