From his matchless column at The American Interest, Peter Berger regularly tackles weighty subjects that mesh religion and public life. In for cross-examination this week: beards. How does that relate to religion and public life, you ask? Consider:
The beard as a sacramental symbol is (to paraphrase the Book of Common Prayer) a visible sign of an invisible ideology. This need not be religious. At different times in European history beards symbolized bourgeois respectability or, on the contrary, anti-bourgeois bohemianism. In recent American history allegiance to the counter-culture of the 1960s and 1970s was symbolized by beards, in sharp difference from the clean-shaved “organization men” or “suits”. During those years my old friend and colleague Thomas Luckmann, who had sported a beard from early adulthood on, frequently pointed out that he had always been bearded. As the counter-culture was absorbed (or, if you prefer, co-opted) into the broader culture, this particular ideological symbolism pretty much disappeared. Perhaps it remains in the (typically grayish) ponytail, worn by aging baby boomers as they waddle toward Medicare. Conversely, there are bearded stockbrokers at Republican campaign rallies.
Needless to say, religion is a particularly rich field for the beard as sacramental symbol. There are significant differences between Latin and Greek Christianity. Bearded priests have become the norm in Eastern Orthodox churches; in the Roman Catholic Church, while there are some monastic orders whose monks wear beards, secular priests are normally clean-shaven. I don’t know whether there are “grooming regulations” in either case, nor do I know of any in Protestant churches. Mormons stand out: Young men going out on their two-year missionary stints must be clean-shaven, as must students at Brigham Young University. Beards have become the trademark of Orthodox Judaism, though the Torah does not command them directly (Leviticus only has rules for shaping the beard). I would imagine that there are different deductions from these rules in the Talmud. Jews in mourning, while “sitting shive”, don’t shave and let the stubbles sit during this period. Sikhs are very intent on their luxurious beards.
Nowadays, too, with the rise of rural conservative activists and mustachioed urban barkeeps, it’s become impossible to tell whether facial hair is revolutionary or reactionary. So perhaps “sacramental” does capture it best.
(via Mirror of Justice)
September 6th, 2012 | 9:11 pm
A friend once shared with me his memory of this issue when he was a student at a protestant parochial school. Since the dress code did not permit young men to have facial hair, he and his friends wondered about the artwork in their books and Bibles. They had observed that Old Testament patriarchs, and Jesus and the disciples all sported full beards. However, Satan was always drawn as clean shaven.
Their dean did not satisfy them with his answer.
(As for me, I started wearing a beard so I would project more authority in a classroom to students not much younger than me. Now that I’m older, it’s too drastic a change to take it off.)
September 7th, 2012 | 7:08 am
For me, it’s very simple. My wife likes my beard, so I’ve had it for over 30 years.
September 7th, 2012 | 7:43 am
I have a beard for purely practical reasons. Daily shaving gives me a constant irritation and turns my face a crimson red as if I had an infection. It doesn’t matter which razor I use. It doesn’t matter if I use an electric shaver. I’ve even tried a barber. It all is the same. In spite of all these shaves, it still looks like I have a five o’clock shadow at eight in the morning. I finally gave up and thus the beard. Fortunately, I can grow a beard that looks decent. (Many guys can only sprout patchy facial hair)
What is frustrating is that some will tell you to your face (no pun intented) that you have a beard so you can “hide”. In spite of the fact that this is a best dimestore psychology, many hold to it as an article of faith.
September 7th, 2012 | 8:10 am
The fact that most Roman Catholic priests are clean-shaven has always seemed to me a subtle message that they are more Roman than Catholic.
September 7th, 2012 | 9:43 pm
In Saudi Arabia, the extremist Moslem men had unkempt beards—all of the religious police, for example. They also wore shorter “thobes”, often of homespun fabrics, and sloppy headdresses. otherwise, Saudi men had mustaches but either neatly trimmed beards or no beard at all. They wore long, white thobes and neat red-and-white checkered headdresses.
I am sure there was a reason for the messy facial hair on the extremists, but I was not going to stick around to find out. They were always bad news, and people (especially Westerners) scattered when they appeared on the street.
September 7th, 2012 | 10:48 pm
Mr. Lee — when told such a silly thing by another man, ask them why they hide their beard, which is part of their true face as a man. Why do they want to continue to look like children?
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