Why the ban on beards? - Cedars' vlog no. 39
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
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Jehovah's Witnesses will often talk among themselves with some embarrassment about Watchtower's curious ban on beards. This video discusses the most plausible reason for the curtailing of male facial hair by the men in Brooklyn.
To buy the book "30 Years a Watchtower Slave" referred to in this video, click here... www.amazon.com/...
You noticed if you ask an 'elder' why can't we have a beard . They could never give a good answer .
To honest with you my girlfriend loves it when I rock a beard .
Observer Link It stumbled many when they learnt of this law!!
MrUNIVERSALSPORTS I read from google, Rutherford was jealous of Russell’s beard cause he couldn’t grow one, so he banned it, I can’t prove anything but it makes sence considering his weird personality
I was told by an Elder, asking why do some Brothers overseas had beards and the Brothers in the USA don't if we suppose to have Unity!! His answer the culture whatever the Brothers are use to doing in their Country
I was pulled up on this and my mother challened them to priovide scriptual backing. We never heard anything about it again.
When you exit and you're a guy, the beards the first thing you grow! It's your declaration of Independent Thinking™. Haha
Aquaseventytree nice! I had something like that in mind...
Aquaseventytree wow. Y'all did it big! Be glad y'all both woke up at the same time. That matters SO much. I'm remaining patient with my wife and well, just trying to remain cordial with my parents.
LOL Aqua! i love it.
I completely agree ! and an added benefit is the witnesses will be afraid to approach you..."touch not, the unclean thing"
I noticed a lot of x j. W men grow one, I would also just to enjoy it and if I did, I’d keep it, some men just don’t like them snd fit the ones that do. Enjoy 😉
The beard rule is what I use to show the GB is really no different than the Pharisees who imposed undue/burdensome law on the people. JWs enforce every bit as many scriptually unfounded rules as the Pharisees enforced upon the people of Jesus' day, it's mind-boggling to me that current JWs can't see this fact.
Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
John 7:24 “stop judging by the outward appearance but judge with righteous judgement”
Good point but...
I think the beard restriction is a compliance test for blind obedience almost like a mild form of hazing
kinda like the masks, eh?
That’s the best explanation I’ve read.
even my mother, a devout JW to this very day, had misgivings about the beard issue. particularly because she lives in the north east of the US, and she personally knew JWs that lived and worked in very cold weather as loggers. She felt that they needed the beards to help keep them warm in the winter. But she stuck by the society's decision in the end.
Telltale my beard never kept me warm lol. I just think it’s a control issue on Rutherford’s part when then original organization split after russels death
I knew a sister that had a little goatie going on.
Lol
Hahaha
sisters can
😆🤣😂😹
Lol 😂
If Jesus walked into a KH they would shun him for having a beard LOL!
Charles Russell, they wouldn't like his sandals either ;)
Charles Russell LOL exactly!
The insistent wearing of beards, sandals, robes, riding everywhere on a donkey, only speaking fluent Hebrew and Aramaic would get you into a bit of bother with the Org.
They would shun him for a lot of things.
Beards are perfectly acceptable in the congregation..I have been saying for years that brothers should grow beards if they choose...I use to say to the brothers that Jesus had a beard and if it’s good enough for him then the brothers in Jehovah’s organisation should not be told its inappropriate.. Over the past 10yrs brothers have been growing beards and I have commended them..now beards are common and no one dare say anything...
Update video needed asap
the first thing i did after leaving was date a man with a glorious lumberjack beard. i just so happened to be lucky enough that he also has a wonderful personality and the love of my life
After a fruitless conversation with an elder about my beard at the time realizing he had nothing scriptural to throw at me he stated an I quote " beards are detrimental to your spiritual health" I honestly wanted to laugh out loud. I kept my silence and didn't respond. It was this conversation that made me realize how full of it the elders were. Power hungry like the watchtower in need of dominance over thier domestics. Lol that was the single most idiotic thing I've ever been told.
