Are Beards becoming more acceptable due to decline in membership?
by UnshackleTheChains 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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compound complex
Bearded elder in Worlds Apart.
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dozy
I was at a large JW wedding recently (UK . near London ) and would say about 20% - 30% of the guys ( mainly younger guys ) had some form of beard , from "haven't shaved for a couple of days stubble" to full blown beards ( though none of the "Grizzly Adams" type of growth ) . I asked a JW relative if the Society had softened its stance against beards and he said that it hadn't , but that a lot of younger non appointed guys had decided to go for it because it was fashionable. He said that for appointed JWs , especially elders , it was very much a No No , and had been mentioned by a CO at a recent elders / CO meeting that the GB were "getting concerned" ( so I'm guessing a "Tight Pants" style rant is coming soon ).
He said it was getting common for quite a few in his congregation to shave on a Sunday ( for the meeting ) and then not to shave again till Thursday evening ( before the meeting. )
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punkofnice
of the jobo elders I've known with beards, all had some 'medical' reason for wearing one. They are not used on a$$emb£ies though.
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My Name is of No Consequence
Loose privileges if I grow a beard? What are they going to say, “brother, you can’t clean that toilet”?
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steve2
Suddenly, a significant minority of JW males in assorted congregations produce medical certificates to legitimize their need for beards.
Only in JW land....
As others have said, how fantastic to leave behind this sort of petty-minded legalism.
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_Morpheus
Lol its so comical to watch the gb over react to the most unnecessary things.
they dont care that the original ban came post russel or that the hippie movment that redemonized it was sixty years ago... they just know that beards have always been looked down on and always be 😂😂😂😂
as i travel the halls of power in dc (a lowly utility man mind you) EVERYONE seems to have a beard of some sort. The only exception being career polticians... hmm... i wonder if theres some sort of correlation...
what i find most hilarious is that instead of getting out in front of a small and insignificant issue they insist on being like “Rehoboam” the fictional biblical charater who followed the bad advise of his peers and decided to be more harsh than his father.
the current gb seem intent on being more harsh than the previous version. The problem for them is that on issues so stupid as beards young men just wont follow in the same droves as before. Its too easy to see jesus and every other man in the bible depicted with a beard and see thats its not gods rule but mens.
However i applaude tight pants and crew and hope they keep it up. The more douche they are the more people leave
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freddo
Bit softer round our way.
Our circuit has always had congregations which allow beards on MS's and elders and on the platform for public talks. Others in the circuit don't. I don't think any wouldn't let a brother do the microphones because of a beard.
There was a recent WT in usual WT doublespeak which gave permission for beards but also permission for elders to enforce otherwise if they deemed it fit for the area they were in. I know this resulted in a nearby congregation BoE relaxing their rules.
Still not seen any on the circuit assemblies mind!
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steve2
Some have posted on this forum about beards being more evident at the last regional convention in the Netherlands (Holland).
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Spiral
I think there's something else to consider, maybe the brothers growing beards just don't give a sh*t any more about striving/competing/groaning after privileges. Here the elders (who are all really old) have been having a hard time getting brothers to care enough about competing for privileges. A bit of a shift, methinks, from the old days.
Once you don't care about privileges, they have much less control over you. And if you're a brother, you grow a beard! If they still want to give you a privilege, you keep the beard, and read that Watchtower.