by 00DAD 84 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Good for you cap'n, my flourishing facial hair is definitely getting on people's nerves at the hall! Love it!
Had a study cone up to me the other day saying that 'you don't get many brothers in the truth with a beard, but it suits you', I was ready to launch into a tirade about the stigma and unwritten rules but too many people were nearby... I chickened out and hid inside my beard.
Always wondered - did Leo Greenlees have "a beard"?
No Oubliette Twit was not the word I was thinking of but then I keep forgetting this is not just a UK site. Nevermind. And thanks for the English lesson.
Thanks for that Quendi. I have similar issues myself. I tend only to shave every two to three days as my skin becomes quite irritated on my neck if I shave daily.
The WT organization is concerned about its "eternal" appearance before the world stage.
It cares very little about the development of a person from the "inside" out.
This image is a "clean-shaven" well-groomed Anglo Saxon one.
When I was a JW, I remember two Brothers, both were Ministerial Servants in "excellent" standing within the organization. One was a White Brother and the other a Black Brother.
The White Brother intimated to me that he had a problem with the organizations policy on facial hair. (So did I as it was not Christs policy but that of an organization).
So this White Brother decided to put it to the test and he grew a patch of hair under his lower lip. In all other aspects, he was a good dresser and considered a "highly spiritual" person.
The Elders approached him and asked him to shave the hair. He refused and was demoted from Ministerial Servant and lost other congregational "privileges." This Brother and his wife continued to attended all of the meetings and engaging in the Field Service arrangement as they always had. He wanted to show that having facial hair had nothing to do with worship to God and service to Christ. Had he become disgruntled or submitted and shaved off his facial hair, he would have played into the WT organizations game. They would have won. He effectivley showed that the WT had the problem with facial hair, not himself or God and Christ.
The Black Brother was going bald. So he did the best with what he had. So he would comb the hair at the base of his neck in what we call a shag. This is combing the hair in the opposite direction to give the appearance of volume. Well, this bothered one of the Elders - a White Bethelite. The Brother was asked to cut the hair. He refused. He was demoted from Ministerial Servant and gradually stopped attending the meetings.
The images in the WT publications are the GB preconceived notions of how it wants the organization to be perceived before the world. Africans who no longer look traditionally African but Anglo Saxon. And even Whites who look oddly "Aryan."
What is even more foolish is that the WT equates violation of its grooming policies with being disobedient. I am 100 percent convinced that The Most High God is not looking at or examining our external appearance, but what we are on the inside.
Technically, the WT qualifies as a racist and white supremist organization. It hides behind what it claims are "Bible" teachings to get away with the things that it does and its treatment of its membership.
When the focus should not be on "Bible" teachings as the Bible is not a teacher. The focus should be on "Christs teachings" and he is our only Teacher. One is not to be a disciple of the Bible, but a disciple of Christ. This is IMPORTANT TO GRASP.
The world at large has been subtly "tricked" into viewing a book that appears on the seen more than 1000 years after Christs ascension as "The Word of God" and as something that teaches.
BIG MISTAKE.
It is not a book that we listen to and follow, it is a person.
No book should be elevated to the same position as Christ, the Word of God.
Yet, many have been misled to view it as such instead of extracting Christs sayings (teachings) from this book or any other book by any name.
Personally, I do not care what "The Bible" says. I care about what Christ says.
The Bible is a book men named, authorized, made holy, and called the Word of God.
The Most High God did not tell us to listen to a book or to any religious organization. He commanded us to listen to his Son. (Luke 9:35)
It is religious organization that has blocked this truth and has made people afraid to listen to Christ and rather listen to THEM.
Quendi: Bethel was well aware because they had written letters explaining the problem and asking for the rule to be eliminated. The answer they received was always a flat refusal with no good reason or scriptural citation given. The Governing Body was completely insensitive to our concerns, choosing instead to ignore the effects their unreasonableness had on some men of color.
It seems clear that Rutherford's reasons for imposing this ridiculous rule had nothing to do with racism, at least initially. That was for him, no doubt, an unintended bonus.
This religion clearly thrives on creating unreasonable rules solely for the sake of asserting their authority over others. It's all just a tug on the leash meant to remind everyone who is in control.
The WT leadership's love of making rules makes the Pharisees look like amateurs.
Hey berrygerry, I don't think that Greenlees ever sported a beard but he did fancy a 'pearl necklace' from time to time.
Today I ran into a JW I've known for years but haven't seen since about a year ago. The subject of beards came up. He said enthusiastically he'd "love to grow a full beard!"
I enthusiastically patted him on the shoulder and said, "Then you should! Why don't you?"
I then asked him why he didn't grow one. He responded, "Oh, I dunno. Something about having parts on the platform ..."
Understanding, but wanting to take the oportunity to make a point, I asked him, "Do you even know WHY Jehovah's Witnesses don't have beards?"
After a brief moment of shock that I would even raise such a question, he somewhat sheepishly admitted, "Um, no." He did not know. No surprise there.
I informed him there hasn't been an article on it in the Watchtower since 1975, adding, "It's a silly rule. It's also just an American thing. Some elders in Europe have beards. You should grow one if you want."
He was of course now suffering from a severe case of cognitive dissonance so I did him a favor and changed the subject.
What do you think are the odds he'll ever grow a beard?
Let's review, It's a cult!
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It is a means of emasculating men (eunuchs are much easier to control, so are steers) through control of every single bit of their lives including the hair that grows out of their face. Grown men have a say over how other grown men groom their face? How about their hairy knuckles? Why not "noob-lite" on the proper grooming of scrotums? What is stopping them?
As a JW teen my mother explained the reason for this rule was that beards are sometimes associated with religious fanatics or beatniks (fair point) and a big beard on a JW man can sometimes be a bit frightening to women householders on the door to door work. I thought those seemed like reasonable enough reasons at the time.
I've seen more beards on brothers this year than ever
oh still very few, but more than usual it seems
