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shaving......or not

naw girl, i wasn't offended
things do get complicated sometimes don't they?
continue to believe what you are convinced of until the truth becomes obvious to you. make the other person totally prove their position.
yes, sparks will fly as iron sharpens iron, but let's view them as happy sparks
i find that (though painful) being sharpened beats the daylights out of staying dull :D
 
I have a full beard because of my approach to the Scriptures. I believe that His commandments are for all people who would be called by His Name. So, I take the commandment to not destroy the corners of my beard seriously. I also take the commandment to not shave the sides of my head seriously.

Hashem doesn't command men to have beards - He just doesn't want us to destroy the beards He's given us.

For me, the key point is that He's given me the beard. Why should I remove something that He's given me? Besides the fact that He explicitly forbids it, why shouldn't someone be happy to keep the beard they were given? Most people agree that a beard is a symbol of masculinity. How about being accepting of the way He made you? What is the more natural and accepting thing for a man to do? Shave off his whiskers or allow them to grow out?

In the Bible, men had their beards marred as a way of shaming them. Why is it that our North American culture is dominated by beardists? Perhaps for the same reason most North Americans have no issues with eating pork or ignoring the Festivals of Hashem.
 
Exactly what I was thinking, especially being around aboriginals and having half brothers that probably will not be able too.
 
Funny... I shaved off my beard around the time this was posted. I still have a frosty moustache so it would be kind of hard to deny that I've seen more than a few decades in my day. :lol:

If I got rid of the stache Rachel would cry... I couldn't bear that. She's already displeased because I got rid of the beard.
 
I have been shaving since the 5th grade. I tried to let it grow but a teacher said it bothered her and I was suspended until I shaved it. A lot of things offended that lady come to think about it! I spent most of the time in ISS and at home that year. Now if I try to let it grow past the jawline it's get very sore and irritated. It was funny when I was a mormon for like two years they always said I should let my hair grow a certain length and shave my whole face. So I grew a long goatee just to bug them a little. Now I just keep a goatee. Every one seems to like it. It also hides the baby face.
 
Thank you for the full story Steve! It's the special experiences we have in our own relationships with the Lord that we need to share with one another more than anything. We can all read the Word and share our understanding, but the special ways He deals with us show facets of Him that make up the whole of who He is to all of us. It also helps to confirm our own experiences and understand them more also. It made me say "wow, yeah I can see Him doing it like that!"

As for beards, I never did understand why men shave, or why women like baby faces on men. I kind of feel like a loner among the women-folk in this area. Then again, I believe in the natural state the Lord created. Is there power or spiritual authority in it as Cecil suggested? I think there is always power in agreeing with the Lord, in big and small things. He obviously meant it to serve more purpose than filtering the soup. (well obvious to me at least)

And for the itching ones... might I suggest some olive oil, which apparently you can shave with as well if you still insist on shaving.
 
Ok, this is conjecture.

There is a supposition that Adam and company were supposed to look like the best of what we are today. However, two things happened that may indicate we may not be equiped genetically to compare ourselves with the best.

First Adam was created by the hands of God directly and then sin and the fall brought death. This changed things. After the fall they realized they were naked. Physically, their awareness of themselves changed. Did God's original creation of man and woman glow, have a shroud of glory, grow hair everywhere, or possibly something else beautiful? Perhaps something or several things very obvious were lost when sin arrived.

The second thing was the flood. There were many many people that died in the flood. These people were at least as diverse as we moderns are in appearance and I suspect they were very much more diverse. We have the genetic traits that only came with these eight people that made it through the flood. Take any eight people on the face of the earth today and give them the responsibility of carrying on the human race and it would be fair to say that much would be lost. Therefore the eight on the Ark we have to thank but they couldn't have carried everything genetically. To those that drowned we wonder what you looked like. Perhaps a hair color that no one on the earth now has. Perhaps an eye color of orange or purple. Perhaps the best athletes tried to out-swim the flood and were lost. I doubt that the most intelligent even were on the Ark. The most rational always seem to miss the boat.

So......shaving? The answer is yes and no. We need all the diversity we can get.
 
I think there is always power in agreeing with the Lord, in big and small things. He obviously meant it to serve more purpose than filtering the soup. (well obvious to me at least)
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ahhhh, the lost art of having common sense.
Did God's original creation of man and woman glow, have a shroud of glory, grow hair everywhere, or possibly something else beautiful?
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grow hair everywhere? eeewwwwwww
i am no geneticist but would i think that those eight carried all of the genes that adam had, has there been some deterioration over the centuries? presumably.
could beards be a deterioration? i think not, it would seem that you would have to add a gene to grow something that they did not have
We need all the diversity we can get.
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well, the female half of the population cannot grow a decent beard and in some of races it seems that men aren't able to and boys that are pre-puberty cannot. so it seems to me that it is incumbent upon us who can to support that diversity by growing one, where is the diversity in looking like another girl? ;)
 
I wear a full beard.