100% totally agree...power mad!! They are all so full of it, thier attitude at KH looking down at people and at bible studies. Thankfully everything I learnt about the bible gave me more sympathy for the scapegoat
I often hear people say that beards are banned in the JWs, which, of course, is not true. However, they certainly are discouraged. I became an unbaptised publisher in January of this year, which I'm regretting already. Life was simpler as a mere Bible Student. I've seen brothers with beards. In fact we had a visiting brother come give the public talk at our KH this Sunday gone who had a beard. I've seen several brothers at the "Don't give up" convention with beards. Two weeks ago I noticed a young brother from our KH who had grown a beard. All these beards were neatly trimmed. I asked this young brother if anybody had said anything to him about his beard. He said that some of the older elders have said they do not like it, whereas younger brothers have told him they like it. Personally I think it suits him. He then said he intended on keeping it, "so long as it doesn't damage me spiritually". I wanted to ask him how growing a beard would spirituality damage him, but I didn't want to be seen causing problems. I've seen brothers from various helping committees being interviewed on one of the monthly broadcasts by a member of the GB, and several of those interviewed had moustaches. Our publications, books magazines, etc are filled to the brim with pictures of Jesus, his disciples, the prophets of old, and even angels all with beards. So I really don't understand why we have this issue with beards. If Jesus came back and gave a talk in a KH, would he be approached about his beard? Even though I've only been an unbaptised publisher for six months, already I've had two home visits from elders. One is about my lack of hours knocking on doors. I won't do it. I don't agree with knocking on doors. I don't agree with disturbing people in the privacy of their homes. I love witnessing informally and have asked if I can work on the literature carts, but my pleas seem to fall on deaf ears. It seems it's held as a privilege that has to be earned. The other reason I have received home counsel is due to my hair style. It's shaved smooth on back and sides but I have an "island" of hair on top of my head, about an inch long. The issue seems to be that I have no blend between the island and the shaved parts. Apparently it can reflect badly on Jehovah and his organisation by making hous owners judge me negatively. So far the only judgemental comments/looks I have received over my hairstyle has been from ... yes, Jehovah's Witnesses.
XJW Student it’s been 2 years as i have just read this. Are you still in the organization? If so why? If not why?
Do you have an update you'd like to share?
I like guys with beards. Both my brothers have grown beards since leaving.
Thank-you Lloyd for your help by means of the excellent, concise, videos you create. I was facing the dissociative process alone,until I started watching your care package vids. My love to you and your beautiful family,with my most humble gratitude.
the beard, long hair and plain clothes are all banned. Its absurd! So glad I left
Please explain why plain clothes would be banned. Thank you.
gran rafaela If a JW went to meetings in a t-shirt and jeans...with sandals on they would be spoken to by the elders and considered "spiritually weak" by the congregation.
To add, men had to wear suits and women had to wear dresses. Women were not allowed to wear pants while at meetings.
@@Peekaboo-Kitty I couldn't agree more.
The funny thing is there is a photo of Rutherford giving a talk with a beard .It was taken about a year before his death . I showed it to the elders in my cong. it when I grew one . They said he had been bedridden , and that since he was sick it was overlooked. I kept my beard for almost 4 mo. It was when most of my so called brothers said one by one.That they would not have anything more to do with me , that I shaved . Serious peer pressure.
They say mold yourself in the image of Christ. No, they are molding themselves in the image of Rutherford
First thing I did after I left was grew my beard and got a mohawk, a very visible F U to the elders and judgmental flock. You don't control me anymore! Amazing how many "friends" you lose over hair, like they flipped a switch in their heart and powered me down. Cold, cold little hearts.
New light!:
"What ban on beards? We are open to anyone wearing a beard or not"
"The last 50 years you literally took provelages away from anyone wearing a beard"
"Let's be united and don't go saying you were right"
In the majority of watchtowers depiction of the ethereal realm Michael,other angels,and 24 elders all have beards. What is the reasoning for that?
New Light, lol
Excellent video! Goes right back to "judging," JW's are taught to judge one another at an early age. We were taught to judge a person on so many things, so why not a beard as well? After I had left Watchtower I had to train myself back to not judging persons. I had then realized right away of how much I was taught to judge and how I so wanted to break that JW habit right away and how hard it was due to, since being taught to do so at an early age. Even the most recent conventions have talks on judging persons you are around, and to always be on the watch for such ones at in their description. I am so relieved to be able to see thru all of this now! Great job!!
Wow, wow, wow another disgusting thing uncovered. Now what you said makes total sense since in the US the beard is COMPLETELY forbidden as oppose to Europe where it's a bit more tolerated. I know this because I'm Franco-American. You know even without doing much research, just those great RUclips videos are enough to get totally disgusted with this organisation. Thanks for this.
Beards are the best. As soon as we left JWs I asked my husband to grow one! Like you John, he looks great with a beard.
