Can a Man Who Wears His Hair Long Stand Behind a Christian Pulpit


A preacher in Indiana, who is also a President of a small Christian college, was taken to the woodshed recently for inviting a young man with long hair present a lecture in favor of creationism. The preacher wrote a long apology to those who were offended. Apparently, the young presenter had shortened his hair so as not to offend but did not shorten it enough. 

Those who complained referred, among other parts of the Bible, to Paul who criticized men who dressed as women. Goodness, I hate to think what the members of that church would think of me--I arranged for several senior citizens in my building to attend a DRAG BRUCH here in the downtown. They were apprehensive never having been to a drag show before. They had such fun I've been thanked many times for since. Whatever the sin was to attend a drag brunch, it was worth the risk to those I invited. 

Some decades ago a relative of mine complained that her sons wanted to wear their hair long like all their friends. This relative said she refused because good moral rules need to be followed regardless of whether or not her boys liked the rules. The question keeps coming back to me, "Why does anyone care about the length of a man's or boy's hair?" For some reason there are Christians who get bent out of shape over this petty issue.

But I should not single out conservative Christians on the hair business. Other religions have immense preoccupation with humans' hair. In some women are required to cover their hair completely. Some never allow men to cut their hair so it must remain ties under a fabric.

There can be no doubt that one of the big attractions of religion is that it gives some the opportunity to pass judgment and to control others. If this is something a person really enjoys chances are the person will be in one of the world's religions. The people I know who want to control others are Christians.

I suspect the Taliban in Afghanistan are back doing what they did before 9/11, going about and criticizing the lengths of men's beards. Criticizing the length of beards in Afghanistan is no more peculiar than criticizing the length of a Christian's hair in Indiana. They're both nuts.  

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