new thread
At the risk of being labeled unacceptably off-topic, I would like everyone to try answering a question for me. It is my opinion that long-hairs tend to be somewhat outside the mainstream in matters other than hair. SAnd I'd like to prove it. So I'm wondering: how would you describe your religious beliefs? What denomination, if any, are you, and do you consider yourself "devout" or "casual"?
I am Roman Catholic. Without wanting to enter debates, I must say that the interpretation of the verses some fundies use against long hair, is bogus. The correct interpretation lets us tell that long hair is not wrong before God's eyes. The thing is, that as you can see in most of Jesus films, men wore long hair, compared to our days. So why would he contradict himself? Samson had long hair and he was well seen before God. Not wanting to make this longer, I can tell you that fundamental christians take everything literally. If you take everything like that the Bible contradicts itself more than 100 times.
We can grow our hair long and when a fundy comes and bothers, just let him walk away. God doesn't oppose to our hair.
Good post, Santiago. I'm casual Christian. I too believe that hair does NOT make a difference in God's eyes. It's what's in the heart and soul that matters -- not in how you look. According to Christian doctrine; we are all born sinners and shall die that way. I don't recall (perhaps it's just me) any mention of hair length being a sin. Rock on.
I'm Unitarian-Universalist and consider myself an animist. I believe the world is a sacred place, life a sacred process, both of which human beings are part of. I don't believe in the God of Christianity who resides outside nature (a place I don't believe exists). I believe that the gods (if there are any) exist here on earth.
I recommend the books Ishmael and The Story of B, both by Daniel Quinn, for anyone who wants to understand what I mean when I call myself an animist.
I go to a UU church because they are open-minded and let people come to truth themselves. They don't tell you what to believe, they support you in your own search.
I'm agnostic. I don't really think a higher being or an afterlife of any kind exists, but if it does, it does. When I die I expect to cease to exist, if I enter an afterlife i'll be surprised, but not too surprised :-)
Though I spent time as Methodist clergyman and am officially Roman Catholic, my path is much more in line with what Eric has said here. Quin is great, and I do not find a god outside of nature or separated from our experience tenable anymore. Buddhism via the work of Thich Nhat Hanh has been my staple for a couple of years now. I also find strong agreement with the Non-Conformist statement above.
Robert
Roman Catholic here; and as casual as a Roman Catholic can get. I sincerely believe that God doesn't judge us at all based on our outer appearance. The length of one's hair has nothing to do with one's good or bad deeds or one's faith.
getting pretty devout. ever since i converted, everything started going right for me and i feel like a better person. (i'm 16)
though, my hair is only down to my chin (www.andy.gatetech.net)
so yeah, don't anyone reply with any taliban/al-qaeda/sept11 taunts.
I believe that all religious paths ultimately lead to the same place. Furthermore, I believe that true spirituality is beyond any institution and is largely determined by the creativity of the individual.
I'm a devout Byzantine Catholic, and don't feel that it's a sin for a guy to have long hair. I agree with many guys who have posted on this board already that God is more concerned with what is in our hearts than our appearance. Only secular people who worship the god of money think that this issue is a big thing. I've had it since the late 60's and love the look. Yes, I'm laughed at by many non-believers, but I don't care. The long hair is me and I plan to keep it for as long as I live. And besides, it doesn't matter what any bible passage says, there is a separation between church and state in this country of America, and we all have the FREEDOM to express, and that's in WRITING. And now that the womens say there are equal rights between the sexes, I wonder why long hair is still a problem on men and boys. Maybe because they don't pracitce what they preach.
devout southern baptist
mjtoo
yup, I'm an atheist. perhaps some people would also label me as a nihilist, but I don't care too much about terms. as I see it, our existence is purely coincidental. I think that the mere existence of the universe in general - and life in particular - is truly wondrous in itself, and I don't see any reason to credit it to a god, or creator, thus reducing it's own value as I see it.
