New Article on BEARDS and Attire of Jehovah's Witnesses (page 7)

tim hooper

What about the guy with a sweater and no tie. I'm amazed he was not sent home with a naughty step letter.

That was a fella by the name of Ben Winterbottom. He was the PO of the Bolton, Lancashire congregation.

Has anyone seen the new WT for Dec. 2013 (public). Christ is on the throne with a beard...& it's white...now I know that they wore beards back then, maybe to keep them warm, who knows..just like the JW's have rules not to have them, so they may have had rules to have them...but that's not the big issue here...Why is Jesus Christ upon his 2nd coming or 3rd or whenever the WT says he is returning...why is he old with gray hair. Isn't he timeless. I'm just saying...even my study conductor said that a while ago, when they had Christ pix with a gray beard, she said, Jesus get's old...ummm, I saw a little light come out of her eyes...again, I'm just saying.

Any ideas ?

Legacy

Zoos

Great article.

Under the subheading Excessive Control, second quote, I noticed a small typo.

"Therefore, even during leisure time, such as when going out to eat after the program, we should dress as befits ministers who are in the city for the purpose of attending a Christian convention and should not were such clothing as jeans, shorts, or T-shirts." Kingdom Ministry 2007 Apr p.4

Perhaps "wear"?

I've learned so much from your website. Thanks for all your hard work.

Finkelstein

There’s a lot of things wrong with this country, but one of the few things still right with it is that a man can steer clear of the organized bullshit if he really wants to.

It’s a god damned luxury, and if I were you, I’d take advantage of it while you can.

-- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Gopher

In the mid-1980's I was assigned a talk in the Theocratic Ministry School regarding beards. It quoted from a 1975 or 1977 Watchtower about the impression that beards could give (that one was a rebel or radical), the implication being - it wasn't the way we would want to project ourselves as JW's representing Jehovah.

It was awkward, because in the audience was a member of a JW family whom I didn't know, at the first meeting I'd ever seen him, sitting right in the middle of the audience wearing his beard. True story!

Simon Templar

What I know of this subject was covered at the Circuit Assembly Elder's Meetings. It was stated verbally that if a Brother wanted to have a beard (some grew them to cover scars or birthmarks) it was okay for FS, but the Brother could not be used or be allowed on the Platform (this included the school). The thinking grew out of the 1960's in the USA when the hippie movement began to grow the WTS wanted a distinct visual separation. The policy continues to today. Beards were equated (in some one's mind) with radicalism like Karl Marx, Rasputin, etc.

Gopher

My impression is that the WT Society's aversion to beards goes back to the days of JF Rutherford, who either had a personal dislike for beards or wanted to make a "clean break" (pardon the pun) from the bearded deceased Watchtower leader CT Russell. The association of beards with rebelliousness in the 1960's only further strengthened the WTS' aversion.

jgnat

Thoreau

Nothing to do with the witnesses, but I am charmed by this anecdote regarding Thoreau's neck hair.

Thoreau also wore a neckbeard for many years, which he insisted many women found attractive. [ 14 ] However, Louisa May Alcott mentioned to Ralph Waldo Emerson that Thoreau's facial hair "will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man's virtue in perpetuity." [ 14 ]

14. Gilman, William, et al., The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson 16 vols. (Cambridge, Mass 1960–)

jwfacts

The neckbeard - not a good look.

I have added this next paragraph, as it is intriguing how Watchtower picks and chooses when to invoke certain principles. They very much employ and Eisegesis method of deciding what they want to promote, and then randomly select Scriptural principles to support their pre-decided stance.

Watchtower's requirement to shave goes against their usual method of forming doctrine. In line with the reasoning for why Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to celebrate birthdays, shaving should be forbidden on the following basis:

Men naturally grow beards, being the design of God.
The Bible provides the example of Israelite and Christian men with beards, as a guide for us to follow today.
The Mosaic Law forbade people from shaving, highlighting God’s feelings against men being clean-shaven - see Leviticus 19:27.
Shaving is effeminate and a homosexually inspired, androgynous fashion.
Shaving has pagan roots. It was likely first practiced by Egyptian priests, and later promoted by Alexander the Great. (See wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving) During Christian times, Christians wore beards whilst the pagan Romans, such as Pontius Pilate who authorized the impalement of Jesus, were clean-shaven.

jgnat

Whenever hubby pulls "It's not in the bible" routine on me, I tell him, "neither are zippers."

New Article on BEARDS and Attire of Jehovah's Witnesses

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