One was knocking on doors the people who open doors always thought we were Amish 😮,that what the elders told us at our kingdom hall, confused me.
The facial hair ban is absolutely bonkers. Here's my story:
Back in my the final year or so in the JW I was routinely pulled aside for by the elders after each and every meeting because I decided to grow a very simple moustache.
After a number of these sessions in which I asked for scriptural or watchtower evidence of my moustache breaking the rules, I was told, and I quote: "We want to be sure you're not growing a mpustache to imitate some worldly actor or sportsman", to which I replied that I always liked moustaches since most men in my family had them. At that point they came at me with "Well, you're a bit too young to grow a moustache, don't you think?" (I was 27) which basically was their admission that they had nothing to show to back up their prohibition, but that they were still not going to back down.
They eventually stopped pulling me aside, but it didn't end there: one of the ministerial servants and his wife started systematically shaming me for the moustache. No conversation would go by without some snide remark concerning it, even in front of others, to the point I stopped talking to them entirely beyond pure brotherly formality.
My reaction was of course to turn my simple moustache into a 1970s handlebar, just to spite them :D
I was on my way out anyway, even though if I didn't know yet.
Rutherford was a control freak!
Or he could not grow a beard and envied other men with beard.
If Jehovah didn't want us to grow beards he would not have initiated them growing with Testosterone.
Ive read that Rutherford felt that beards were an imperfection and for a short period the beards were removed off of Jesus and I think his diciples in the Watchtower...
there was a time around 1975 where brothers were withheld privileges unless they shave d their mustaches. after 40 years, my father shaved his off only to have it read from the platform a year later that neat mustaches were acceptable.
+deb blaney . I remember the WT use to say it was OK for a Bethelite to have a Mustache or soul patch if he was Black bc that was part of their culture but not for a Non Black bethelite. It was another STUPID unscriptural WT rule they made up. I used to have one elder come around and tell me my mustached could not extend below the corner of my lips! Also my side burns could not go below my ears. Man made rules. Exactly like the Pharisees. Like Jesus said, they replace the law of god for the rule of men. they bind heavy burdens upon the followers and do not treat them with tenderness. One time when I was an Elder there was an Eders meeting to discuss a Brother who was a school teacher and wore a beard. He was the nicest , kindest person and they wanted to shun him in the cong and "MARK" him and make him work alone in Field Service unless he shaved his beard? At the san time they would allow a 350 1lb brother to go out in Field service with his HUGE belly hanging over his pants and not say a thing about it? I am not dissing over weight people I am just making a point hat they chose to hurt this kind brother bc of his beard bc he was a BD EXAMPLE?PLEEEEESE! and not work w him in FS but the OBESE brother was ok? Such hypocrites and such men pleasers.
If u look at the two newest movies from the society, you will see that all the "bad" worldly people have beards. The people walking on the edge have whiskers and all the "good" JWs are clean shaven. Its like a rule, when I saw the first movie I thought it might be a coincidence but when I saw the second one I knew it had to be a conscious decision.
I think you might be on to something in regards to the roots but I don't thing that is why its still here.
There are all kinds of silly rules and dogmatic thoughts in the org... Jehovah not Yahweh, Stake not cross, Smurfs are bad and much more. I don't think all these things are there because they genuinely believe with 100% certainty that they are right. I think its there for control, its to control behavior, its to set the dubs apart from everyone else, make them feel special, we against them etc. I think that it the true reason for the frowning upon beards atm.
Yes, I think your exactly right! It is teaching JW's to judge others and to stand out amongst all the rest. As they teach, to always do the exact opposite of what the world does so that they stand out in some way. Also yes, pure control tactics.
Couldn't agree more!!
John,Just taking this "Beard's Barred" Doctrine a step further,I narrate an incident that happened fairly recently in my old Congregation, A rather zealous recently promoted MS who happens to have Vitiligo spots around his chin and both lips,decided to camouflage what he thought were his imperfections,by nurturing a rather abundant facial topiary. He groomed it to perfection for atleast 3-4 months or so before the Demon Barbers of the KH intervened.One fine spring sunday morning this year,he arrived with a sheepish look and sans his prized facial camouflage!! I asked him the reason for his sudden conversion.(Knowing full well that Warrington is miles from Damascus). He mumbled something like That the Janitorial services of KH Mafia found his pride and joy rather annoying and reminded them of their spouse' s facial adornments therefore they did not want to stroke his chin!! Period.Off with the beard!!! Kind Regards,Arnold.
