Thanks for all of your interesting info about the so-called beard policy.
GBSmith wrote:The reason for no beards at BYU was Ernest L. Wilkenson, president at the time. He didn't like democrats, rock and roll, dancing other than ballroom, and hippies.
Thanks for explaining. Obviously my 'polygamist' theory is wrong.
Frontiersman wrote:1) We want to present a look similar to the missionaries, simple, clean-cut, dignified, and uniform.
It's funny how this sounds like they believe that uniformity is self-evidently desirable. They'd be shocked to discover that most people in the world, myself included, would respond with something like "Why?". In fact, I think most people would find the notion of a religious group wanting uniformity of appearance as being slightly creepy.
Frontiersman wrote:3) My personal favorite... We don't want to offend anyone by wearing a beard.
When I asked someone why no beards for temple workers, I actually heard someone suggest that they didn't want to SCARE anyone!! Imagine a little old lady going through the temple and suddenly coming face to face with a man with a beard! "Er, yes, why is that scary?" I asked. I doubt that these beard-fearing little old ladies actually exist. If they do, I hope they get over it before they meet their Maker.
Mormondad wrote:The primary reason for no beards when it comes to the GA's is the notion of setting the right appearance. The standard in the business world is clean shaven, thus the leadership in an effort to appear professional and thus more acceptable with fewer perceived obstacles have chosen to be clean shaven.
I was very surprised to read this. Is it really such a thing in America that the standard in the business world is clean-shaven? That having a beard is somehow unprofessional? Obviously this beard thing goes beyond the church then!
Maybe this was even more true in the 1960s - that being respectable meant being clean shaven and having a beard meant you were a hippie or anti-establishment rebel. But, out of interest, I decided to have a look at the current members of the US senate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Senators). Out of 80 male senators, plus another 10 male senators-elect, I see a couple of moustaches, but not a single beard! There are a few in the House of Representatives, so it obviously isn't out of the question, but it seems quite striking to me how few there are. Looking at the British MPs (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mps/) I wouldn't say that beards are common, but there are clearly more of them, and I would never have considered that 'the standard in the business world is clean shaven' in the UK.
Until now I had wondered when the general authorities had stopped having beards, and whether there had been a general conference where all the general authorities had suddenly appeared without their beards. But now I assume that it just happened naturally. If being clean shaven was a requirement for being respectable in the 1960s, then the GAs wouldn't have needed to be told not to have a beard, any more than they needed telling to wear a suit to church.
Since students weren't quite so conformist and BYU like to enforce a dress code, they made a no-beard rule, so from this and the fact that the GAs conformed to the fashion unanimously, seems to have been enough to make it into an unwritten rule.
On another tangent, I had heard that the weird custom of General Authorities always using their initial was also another standard practice in the American business world. I don't know if this is true, as American politicians don't seem to do it. I would hate that so much - being referred to by everyone forever by an unnatural formal form of my name.