beards are from satan!

by Adrianoblue 49 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Leolaia

  There is the funny rationalization of the Amazon myth that Palaephatus gave. He thought that in olden times it was so rare for the Greeks to see men without beards that they mistook them for women.

  "Here is what I say about the Amazons. It was not women who waged their wars; it was barbarian men -- men who wore clothing that reached their feet, as the Thracian women do, tied up their hear in headbands and shaved their beards like the present-day people of Patara on the river Xanthus. These were the reasons their enemies called them women. But in fact the men of the Amazon nation were excellent warriors, whereas a woman-army is not likely to have ever existed -- after all there are none anywhere today (De Incredibilis 32)".
• 

  asilentone

  It is easier for the JWs to spot who is 'spiritually strong', if you wear a beard, that means to them that you are spiritually weak.
• 

  ele_lux

  Does anybody have an actual quote from the WT saying beards are bad?
• 

  miseryloveselders

  Does anybody have an actual quote from the WT saying beards are bad?

  I'm at work, so I don't have access to the CD Rom, maybe Blondie or someone can do it. However, this Answers.com link I find somewhat humorous regarding JWs and beards. Its got two different points, both agreeing with another in some instances, and some disagreement. The only WT or Awake article I can recall was an article from the 70s, which mentioned either the beatniks or hippies, I can't recall.

  http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_can't_Jehovah's_Witnesses_have_a_beard

  Actually, it's not that Jehovah's Witnesses in general are not permitted to have a beard, it's that a brother who has a beard would not be used in a position of responsibility such as elder or ministerial servant.
  
  The elders and ministerial servants are looked to for direction and to set an example in the congregation. Our work is very scrutinized by those outside our organization. I
  n western countries in particular, a few years ago beards were often confused with a segment of society that reflected rebellion, namely the "hippy" movement of the 60's and 70's. It was felt that we should not in any way resemble those that reflected an attitude like this, or the drug culture that went along with it. We have to separate ourselves from that, and to have a beard a few years ago could be confusing, especially to an older generation of people at that time that were especially repulsed at the conduct of those of the younger generation. Even though we are some 30 or 40 years removed from that situation that existed during the late 60's and early 70's, it has been proven by experts that some people on some subconscious level do not trust a man with a beard.
  
  The underlying message that some get from a beard is that if you have one, you have something to hide, as if you are hiding behind the beard. I have even heard that idea expressed in sales courses that I have taken for secular activities. Beards are discouraged by some sales trainers because of the subconscious message that some people receive from a person with a beard, and some feel that a person without a beard generally speaking has a more professional appearance than a person who does. So, even though the reasons for not wearing a beard may have changed somewhat, the practice of not having a beard itself still has merits. Jehovah's Witnesses do not want to give any cause for stumbling others, either inside the congregation or outside the congregation. So, we generally do not wear beards. This may be different in some countries where social circumstances are different, just like in some countries the manner of dress is also different.
  
  We do not want there to be any reason for anyone to feel uncomfortable around us, especially before we have even had a chance to speak a word to them yet, and a beard can send the wrong subconscious message to someone.

  Additional Input

  • We have a reputation to uphold with Jehovah and we want to keep that good standing. So having a long beard wouldn't be respectful to him or the people we are trying to give a witness to.

  • The first president C.T. Russell of the watchtower did have a long beard !

    Real answer:

    Disclaimer:

    This is not intended to detract from the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, as through my personal study of the Scriptures, the doctrine is the closest to that of the Bible of any denomination. It is merely to give an honest answer to a straight-forward question, rather than make excuses or deny reality. After all, Jesus said we would probably suffer - and might even die - for Christian beliefs and all they're asking is that you shave.
    
    The first answer is partially correct, in that male Jehovah's Witnesses my wear beards without suffering more than a stern talking-to and withdrawal of opportunity to carry any special position or responsibility in the congregation. However, if the real reason was proven current public perception, the same rules would probably apply to obesity, lack of fashion sense, or social ineptitude - all of which can make people very uncomfortable and unwilling to perceive someone as scholarly or to be taken seriously.
    
    In the 1950s, in the the USA, beards were widely unpopular among the general public and most men who wore one were immediately perceived as beatniks (and later, hippies). In that American, Cold War climate, a young man who didn't sport a military-esque brush cut and bare chin was out-of-hand labeled a communist or homosexual. This attitude permeated even into the upper echelon of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, to the point where articles were printed denying even Jesus wore a beard, while on earth. The men currently on the Governing Body have an average age of 75. This would have made them teenagers at the time this perception existed and they are probably, simply (like most old people) not quick - or even willing - to change their minds.
    