.
arnold shipstone Enjoyed the chuckle :)
That's most unfortunate.
Wow!!! I was a witness for 35+ years and live in the USA and I have never seen a brother, let alone an elder with a beard!!!! I was never really sure why the rule was in place but never heard it talked about and no one ever had one.
Well I've had one at three different times in my life. No one ever counseled me because of it. I have a goatee now and I doubt I'll ever shave it. I comment at meetings and I go door to door.
This makes so much more sense than the hippie argument!
My dad always had a moustache, it was never an issue even when he was an elder. But if it was youths growing facial hair then it was perceived as trying to fit in with current trends etc.
I was looking up pictures of C.T. Russell and i kept seeing his massive beard. Pictures of Rutherford also popped up in the search with no facial hair whatsoever, I said another reason he hated Russell was bc he couldn't grow facial hair! lol My theory on this is that he hated riding on Russells coat tails and couldn`t wait for him to die. When Rutherford finally came to power he set out to mess up and change everything Russell put in place.
BINGO!
My point is why do we have the ability to grow facial hair if we cant grow it??
I am not but I did study and the beard issue always puzzled me made zero sense. Your video helped me a ton. Thank you.
My husband was told that ( its the biker image!!)If they are dancing in KH could beards be far behind????
Jesus was a biker!!!!!!!!
That would be a compliment in my books. Bikers have more integrity than minions.
Darlene Smith I was alwsys told growing up , that it was because of looking unkept during the hippie era .
...and the Middle East to fit in with local custom. I am sure you are right about Rutherford distancing himself from Russell. However in contrast wasn't shaving the body a particular Pagan practice of the Egyptians and Greeks?
Would the JW's turn round to Jesus and say, get a shave? You cannot give a public talk with that on your face? As long as your appearance is tidy that should do, many men look good with a styled beard. Why did god give us facial hair, so we have to shave it off?
Unfortunately a good majority of the Witnesses are pretentious, self righteous, and all around close minded. The fact that this other congregation immediately passed judgment on this particular elder who had a beard and said, don’t ever send this elder to our congregation again just because of his facial hair. Never mind if this was a intelligent, kind, caring, helpful, and sincere person who took his position very seriously and did an all around excellent job. This congregation completely overlooked all of these potential qualities because this man had a beard. Being out of the organization for so long I sometimes forget how utterly ridiculous Jehovahs Witnesses can be and the no beard rule is one of them.
This is going to age well
Cedars:
I enjoyed your “beard video”. To some may see this as a trivial issue. However, as many other “small” things it has deeper roots and greater consequences than those that immediately meet the eye.
You are very likely correct in your conclusion that the “J.W. Beard Issue” began with Rutherford. However personal experience has convinced me there is another important dimension to it which you may not have considered.
First a couple of personal beard experiences:
Early on, I had a beard. Pursuant to baptism I was given the usual “Organizational Hype” about it conveying the wrong impression at the door for householders and others. I bought in but still felt that there was something odd about forbidding what was obviously not out of harmony with Jehovah’s own design for a human male.
Some years later, as an elder on my congregation’s service committee, in an era when beards were less prevalent than they are today, I was confronted with the “problem” of studying with a man with a beard. His fiance who was a witness had requested someone to study with him because he wanted to marry her. He was more than willing as he was already amenable to many of the things she had been telling him. He wore a beard primarily due to deep facial scarring from an unsightly skin condition. His beard and reluctance to remove it was big issue among the elders and at least one fellow elder even refused to study with such a person. I agreed to study with him despite opposition by other elders.
Still later, during years when beards were coming back into greater public favor I re-grew my own beard. I felt it was natural and not in violation of any bible principal whatsoever.
I had previously stepped down as an elder by that time due to my family needing my un-divided attention. As I sat in the audience at the Kingdom hall one day I was shocked by what I heard from the platform by a well respected former Circuit Overseer who gave the public talk that day. His statement was “people who wear beards are cowards”. As one of the two people in the audience with beards I felt both shock and embarrassment before my brothers and sisters, all of whom I knew and who knew me and my family very well. I confronted him upon leaving and asked him if that statement, which had caused me great discomfort was in the talk outline provided by the society. Upon his dancing around that question without a direct reply, I said I thought a retraction and an apology and was in order. His reply was “that is the way I feel” and walked away.