I have for most of my adult life. In the Navy I had to keep it trimmed, and on a few occasions I had to shave. But since retiring I now keep it full.

Years ago, I did read every usage of 'beard' in the Bible.

It was a sign of masculinity. Which I believe it is still to this day.

I have had the unique experience of applying for jobs where the among the management were females; I was told that it was 'unthinkable' that any man should work there unshaven.

Men do not care if other men shave.

Females often see and respect the 'independence' of the masculinity that it shows. But rarely will a female allow a subordinate male to wear a beard.

I believe that it is a part of the emasculation of men in our society.

Men in general have been neutered into conforming, into a feminized society.

As a man with a beard, living in urban areas, everytime that I went into a restaurant or any public place. I was really struck by the 'fraternity' attitude among men with beards. Any time that another man sees that you have a beard, they must make eye-contact and nod their head at you. It is very much like bikes passing on the road, they all salute each other. I found it very comical. In an environment where maybe only 1 in 10,000 wears a beard, those who have beards sense each other as equals or members of an elite.

I live now in a region were beards are common. Easily 1 in 3 men wear beards in this area. So that effect is not seen.

On the other hand, men here are all more uniformly outdoor types. They cut firewood, they fish, they hunt, they hike, they work on cars, they build things, they garden. In this region men who do not do this things will stand out more.
 
well, the female half of the population cannot grow a decent beard and in some of races it seems that men aren't able to and boys that are pre-puberty cannot. so it seems to me that it is incumbent upon us who can to support that diversity by growing one, where is the diversity in looking like another girl?
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Amen Steve! I vote for the diversity. The varying races are also made certain ways as to have a harmonious and balanced look, which is one grace of our Heavenly Father. That's His intention and there's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with graying hair, made to distinguish the wise from the, well, not-so-wise-yet...

I'm sure the Lord gives us some room to play, but no daddy likes the wonders He created completely re-done by clueless little fingers... especially without consideration for the spiritual principles he may have had in mind that we're clueless about at times. The whole theory that hairy-ness is good for the ape but we're evolved and enlightened way beyond that, is an evolutionary fable unbecoming to Christians.

Men do not care if other men shave.

Females often see and respect the 'independence' of the masculinity that it shows. But rarely will a female allow a subordinate male to wear a beard.

I believe that it is a part of the emasculation of men in our society.

Men in general have been neutered into conforming, into a feminized society.
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This confirms my thinking, that it's an afront on the authority of men by a feminized society. By this I do not mean to condemn all the women here who are against their men having beards, for the reason that it's more likely something they have absorbed by living in the society and not something they are directly a part of. A lot of women just say 'it itches'... this may be because they've never tried to get used to it?... still doesn't make the position correct.
 
forest, that was a great post

beta, you are one well- balanced girl. i wish that you lived next door so i/we could get to know you better
 
There's also nothing wrong with graying hair, made to distinguish the wise from the, well, not-so-wise-yet...
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Pro 16:31 The hoary head [is] a crown of glory, [if] it be found in the way of righteousness.
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i just want to live up to my hoary head :D
 
Beta said:
... A lot of women just say 'it itches'... this may be because they've never tried to get used to it?... still doesn't make the position correct.
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It has been my observation that facial have only 'itches' when it is short stubble.

As it grows, it shampooed and recieves conditioner a beard is just as soft as any other hair.

Leg hair when stubble will be abrasive too. But if allowed to grow long it too gets soft. :)
 
It has been my observation that facial have only 'itches' when it is short stubble.

As it grows, it shampooed and recieves conditioner a beard is just as soft as any other hair.

Leg hair when stubble will be abrasive too. But if allowed to grow long it too gets soft.
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Aha! Well there you have it... and why doesn't it normally get past itchy? Because men get talked into shaving it off (like how many women listen if men say don't shave your legs... might be a good test for obedience by the way...now I'm in real trouble!) I think few men are allowed the freedoms we are allowed, and that's a crying shame!

beta, you are one well- balanced girl. i wish that you lived next door so i/we could get to know you better
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Well thank you Steve... I've never had a 'girl next door' proposal before! (Just teasing.) That's probably the nicest thing anyone's said to me. I'm sure it would be a great improvement from the ones we do live next door to :)

i just want to live up to my hoary head
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My prayer for you Steve is that the Lord heard that! :) (Although it sounds a little bit like praying for patience, which is quite dangerous.)
 
beta,
there's a first time for everything, isn't there ;)
 
(like how many women listen if men say don't shave your legs... might be a good test for obedience by the way...now I'm in real trouble!)
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i can't imagine why there would be a requirement to not shave (even if i were to consider it pointless, time-consuming and vain :o :D )
 
Yeah tried to grow it out since the start of this thread just too see. I think I'm going to shave tonight! Too weird feeling for me and people look at me like I'm a cave man! Me and beards don't go hand and hand. Fu man chu time!
 
aww gill,
just grow a little on your upper lip (goatee if you can stand it) to differentiate you from the pretty ones ;)
 
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