The internet has had many benefits but one of the largest negative effects it’s had on our society is the fact that it’s made us incredibly tribal on anything and everything. This includes vaccines, and according to the internet, you can either be wholly against them or wholly for them to the point of near-religious fervor.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has a far more nuanced take that, in a more sane world, would be the standard view about them and it deserves to be heard.

Appearing on Fox News’s Ingraham Angle, Cruz told hostess Laura Ingraham that when it comes to taking a vaccine it should definitely be a choice one makes and that the suggestion that it become a federally mandated thing is very, very wrong.

“There should be no mandate,” Cruz said simply. “There should be no vaccine mandates. There should be no mask mandates.”

Cruz made it clear that when it comes to getting vaccinated, he’s not against it and noted that he, his wife, and both his parents and in-laws have all been vaccinated. He encouraged the elderly and those at risk of suffering from its effects all get the vaccine.

“But I also believe in liberty and individual responsibility,” continued Cruz. “I think you’re able to make that decision for yourself. You’re able to look at the cost/benefit analysis and make a choice about whether getting vaccinated is a good idea.”

Cruz said he hasn’t vaccinated his children due to looking at the aforementioned cost/benefit analysis and that he doesn’t believe children, in general, should be subjected to vaccinations according to data that says they’re incredibly low risk.

Cruz moved on to note that the Democrats don’t see it that way and thus want to force everything from vaccine mandates to passports and in the interest of keeping liberty alive, Cruz has introduced legislation to ban any such law from being implemented.

“Democrats are opposing this because they believe you don’t have a right to make the choice yourself,” said Cruz.

The Left doesn't believe in individual responsibility.

The Left doesn't believe in individual choice.

The Left wants the government to mandate you must obey. pic.twitter.com/frE9pUuIrL

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 21, 2021

Cruz’s take shouldn’t be that controversial and the fact that it is says more about our culture’s willingness to retreat to our corners and fight from uncompromising positions than it does about our willingness to sit down and calmly think out the solution. Moreover, it tells us that some are so willing to enforce their will upon others that actual legislation has to be introduced to stop the despotic from pulling us down a slippery slope.

It was during the same interview that Ingraham brought up a point about how enforcing this vaccine will open the door for other enforcements down the line that not only go against the science but our principle of liberty as well.

She and Cruz are both correct. There’s more at stake here than a virus and we’re ignoring everything else in an attempt to stop something that is becoming far less deadly with every variant.

(READ: Do We Really Need to Worry About the Delta Variant?)

If you feel like you want to take the vaccine, more power to you. If you don’t, that’s your personal choice as well and that’s okay. You may have very sound reasons as to why and that should be respected. You shouldn’t be forced to inject something into your body that hasn’t even been around long enough to see the long-term side effects if you don’t want to.

Either way, the choice is, and should remain, yours.