Afterwards, I went back into the hall, brought my concern to the local body of elders and registered an official complaint. Despite this demand for an immediate correction by the elders and a retraction and apology from the speaker, they did not see this as being important to the extent I did. It took a second demand two weeks later when I got a weak and watered down general statement on the service meeting saying that sometimes some people say things on the platform that are not necessarily official policy.
I never received a retraction nor did I receive an apology from the speaker or the body of elders. This demonstrated to me just how deeply the “unwritten beard policy” of the organization was entrenched in a “good elder’s” mind.
While the societies policy has lightened up in recent years as their traditioinal anti -beard policies have become less and less credible to people, there still remains in place a silent discrimnatory policy against witnesses wearing beards.
Subsequently, in discussions with a circuit overseer and other elders, since then I have come to understand the “real reason” behind what is a blatantly a non scriptural unwritten policy on beards. It is not just a carryover tradition handed down from Rutherford’s time, it is more importantly seen by authority figures in the society as a “test” of one’s obedience, humility and loyalty to the organization.
John ben Wilhelm, Author and Bible commentator
Well, my loyalty to Jehovah comes ahead of my loyalty to his organization so I'm keeping my facial hair. I'm applying the scriptural counsel to work out my own salvation. Just as I followed my own conscience regarding vaccination.
The strict anti-beard stand taken by elders is in direct contradiction to scripture which says the Holy Spirit favors adding no further burden on us other than ... That anti- beard stance is also a huge cause of stumbling to many who may be interested in our message but... Be then they face this.
👋 👋 Howzit Lloyd.
The weirdest thing is, as I'm watching your video about beards, the ad below yr vid is of how to grow a nice beard 😂😂😂 "the secret to an awesome beard growth" 😁👍👌
I'm wearing a beard and tight pants at the next convention
And bring a case of scotch, it helps to pass the time.
I really like beards on men! They are soft, not stubbly and the way God made them. Let your freak flag fly brother!
I used to have a beard over a period of 12 years after leaving but shaved it off during one Long Hot Summer. I know Woody Allen wore a beard in a number his movies but that was usually for comic effect. Presumably Most of the Brothers are obliged to wear full beards in places such as Israel and the Nesr
When I left the JWs the first thing I did was to grow a beard! 🧔
thank you so much for all your videos helping me deprogram from the cult! I'm on day 10 of freedom and can't find "Crisis of conscience" any suggestions? looking forward to your book as well.
When I was a Witness I wondered what the deal was with beards myself. Was told it had something to do with not being identified with a ‘radical element of society’, which sounds especially ridiculous now in view of their belief that God will pave the way for them to enjoy world domination by wiping out every man, woman and child that refuse to buy into their philosophy. Nothing radical about that! But at the time I simply concluded that it may have started out as a rule based on the perception of us by outsiders but eventually evolved into a rule based on the perception of those on the inside. Whatever...
Im confused, do they not portray jesus as having a beard in the watchtower magazine ?
Yes. In our publications illustrations Jesus, all the apostle's, the archangel Michael (Jesus in Heaven) all have beards. The thief, post resurrection to paradise earth, who died next to Jesus has a beard in our publications. In the book "Revelation: Grand Climax at Hand" there's a silhouette of Jehovah himself giving power to Jesus. If you look close at it he has a beard. Illustrations of first century Christians and their Governing body are all pictured with beards. We can't have them though, only mustaches. I'm a former bethelite been baptized 25 years a Jehovah's Witness.
There is no biblical reason then for not having beards.....
That is correct. We use the phrase "frowned upon" or "based on principal" if there's no scriptural backing. There's a lot rules. Sisters (women) have to wear skirts or dresses to the meetings, tattoos, men wearing earrings, you can only own a gun for hunting not protection, going on a date without a chaperone. These are all part of a long long long list of things "frowned upon". There's also rules on what can and can't be done sexually between marriage mates.
O yeah, no long sideburns either.
PoliticiNs dont grow beards, Putin, Trump. . Ye they are not JWs
I never had a good answer for why J-Dubs did not use beards.
