10 Comments:

Allan says:

Hmm. I don't think laziness has anything to do with it personally. Isaiah 15 speaks of it being a shame to shave off a man's beard. Jeremiah also mentions this. However the term beard does not appear in the New Testament. I've heard many men mention the idea of it being shameful to shave facial hair and based it on these verses but personally I am a fence sitter.

I would grow a full beard if my fathers rotten mutated degenerate dna would let me ;-) Why? First reason would be because I could. Second... well I probably wouldn't think that far forward.

Now what really makes me wonder is what pagan ritual or immodesty created the act of women shaving their legs etc. In my mind "it grows for a reason". And I reckon any woman with shaved legs should loose the right to complain about being cold in winter hehe. Beards I can see at least a few verses mentioning it... leg shaving? I don't recall anything about that. Although I would tie it in with the verse on dressing modestly, and I do so because the reason for the modest dressing is not to allure men into sin and I would think shaved legs would tend to do that.

Interested to see what other people have to say on the topic of beards. Scott and Jesse shaved most off today so I see.

By  Anonymous, at 10:54 pm, October 31, 2004  

Well if you look at all the pictures of Jesus, he had a beard... so if you want to be Christlike...right ok I'll be serious now.

Beards are all GOOD. I don't care what any given female thinks of my beard. It can be trim when I feel like it. I have a dream that my little children - will one day live in a nation, where they will not be judged by their facial hair, but by the content of their character. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

Facial hair is not a strange phenomenon. It is a gift from God. It is our culture that sees it as weird. Cultural moulding tells us that men should look a certain way - and also act a certain way. We should be snags. (I think that's another name for wimp). Well pooh to that.

Raaaa! I feel good now.

By  Scotty, at 11:15 pm, October 31, 2004  

Heh Allan - would you want a girlfriend who doesn't get cold in winter?

With regards to having a beard, I don't think scripture tells us that we should or shouldn't except with the indirect principles (i.e. walking circumspectly, being respectable etc...)

As to why guys do it, I think part of the reason is that guys just want to do it because they can. They want to test out their facial hair growing abilities. Its a phase. Laziness? I don't know - Shaving isn't that big a deal - I think its an excuse. And the reason married men probably don't have facial hair probably has something to do with their wives.

By  Nathan, at 11:21 pm, October 31, 2004  

Allan says:

"Well if you look at all the pictures of Jesus..."
I try not to view idolatry. Although mum has at least 4 pictures of Jesus without a beard... but then he also had long hair but the Bible clearly says the custom at the time was to have short hair on males. That said exceptions were Elijah - a far previous time so I'm unsure on custom - and those under a Nazarene vow. Which the Bible does not state Jesus was under.

*cough* :-)


"would you want a girlfriend who doesn't get cold in winter?"
Based on females who nagged me through winter when I was wearing shorts n t-shirt... YES.
Not that I'm looking in the slightest.

I say its not laziness. I can be bothered to shave off the 60's sideburns. Mostly because they look stupid. The effort is already there. The desire to shave it all off however lacks. I think cultural bidding and my disrespect for the same may be a factor.

By  Anonymous, at 1:13 am, November 01, 2004  

I would say that there are a number of reasons why men grow beards.

1) Because they can. In these days where the lines between male and female are becoming increasingly blurred, growing a beard is one of the few things that a man can to promote his masculinity.

2) Because they have sensitive skin. Shaving with a blade (as opposed to an electric shaver) gives a really nice smooth close shave, but can also cause ingrown hairs, cuts and irritation.
Shaving with an electric shaver is never as smooth and close as with a blade, and requires more attention, so is therefore not a desirable option either, hence a beard prevails.
Acne also provides a good reason not to shave - a beard hides the unsightly pimples, and shaving makes a real mess of it, as you can well imagine.

3) Because beards are cool. Men shouldn't have to shave simply because girls (or at least Anita) doesn't like facial hair. Men do sometimes do things for their own reasons, and they aren't always trying to impress women, despite what some women tend to think.

4) Because men are lazy. Despite what has already been said, I think laziness is sometimes a factor in the growth of facial hair.
But perhaps it isn't laziness, but rather a more wise use of time. Women are used to spending a lot of time grooming, with waxing, hair straightening irons, make-up application, eyebrow plucking etc.
But men brush their teeth and thats about it. So adding a daily shave can multiply the time a a man spends grooming by a factor of three or four, especially if he is shaving with a blade. This is often deemed an uneconomic use of time, hence is left out.

By  Dan, at 9:10 am, November 01, 2004  

Dan you are a stirling chap. Yay on point one. 2 is ok. 3 and 4 are also great.

By  Scotty, at 5:25 pm, November 01, 2004  

It seems a bit weird to me that a man feels the need to grow hair on his face to promote his masculinity. Surely he should be secure in himself enough not to need to grow hair on his face to achieve this. I think it is a bit boohoo to moan about ingrown hairs etc- life is tough and chicks have to endure much much worst things.

I guess the debate is whether beards are cool and personally I dont think that they are.

By  Anita, at 7:22 pm, November 01, 2004  

Dude!!!!

1. I personally don't care what people see as 'cool'. What is cool is a result of cultural conditioning, and does not necessarily imply good or moral. In fact most of the time in a secular culture, cultural conditioning is all bad. I like to reject what the culture says is good. I don't want secular culture to dictate what I should think about how I look and what I should be like. So I won't let it. I will ignore them. Thus I will not wear 'cool' clothes. Thus I will have a beard when I feel like it. This brings me to my second point:-

2. Women endure worse things precisely because they are more inclined to reject the attitude of guys who have beards. Yes, that same attitude you are criticising. Many women care too much about what secular culture tells them they should look like.

By  Scotty, at 9:51 pm, November 01, 2004  

Allan says:

Here would be a good time to do some quoting and revive my previous statement.

"It seems a bit weird to me that a man feels the need to grow hair on his face to promote his masculinity."
Replace with leg hair and femininity in the above sentence. ;-) Double standards? hehe

"not to need to grow"
Was never an issue. Because I can does not relate to because so-and-so said I had to.

"I think it is a bit boohoo to moan about ingrown hairs"
So do I. lol

"chicks have to endure much much worst things"
By choice. You choose to bow to the requirements of modern secular society. A fictitious example might be a job interview. With or without war paint? (mum's version of makeup) Heals or flat? Dress or trousers? Hair expensively styled or usual?
I'll admit theres more pressure on females to conform to common consensus... but that's not an excuse to do so.


I'll shave my face if you grow leg hair and stop wearing makeup. And even then it would only be because I personally choose to do so (and you'd kill me if I didn't and you did).

By  Anonymous, at 3:37 am, November 02, 2004  

Hamish Should grow a beard its very biblical

By  Anonymous, at 7:31 pm, November 03, 2004  

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