by Albert Einstein 14 Replies latest jw friends
I allway wore very short "military" style haircut. Allways was viewed as a bad association by dubs, once one dub told me directly: Well I think your hair is rather to short brother! I told him I dont think so and left. After aprox. one year this guy started almost shaving his head - you hardly can see any hair on his head..... I never told him anything, but I always must laugh when I see him...
Any personal experience?
Albert
Yes, when I was a teenager, I told my JW Dad that I would like to have a very short hair, he said No, so I sneaked out and went to the barber shop and got it done. When my JW Dad saw me, he had a huge fit with me. The ladies love it.
Not for a haircut but lack of it. And funny thing was I was only a teen at the time not even attending meetings. But somehow because my mom was a witness they thought that gave them a jurisdiction over my hairdo.
Can't be too short and shaved heads are bad (unless you are a black elder evidently). Length of sideburns is closely monitored taking up 1/2 hour discussion in an elder's meeting. One elder starting dyeing his hair and was counseled...said if sisters stopped dyeing theirs he would too.
It's one of those gnat things.
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w956/15p.16par.13WhatMotivatesYoutoServeGod?***
The example of the Pharisees teaches us that we need to have a reasonable view of works. Indeed, works are vital, for "faith without works is dead." (James 2:26) However, imperfect humans have a tendency to judge others by what they do rather than by what they are. At times, we may even judge ourselves this way. We may become obsessed with performance, as if this were the sole criterion of our spirituality. We could forget the importance of examining our motives. (Compare 2 Corinthians 5:12.) We might become rigid legalists who "strain out the gnat but gulp down the camel," obeying the letter of the law while violating its intent.—Matthew 23:24.
When the humanoid that dragged me into the cancer was in my congregation, he wanted my hair almost exactly 1 1/2" long on the top with none on the sides, tapered off so it wouldn't look like one of those ROTC haircuts you see in college. And it had to be done every 6 weeks.
Apparently, he was the only one that really cared about it--unless it got more than about 3" long or was starting to look a bit unruly.
Never for a particular style, but quite frequently for being too long.
YES, TOO LONG IN THE BACK
I got counseled for too short a haircut, my hair being to long, my sideburns being too long, my shave not being close enought, etc.
I've never seen an organization so afraid of hair.
The experiences of the younger guys being counseled for having hair cut too short just shows that it's all about control and how the cult is marketed to the masses.
When I was young, many many moons ago, us young guys loathed short hair, especially crew cuts or flat tops...which ironically enough is what most us kids were given by conservative parents and barbers with no questions asked at the kingdom hall.
Back in the lates sixties and all the way through the seventies, long hair was the fashion. Of course this freedom of expression in hairstyles was forbidden at the hall. No hair touching the collar; no hair over your ears; no sideburns lower than halfway below your ear; no mustaches covering your entire upper lip or coming down past the side edge of the lip (no fu-manchus); no beards period.
I remember one elder who went around to the younger brothers and would pull their hair. If he could pull more than an inch or so away from their head, he would tell them to get a haircut. At the time I didn't think a thing of it. I was a youngster and he was an elder...I figured he had the authority. What's disturbing now is that parents allowed this behavior by the elders, backing the authority up. Any elder did that to a kid of mine today would find himself in deep shit with me.
Nowadays, some guys like long hair, some like short, some like bald. Yet, the cult is afraid of people expressing indiviuality through something as simple as a haircut. If you want to grow it long, you'll get counseled. Cut it down to a crew cut, you'll get counseled. Shave it, you'll get counseled.
In the meantime, a conservatively dressed, short haired elder or pioneer is abusing kids and is protected by the elders so as to not bring "reproach on Jehovah" (read: protect the company)
I was councelled about the stupidist things . I was once councelled about about having a t shirt that had a tv personality on it. It was a loony toons t shirt. It had bugs bunny and some other charectars. Horror of horrors it included the Tazmanian Devil. It could have been demonized they said. Nice thing to say to a 12 year old.
