ABOUT BEARDS AND JW,s ?

by moomanchu 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  moomanchu

  This is a JW friendly version of one of farkels posts that I plagarized.

  It's useful to send to JW,s who are clueless as to why they can not have facial hair.

  There was a falling away from the Bible Students after the disappointment of 1914 and the death of CTR in 1916.For the first approximately 10 years during his leadership of the Bible Students, Rutherford would laud and praise CTR and even stated that CTR was leading the movement personally while being "beyond the vail"( from the heavens after his death). So for a time the Judge actually promoted remembering CTR to retain followers. If he had not lauded CTR at the very beginning, the society might have lost even more followers after JFR took over power.

  As time past JFR came into his own as the new WT president.He established himself without question as the new book writer and spiritual leader and president. However like first century christians who would say they were followers of different brothers like Apollos or Paul, there were brothers at Bethel who still looked to CTR as their leader and held him in very high esteem. It was at this time that the Judge switched gears, it was time to get CTR out of the consciousness of the Bible Students. So JFR began a slow and careful plan to get the brothers to look to the Organization as gods instrument and not to CTR.

  He was well aware that many male members of the Bible students emulated CTR by growing long beards. The Judge thus ruled that beards were "out" in the Bethel families. He cut off the beards of Jesus, Adam and satan in WTS illustrations. All of the sudden, naturally recurring male facial hair was "un-Theocratic." That "beard stigma" was still in place thirty years after his death! Brothers were even told they couldn’t grow a mustache unless they wanted to lose there "privileges." In the early 1970’s when long hair and beards and mustaches were to be found everywhere in the USA the WT relaxed their rules and allowed mustaches.

  To this day beards still carry the un-theocratic stigma.
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  greendawn

  That's an interesting piece of JW history and it shows how JW leaders are good at manipulating their members to their own ends often using biblical verses in a devious way to back up their arguments.
  
  However in England I was growing a beard in the aerly eighties and nobody complained.
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  moomanchu

  Here in the states I had a beard in the mid 80's no one complained but no privleges were allowed.

  I work with a JW and about one month ago he said an elder told him his mustache was getting a little long and that the rule at bethel is it shouldn't go past the lower lip.
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  Star Moore

  This is the most blatant use of power and control, that WT has. Or should I say the most obvious.

  They are jackasses, with Rutheford leading the way...
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  OpenFireGlass

  Sorry... had to post this somewhere...

  
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  moomanchu

  I'm savin those pics.

  where did they come from?
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  OpenFireGlass

  I'm savin those pics.

  where did they come from?

  THE INTERNET !!! LOL
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  atypical

  awesome pics!!! the top one is my new wallpaper!
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  Satans little helper

  they were very anti beard in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's. In fact it was one of the big things that made me start questioning the validity of anything that came out of Brooklyn - I figured that as this was a completely arbitrary piece of man made personal opinion so how much of the rest of it was the same? It started me looking at the organisation with a critical eye and from there it was all down hill.

  Interesting that the origin was in the internal struggles of the judge, they pride themselves in being above such worldly antics.
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  evergreen

  I remember when i first became a witness. I was 23 and had a beard at the time. I was studying and totally oblivious to this view of beards. Everything seemed plain sailing untill i moved to a dfferent country.
  My new study conductor started making comments like 'having a beard was the equivalent of having a pony tail' whilst travelling in his car one day. I said that it was totally natural for a man to have a beard if he so chose. But he kept on insisting that he was right. I just thought it was his weird view of things untill an elder approached me and explained to me that wearing a beard in Jehovahs organisation wasnt the done thing.
  Being young and foolish at the time , i shaved it off, but i remember saying to my mother at the time who was a baptised witness that i didnt feel that they had the right to tell me that i shouldnt have a beard if i was to worship God. It just sounded odd.
  It is intereting that in this weeks meeting, it discusses grooming. I wonder if any comments will be made regarding beards.