    Paul, the apostle, said something similar in 1Cor 11:14 about long hair being a dishonor to a man. Obviously, this needs to be taken in some kind of social context, as God told Samson's mother never to cut his hair. Absalom is referred to as "flawless" and "handsome" with his hair that he allowed to grow until the weight of it became too unwieldy. Also, the Nazirite priests were not to cut their hair as long as they served in the temple. Obviously Paul's words were intended for his militant Roman contemporaries. That society started the cropped military haircut and clean-shaven face to keep lice to a minimum and avoid giving an enemy something to grab, in a skirmish.
• 

  Leolaia

  Real answer:
  
  <snip>
  
  In the 1950s, in the the USA, beards were widely unpopular among the general public and most men who wore one were immediately perceived as beatniks (and later, hippies). In that American, Cold War climate, a young man who didn't sport a military-esque brush cut and bare chin was out-of-hand labeled a communist or homosexual. This attitude permeated even into the upper echelon of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, to the point where articles were printed denying even Jesus wore a beard, while on earth.

  This is not accurate. The discouraging of beards goes back to the Rutherford era, and the depictions of Jesus without a beard is also Rutherfordian. The discouraging of beards was originally motivated by a desire to distance Rutherfordian Bible Students/JWs from Russell and his teachings and style (See Penton, 2004, pp. 139, 142). The Cold War justification for the anti-beard attitude came later. In fact, the Society reversed itself in 1968 on the issue of whether Jesus had a beard, declaring that he did indeed probably have a beard -- a time when beards were all the rage.
• 

  asilentone

  miseryloveselders, there are some very rare cases that elders and MS can wear beard, but it would have to be a medical reason. One elder in my old hall wore beard. He cannot shave it or he would have very serious reactions on his face.
• 

  Bungi Bill

  I have heard it suggested - and knowing how obsessed about control the WTS is, I could believe it - that this thing about beards came in after the death of CT Russell.

  To emphasize that HE was now running the show - and not the goatee bearded (and incidentally, also long haired) Charles Russell - J F Rutherford invented this nonsense about beards;

  - "Worldly," " Rebellious," "Immature, " "Distracting to our message,"Dirty", "Not groomed like a minister" (Load of BS, that one - you ought to see how men are groomed at the local Baptist Church around where I live!)

  - Oblivious to the fact that many prominent business and professional men wear beards. (I was remided of that one recently, while working at a hospital, in which many of the leading medical specialists in the state are based. More of those men were bearded than were clean-shaven).

  - Disregarding also how the majority of men in the community might be groomed. For example, in Papua New Guinea, it is usual for a man to wear a beard (That county's current Prime Minister wears a full beard). Yet, the WTS insists that all 'brothers" in PNG, also, must not wear a beard.

  All about control - which, unfortunately, is all too typical of religion in general.

  Bill.
• 

  caliber

  these verses throws a whole different twist into the mix..trying to follow old customs creates problems

  In Leviticus 19:27-28

  "(27) You shall not round the edge of your head, nor shall you destroy the edge of your beard. (28) And you shall not make a cutting for the dead in your flesh, nor shall you make a written tattoo upon you; I am YHWH."

  In these two verses we are forbidden to make four types of "cuttings":

  1) Cutting the head or hair
  2) Cutting the face or beard
  3) Cutting the flesh
  4) Inscribing writing on the flesh
• 

  WontLeave

  For ele_lux:

  "Today Christian ministers, like the early Christians, are concerned with neatness and cleanness, but they strive to dress inconspicuously, so that their appearance does not in any way detract from the dignity or the effectiveness of the message they bear. (2 Cor. 6:3, 4) In recent years in many lands a beard or long hair on a man attracts immediate notice and may, in the minds of the majority, classify such a person undesirably with extremists or as rebels against society. God’s ministers want to avoid making any impression that would take attention away from their ministry or hinder anyone from listening to the truth. They know that people are watching true Christians very critically and that to a great extent they judge the entire congregation and the good news by the minister’s appearance as a representative of the congregation.