Having a beard could be life threatening
It can be a real close shave
It's funny speaking about the beard ban, cause it doesn't seem to be limited to soley beards, but other forms of facial hair as well. Such as Goatee, Neck Beard, Sideburns, Soul Patch, Stubble, and so on. Actually for me its starting to become a problem because my skin is very sensitive, and shaving is starting to cause problems so I don't shave as often as my elders want me to. I've been taken to the room many times over this it despite the fact i never ever grown any of those style. The most ive grown was the equivalent to pubes on my chin, yet its enough to warranted to be taken to the room many times. God I hate this organization.
are you still with them because i find this to be a ridiculous reason not to have one theyre basically bullying you into not growing one
The elders in my former congregation used to bully all of the young men over their hairstyles and their tight suits. And then they wonder why all the young people ended up leaving. 🙄
Movie guy: Tell your elders to kiss your ass.
Seems to me the stance that the elders take in many congregations is in and of itself a cause for stumbling.
No one has given me any flack for my well-trimmed facial hair. In fact they call on me often when I raise my hand to comment. If they counsel you for having facial hair then they are out of line. They need to go back to the January 2017 Study Watchtower and think seriously about what the article titled, "Treasure Your Gift of Free Will" has to say and then counsel each other accordingly.
Wear a burka.
Beards are acceptable in the congregation..I am a sister and I have been saying for years that brothers should grow beards if they choose. When the subject would come up I would say ..Jesus had a beard.. and the Bible says that a man should not shave his beard to its extremity. I would say straight out if it’s good enough for Jesus then it’s good enough for the brothers and no one should say it is inappropriate. Anyway over the last 10yrs more and more brothers are growing beards and no one dare say anything... When I see a brother with I beard I say ...Nice to see a brother with a beard.. He will smile and thank me.... In the New System all men will have beards ..Jehovah gave man a beard as a sign of his Man hood....It is a mans God Given Right ....and NO man should DARE say otherwise...
I was denied the ministry as an unbabtized publisher because with my beard, it was very demotivating and the comment came from someone I thought was my friend, very hurtful
Please write to Bethel and make them put it in writing. Tell them you were told you couldn't dedicate your life to Jehovah and have a be beard. Ask them to justify how that can be scriptural when the scripture says God is not partial and when Gentile Christians in the first century didn't have to make themselves look like the Jewish Christians. I was baptized in 1961 and I have a goatee and I go in the door to door work and comment at the meetings.
This guy was a witness in Europe. In the United States, beards aren't allowed at all for any reason whatsoever, elder or not. In some places, especially bethel l, you even shave your head.
Beard or no beard my friend, you are 'Gerard Butler-handsome'!
I had an experience with a 'beard' issue way back 20 years ago. My husband was
trying to sport a new look with a bit of stubble and was actually told to please 'shave' so that he
could participate that day in the door to door! I thought he forgot his briefcase for a second.
He had to come back and shave his face! Someone told him to do so with respect to Jehovah's intention
of a man's appearance to the world. Where's that in the bible for goodness sake?
I went to an Apostolic church growing up and they don't allow beards at all and these are the same reasons they give.
Do you think Rutherford changed a lot of things to fit his personal preferences?
I always suspected it was due to Rutherford, a polar opposite of Russell. Seems he was a very petty, power hungering, and insecure piece of a man. Apparently though, Rutherford was okay with the comb over.
Thank for that information that's exactly what I was looking for again thank you.
Had to make a video about this
Jehovah's Witnesses VS BEARDS
Enjoy!
I think the balzereit story is covered in the 1974 yearbook or the proclaimers book … balzereit was later disfellowshiped for not standing up for the ‚truth‘ enough in court … that was the first thing come to my mind when i saw jackson in the royal comission…
How can the founder have a beard
Most public high schools in the US allow students to grow facial hair if they want. The WT is soooooo screwed up.
Just read an JW instagram post; Americans visiting Europe. The American husband hadn't shaved in a couple of days, while on vacation in France, but JW wife said it was oK, as all "brothers"have a beard in Europe at the khalls, they visited.
Heard the same story, Rutherford's way of stifling "character worship" of Russell. Russell was popular and Rutherford widely regarded as a bombastic jack-ass.
Well lookie here 😅
My mom is suddenly silent about all this from me and my 2 brothers...
Or long side burns! 🤣 my friends growing up caught heat for that! Off to the back room you go.....
Christina Kupfer I did also .
Mormons have a thing about beards too
Rutherford came all the way to Germany and was not properly beer'ed.
Is pubis hair ok?
