by wannaexit 53 Replies latest jw friends
The Mosaic Law required men to wear a beard. However, Christians are not under the Mosaic Law,
ummm ? wasn't the abstention of blood a part of the Mosaic Law(s)
Where in the bible in the Christian NT scriptures does it mention the forbidding of beards ?
If beards are allowed, there will no doubt be instructions on how it should look, length etc. Old brothers can't look like santa or young ones looking like hipsters. Jesus shows how to wear a beard as illustrated in the watchtower.
Illustrations in the WT publications always show Jehovah , Jesus , Angels , and the 144000 as all having beards, even though many of the 144000 are women.
I am reminded of the Monty python skit where they are stoning the old guy in life of Brian, and the crowd are asked if there are any woman in the crowd lol.
@dubstepped
I guess in principle what you say is correct however I think the reality of the situation has been somewhat different. The article on jwfacts does a great job of detailing what has actually been said as well as the implicit messages presented in the literature here;
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/beards-jehovahs-witnesses.php
The upshot has been that in many Western lands beards have been frowned on and the overwhelming majority of brothers do not have a beard. When looking at elders I can only recall a handful in almost 30 years as a baptised witness who have had a beard. I can't recall one brother present a talk at an assembly with a beard. If you've not wanted to be appointed then having a beard is one sure way of minimising your chances. There are numerous cases of large inconsistencies and differences in policies even in neighbouring congregations. For example you may have an MS with a beard in one but in the next door congregation a brother with a beard won't even be permitted to carry the roving mikes.
The org has been helped in that time by the beards being generally worn by a minority of men in society in general however in recent years the popularity of beards has come back. Of course some are more extravagant than others but many men are now wearing well clipped and neat beards. This trend has been reflected in the congregation and far more young men have been happy to wear beards and either take the hit in terms of JW career progression or openly question the unwritten cultural rules that the old school elders have maintained. Coupled with this anecdotal evidence suggests that fewer and fewer young men are "reaching out" and there is an increasing lack of brothers willing to work as elders and ministerial servants.
I think the organisation has sought to clarify the position, as much as this woolly and open ended paragraph clarifies anything, so that brothers that would normally be used in the congregation save for their facial hair are less likely to be left on the sidelines. I think the GB still hate beards but are being forced into documenting some kind of compromise since it is obvious there really needed to be something in writing.
Of course, locally bullish BoEs with dictatorial COBEs will still try and insist that beards are offensive in their area but this WT does allow the CO to question the BoE about the matter if the congregation is preventing men from being used.
So whilst not really a change in policy it should knock out some of the unwritten rule nonsense that has undoubtedly been a factor in an increasing proportion of young men sticking two fingers up to the idea of "reaching out". I think that the GB are naively thinking this is the only barrier for some men without considering that perhaps many of them are also pretty disillusioned with the whole concept of spending time engaged in thankless tasks anyway.
Just as they are becoming passe.
Sorry Mozzie but that looks like gonads on TM III 's face !
