Why are we encouraged to shave our beards as a mormon?


curious_mormon

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As a BYU student, why are beards not allowed on school campus? It's on the HONOR CODE. And, as missionaries, they are not allowed to have facial hair too. To me, this is something new. Why is it prohibited when living under the Honor Code or as a missionary? I mean....it's a natural thing to have facial hair when you are a growing man...

Do beards make us look evil or something?

Brigham Young had a very long beard. and the 1800's prophets had long beards too. 

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The BYU policy gained a lot of steam under Pres. Wilkinson until it became a matter of policy at the start of Pres. Oaks tenure (early 1970's). In a speech at that time, Pres. Oaks said that the primary motivation for the no beard policy was the "counter culture"/hippie movement of the '60's and '70's. As a conservative, religious institution, BYU wanted to separate itself from the culture at other universities at the time. I cannot remember his exact words, but Pres Oaks said in this speech that such a policy could easily change in the future when the need for it had passed (almost 50 years later, and we are still living in fear of the hippies of the 60's and 70's).

Overall gut feel -- the encouragement to shave is rooted in mid-20th century culture and fashion that believed that clean shaven people were somehow more upstanding and easier to trust and such.

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Curious_Mormon, I did the searching for you. I thought LeSellers had some good insight into the history of how "no beards" came about. Here is his post:

Quote

The standard of clean shaving started in the 1920s, following the return of USAan doughboys from France.

Prior to that period, most men had beards or mustaches, or sideburns (named for Ambrose Burnsides, federal Civil War general, whose sideburns were phenomenal). But the Roman army was clean shaven because a beard gave the enemy a handhold he could exploit: grab and pull. The invention of gunpowder and firearms made shaving unnecessary, so for the next three or four centuries beards were acceptable for soldiers. The British army even made mustaches mandatory for officers.

On April 22, 1915, the Germans attacked French, Canadian and Algerian troops with chlorine gas. From that time forward, soldiers were clean shaven so their field protective masks would seal and allow them to live.

The soldiers came home to cheering crowds and adoring women. They were heroes. And David O. McKay saw them and admired them — he and thousands of other Saints. And it stayed the same for a half century: men were clean-shaven because it was cool.

Then came Vietnam, and the protests; and one form of rebellion was the beard and long hair.

Rebellion is the original sin. Satan rebelled. We are not a rebellious people. So, with David O. McKay and his beardless chin from WWI until today with your bishop and his beardless chin, we demonstrate our obedience to even the mundane.

Lehi

God didn't rebel against His government. He can have any beard He chooses. LS

 

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14 hours ago, curious_mormon said:

As a BYU student, why are beards not allowed on school campus? It's on the HONOR CODE. And, as missionaries, they are not allowed to have facial hair too. To me, this is something new. Why is it prohibited when living under the Honor Code or as a missionary? I mean....it's a natural thing to have facial hair when you are a growing man...

Do beards make us look evil or something?

Brigham Young had a very long beard. and the 1800's prophets had long beards too. 

I think it simply became a general cultural norm conveying a disciplined respect for oneself and others. So in the spirit of AoF 13 and adopting all that is good in the world, the Church adopted it into her institutional expectations. But of course anyone is free to do whatever he wants about such non-salvational matters as long as he doesn't promise otherwise (e.g. BYU Honor Code).

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14 hours ago, zil said:

Well, no one has ever encouraged me, or anyone else in RS (to my knowledge) to shave our beards.

Trust me.  Beards are discouraged among the RS.:eek:

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21 minutes ago, zil said:

Can you cite a section of handbook 2 on that?  Or maybe a quote from Daughters in My Kingdom? An Ensign article?  Cuz you know I'm limited as to what resources I can teach from...  ;)

From the Book of Carborendum (a most notable and esteemed scriptural source):

Quote

For behold, thou shalt not suffer a woman to grow a beard, for the same shall be shunned and thrust out from among you.  Yea, verily, for it behooveth every woman to cover herself not with the hair of her face, but with the hair of her head.  For if a woman have long hair, it is a glory unto her: for her hair is given her for a covering.  Nevertheless if a woman hath a beard, it is a shame unto her.

 

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53 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

Covers a multitude of chins! So how was Jeremy of Studio C allowed a luxuriant moustache, and I have seen videos of

 him as a byu student in Divine comedy, allowed to sport a moustache to rival Hercule Poroit?

The BYU honor code does not have a prohibition against mustaches.

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I've had a mustache since junior high, and went to a full-on van dyke as soon as I got out of high school. 

Not only did it help keep me visibly separate from two classmates who people kept confusing me with, it also helped conceal the fact that my jaw's misshapen. 

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1 hour ago, Ironhold said:

I've had a mustache since junior high, and went to a full-on van dyke as soon as I got out of high school. 

Not only did it help keep me visibly separate from two classmates who people kept confusing me with, it also helped conceal the fact that my jaw's misshapen. 

Copperas Cove eh, how long have you lived in Copperas Cove? I would be curious if you were living there in 1996?

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