😂
i remember when men weren't allowed to have a moustache,then in the late 70s they got the ok to have moustaches,and all the elders started growi ng them!! haha
Thank you for this info. Not important, but still very interesting. It should be noted that in our modern business and military society, beards seem to be frowned upon in general. This also, I know not why !
The first thing I noted by coming into the Fun World of the Apostates, was that most everyone had beards, not being a beard guy for personal preference I wondered if I was welcome, so far Eric at Struggles nor John Cedars has bottled me out. I get it now, once you are no longer under control of your group it opens up a new world, JWs with beards and sports, Mormons with coffee and booze, SDA getting Saturdays back as a fun day.....
I am SDA. Sabbaths (Sat.) have always been a fun day for me. Isn't Sunday a fun day for you?
Yeh you'll find far less openly judgmental comments from agnostics and atheists like myself, when it comes to personal preferences most of the time
I personally tend to be active on more social and political issues
When I learned of the rule (in America beards are completely banned) my initial thought was "so the great religion of the one true God encourages prejudice? Tell me, wheres the spiritual backing of this? Why would God want men to shave what he intended men to have? I thought men were made in Gods image?" Lol I went off
As far as I know, in Canada, you can't have any privileges with a beard, let alone be an elder.
Perhaps in the UK, an elder may be allowed a beard. I was told in Ireland beards are common in the hall.
I only ever saw one brother with a beard - he faced a lot discrimination and prejudice from other witnesses. I was told he had very bad facial scarring and was permitted a beard for that reason. Naturally he could never achieve ministerial servant status, nevermind elder.
If JESUS himself had a beard, then there is nothing wrong with a beard. GOD looks at our heart, not our outward appearance !!!
Can't believe you didnt give David Bellamy's beard a shout out :(
*Feste*: Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, send thee a beard!
*Viola*: By my troth, I'll tell thee, I am almost sick for
one;
[Aside]
though I would not have it grow on my chin.
(from "Twelfth Night" by Shakespeare)
I personally dont like beards but why should a religious organisation have the right to ban beards when its actually natural even their hair has to be no longer then behind the ears. in fact they are skin heads in my honest opnion looking like their about to join the army
It is a way of aping the strong-willed Rutherford in his new avatar of the cult, but is also a way of subordinating the cult to a corporate ethos, converting the little witnesses and faithful slaves into ongoing citizens of Babylon the Great.
Beard envy: Rutherford couldn't grow one.
So let's say the JW decided to lift that ban..how many beards would be showing up within the month?
At least in SW Florida you are not allowed to have a beard, im pretty sure is the same for the rest of US. I heard a comment once from a sister about a brother :" he is not doing good spiritually because look he has grown a goatee".
This is kinda weird because in Mexico elder or just publisher you are not allowed to have a beard
🐻🐾. They dont want to be associated with the "bear" community.
Can they have beards in Australia ?
Samuel Herd said it was about ""perception"". Sooooo, people like Hitler, Mussolini, and such-like ones would've been easily accepted into the fold? They never wore beards.
My boyfriend who was a jw was told that sex offenders are more likely to have beards
I would grow a beard and long hair, just to piss them off, and let then know that they have no control over me. If they said anything, then then would get my middle finger. I absolutely despise this group of deceitful liars.
Lev. 19: 27 . My understanding of this scripture is that men are SUPPOSED to WEAR beards?
I too have a beard... it's full of... TINY MEN!
Beard's are totally fine coming from people that can't handle looking at a woman with out getting excited if her skirt or dress is shorter than her knees, does that make sense
In the US no beards at all are allowed, and a C.O. even chastised the brothers in my (former) congregation about the hair just below the bottom lip. Not even the chin but right below the bottom lip!! I forget what it's called but yeah...crazy...
I heard that in France a brother cannot wear a moustache because it is a sign that you are a homosexual. Also i heard that a sister in a certain congregation had too much facial hair almost a beard and she was disfellowshipped.
I kind of wondered why so many guys who have left the Tower grow beards, I get it now, Very silly. I have been in medicine for 30 years, lots of beards among professionals. Check out college professors, but then that is a eeee-vile place
That makes sense it and it sort of gives you the impression that Rutherford disliked/hated Russel? But if it was Russel who built Watchtower up why did Rutherford have this hate towards him
I Thought perhaps again it was another thing to dismiss Jesus but thinking about it your more then likely right and its like Rutherford wanted to revamp everything
Its always pissed me off...its emasculating in a way.