Talk to my Dad about beards.

LovingLifeNow

So I spoke to my elder dad the other day, and he asked if I still am sporting a beard. I said yes, Then I said, "I thought the society said its ok to have a neat trimmed beard now?" He said "no, no, no..If you read the article , it says in countries where it is accepted" So my response was "Ummm, its pretty accepted here in America"..Which he says "It reflects your spirituality" "If another wittness saw you, they would know you are weak"...I was like, "ok, I don't get it, and I follow Christ/God, Not men..." Then he said in his hall" If a brother came in with a beard , he would not have privelages" Then I just gave up, and tried to change the subject..Ugggggggggg If these people would just listen to themselves , they would see the sillyness of there teachings..

The Rebel

I hope I am not being rude here, that is not my intention. But I have noted many of my friends who have beards, do so to compensate for being bald. Now one of my friends who has lost his hair, doesn't do this. He has chosen to wear a wig.

As he is on the hunt for an " awesome" woman, do you think I should respectfully tell him :-

a) Get a better quality wig.

b) Give up on the wig, and grow a beard.

c) Just be himself.

Actually ...if I had this guys facial features, I would gladly swap my hair and be bald.

rebel8

Which he says "It reflects your spirituality" "If another wittness saw you, they would know you are weak"

"Beards are ok in countries where it is customary."=wts doublespeak

tepidpoultry

"But Why Mama?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!!"

You can't win this one,

You may as well wear as sign saying "I'm a grown up I can think for my myself now Mom"

:0)

Splash

The beard topic is the funniest thing ever.

Elders are so serious about this and yet it is of such tiny and meaningless significance.

A beard indicates your spiritual status, a whole set of congregational rules have developed around them, it dictates what jobs you are allowed to do in the hall, it's the cause of gossip and stumbling, elders meetings are convened over them, CO's are quizzed because of them, letters are sent to Bethel for guidance on them, WT articles which mention them are microscopically studied to get whatever angle the elders want to get, the wearer is questioned about his motives and passive aggressively bullied, and the masses of unwritten inferences that are spouted as reasons to not have a beard are incredible.

The mental cartwheels that JW's have to invent to fabricate 'reasons' must leave them drained. It's so easily debunked yet they desperately cling to "well we're in charge so just do as you're told".

It's the absolute definition of insanity and mind control.

Happily this is a level of stupidity that young people can see for what it is, and at the very least make them realise that these discredited men with their ridiculous, unexplainable rules are nothing more than power tripping yes-men.

freddo

@Splash

I've read a lot about beards on this forum; I've sat in elders meetings always on the side/leading the charge to allow beards in our hall and when an elder I questioned CO's and made one in particular squirm when he allowed one (long time elder with a beard) brother a position of dept. authority in the circuit, but when a young min. serv was to be offered the same level of authority he wasn't allowed to have a beard.

But your post says everything that needs to be said. Excellent post indeed.

Phizzy

Why on earth would someone wearing a Beard "stumble" someone ? Jeez, if something like that upsets them they ain't gonna' last long in the JW's anyway.

When they see all the hypocrisy, gossiping, power struggles and other nasty stuff they are going to go.

Judging someone's "spirituality" is so poorly done by the JW methods, i.e Meeting Attendance (probably not listening), Field Service ( report 90% fiction), and then Dress and Grooming. If the latter conforms to the JW norm the guy is already a weirdo and they will for sure not be appointing someone who truly cares for others, but someone who cares what others think of him. Not what Jesus was like at all.

OneEyedJoe

Why on earth would someone wearing a Beard "stumble" someone ? Jeez, if something like that upsets them they ain't gonna' last long in the JW's anyway.

If someone wears a beard it can definitely stumble many int he congregation. Seeing someone defy the leadership would make them want to confront that defiance but in doing so they are very likely to realize that the cult's stance doesn't have a leg to stand on. That would be quite a "stumbling block" indeed.

I've seen a number of times people post with some implied shame that they woke up at least in part due to the beard issue and I don't think this shame is warranted. It's a perfect issue to wake up to - seemingly low stakes and yet it encapsulates one of the greatest examples of the cult's hypocrisy and willingness to manipulate information and scripture to suit their ends. It seems like a small thing to start so people are less afraid to approach it, but then upon discovering the fraud they can't help but see it everywhere else.

pale.emperor

So according to Watchtower, the follow people are spiritually weak:

Jesus Christ

All of the apostles

All of the prophets

Charles Taze Russell

And the following people are spiritually strong:

Your dad

The governing body

Yeah, sounds legit.

stuckinarut2

Nice 1984 reference rebel8!

Talk to my Dad about beards.

Share this