  In paradise restored on earth it would not be out of order if men returned to wearing beards, in perfect fashion, like Adam in Eden."

  w5/1/68 p287

  ------------------------------------- This is the same article where they permitted Jesus (and, I guess, Adam) to wear a beard, after all. I can not find anything newer, other than anecdotal evidence of people who shaved as part of their conversion to a JW - and most of them talk about an overall unkempt appearance which included an untidy beard. We could all use some fashion tips from 1968. That might explain the nasty polyester suits of the blue-collar nobodies who want to be called "elder". Not long ago there was a WT study article that pictured a man going through the stages of being met in service, studying, becoming an unbaptized publisher (something with zero scriptural support), then getting baptized. At first, the man pictured wore a beard and in a subsequent photo had shaved it off. An elder made an obnoxious comment about the obvious "spiritual growth" because he shaved off his beard. Right behind him, sat someone's study who had come to a meeting - an older gentleman - and he had a full beard. That was the first and last time I ever saw him. The elder was deleted next time the CO came through. Sadly, I doubt there was any correlation. Obviously, the elder didn't see him, because every JW knows you love bomb people until they're baptized. Only then can you attack them and threaten with DFing if they don't grovel before the losers in cheap suits who crave power. I was just thinking today, how bizarre it is that a group with as bad a track record of ridiculous mistakes (false dates, ridiculous fail rate interpreting prophetic imagery, God lives in the Pleiades, Jesus didn't wear a beard, the physical heart controls emotion, etc) insists everyone put more stake in their opinions than Scripture. If you side with the Bible against their literature, you're "confused". It amazes me that nobody is allowed to acknowledge the Society's glaring mistakes until they themselves do; then suddenly, you're allowed to see the truth. Of course, this is so you can be thankful for them bringing you "new light" even though the "old light" was "right at the time". If you notice their stupid mistakes before they do, you're an "apostate". I believe many of their blunders occur because they have to have an opinion about EVERYTHING. Even the simplest Scripture that a child can understand fully, they insist on explaining to death (oh, how I hate the daily text for that - one sentence of beautifully-worded Scripture followed by 2 paragraphs of drivel that would insult the intelligence of a 6-year-old). Perhaps this is to condition the JWs to rely on them for everything. If the people are spoon fed like a baby all the time, hopefully they'll start to view themselves as babies and totally reliant on the literature because they're too mentally lazy to understand ANYTHING on their own. But, I digress. Prov 10:19 puts it beautifully: "In the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression, but the one keeping his lips in check is acting discreetly." The Society can't shut up, so they keep putting their foot in their mouth. A well-stocked JW library is ENORMOUS, to "explain" a book that can be carried in a purse or (if you have a pocket-sized one) in a jacket pocket. "To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion [to them] is wearisome to the flesh." - Ecc 12:11 It also amazes me how they'll turn over every rock to find some crackpot to agree with their hair-brained ideas. They came up with a doctor to agree with them about the literal, physical heart (yes, the muscle in your chest) controlling emotions (w 3/1/71), a historical author to agree with them about Jesus not wearing a beard (w 8/15/68), Johannes Greber, etc. And when they can't find anyone to agree with them, they'll say things like "many believe", "some scientists agree", or they'll just misquote someone, take a quote out of context to give a completely different spin, or lie. I personally love the picture of a wood carving of a man on a stake in the reference Bible appendix about the "torture stake" taken from a book that shows the type of instrument used for Jesus, 3 pages later, as a cross (of course, this picture is not mentioned). I was in a car group with a guy who found a book at the library which agreed with a stake being used for Jesus, because Jews weren't permitted to be hung up after sundown. (Frederick T. Zugibe did some research and discovered someone would stay alive far longer on a cross than a stake.) I just quietly cringed as I listened to him sharing his find. I had already discovered very quickly not to talk to JWs about ANYTHING; even interesting things gleaned from reading the Bible, because they'd find some reason to pick a fight about it. Anyway, one of the elders was with us and reprimanded him in front of everyone for reading something that wasn't published by the Society and went on to tell him the Society's literature is the only credible source of information. Of course, this elder has the IQ of a lampshade, but that's common of most JWs. Obviously, they seek to control information and forbid the congregation from going to university or doing online research because an ignorant group can be told anything. Early in my experience as a JW, I had a pioneer ask me what sort of things I prayed for. I explained that I didn't feel right asking for much of anything. Since this isn't the real life and God knows our lives sometimes suck and has a time already decided on when he's going to fix everything, I just deal with it. I figure if he can allow John the Baptist to be beheaded, I doubt he's going to jump in and get me a cushy job with all meeting times free. So, I told her one of the things I pray for is understanding. She actually said "Isn't that the faithful and discreet slave's job?" Wow, what a drone. I guess that's the only way to hold any JW title, though. You don't have to think or understand; we do that for you. Just think what we tell you to.
• 

  Neon Bible

  You can't spell culture without cult. Its all about uniformity.