I was christian once but I found that it wasn't really me. it didn't feel right for me to force myself to believe in something which my common sense protested against. I was looking for proof but never found the slightest. I don't mean to offend anyone though, everyone has the right to believe what they want, as long as they don't interfere with other people's lives because of it.
woah, that was deep ;)
HAIR.
ROFL! You're priceless man. :-)
I believe there's a God, it doesn't matter how He made us or how long He took, and that we should look to our primitive roots to understand how He intends for us to be.
Pagan - Hellenic Neo-Pagan. Polytheistic. I belong to no religion except my own, and it changes from day-to-day as I grow and evolve and my understading of the universe grows and evolves (and the universe itself grows and evolves).
I don't like the word "sin", in fact, I detest it. However, if there ever was a sin, it is interference with free will. Thus I don't like monotheistic fanatics or organized religion of any kind.
-Zorba
Hellenic? Interesting. Most 'reconstructionists' (I use the term to define a group that uses a pantheon of an 'ancient' culture) I've come across are either Celtic (duh) or Egyptian. Or maybe a bit of Roman. But Hellenic? Almost never. Very, very cool!
With a name like "Zorba", what else would you expect? ;-)
But, you're right, there are 10,000 Celts for every Hellene!
-Zorba
And how many of those 'Celts' are fluff-bunnies?
I can be so nasty.
You know, I really didnt understand how there could be a God or anything like that until I started taking an astronomy class. It just seems to me that there are way to many things that just happened to not have some sort or higher power. I'm not really religious or anything, I just think that there has to be something else.
Pagan Witch. Although I do believe that someone calling himself Jesus was around and had nice things to say. Vaguely like the Hindu Avator concept I think. But who is to care what Gods a man like Jesus would believe in as long as he wants peace for everyone?
As for 'sin', the only things I can think of are violations of free will, rape, abuse of children or animals, continued and conciously maintained ignorance, bigotry, murder unless in self-defence, and essentially any kind of hate.
Devoutness? I don't know. I mean, it's kind of easy to forget sometimes. And it's not as though I go around casting spells all the time *lol* Why bother when the world tends to do things I could use magic for by itself? Hey, karma works. That's all there is to it.
I'm agnostic.
Yup, that's right, I'm a Militant Agnostic! Which means; I don't know if there actually is a god - and neither do you! ;^P
Madoc
Just Look at the world right now. Look and see just how many of the problems stem from religion, or forcing it on someone else. Personal the people that are the most hipocritical of religion teachings that I know are the ones that claim to be the most devout.
No fooling!
That is why I believe that 'religion' is a personal thing, between a man/woman and his/her God/Gods/Goddess/Goddesses.
I don't hold with organized religion of any kind, nor do I care for monotheism, which tends to organize and force their dogma on everyone else.
The mess we have today is largely caused by the three major monotheistic religions colliding over one barren spot in the desert.
-Zorba
And you don't have to look at just the world today. Pick any period in history and religion is still a source of suffering. However, it is only part of a greater problem: Irrationality. When you start believing things for no reason, and defending those things with your life, you have a recipe for disaster. I don't care if it's God, Politics, or whatever. If it doesn't add up logically, then you have a deliberate denial of reality taking place, and that, my friends, is the real root of all evil.
The Rev
Amen to that. That has got to be the most awesome and most sensible thing I have heard from anyone in a long, long time.
My heart's desire is to be "devout". My life's goal is to get myself there from "casual." The wonderful thing is that I know He loves me no matter where I currently am on that spectrum. "Man looks on the outward, God looks at the heart." I think that, to a large degree, heart attitudes determine the rightness or wrongness of our actions. I could go on, but I don't think y'all want to participate in MY navel-gazing.
Scott (of the Long Hair)
hey mister longhair scott!
good to hear from you...it was gettin' a little lonely in here..thanks for your words.
mjtoo
lovin' Jesus every day! ;-)
Way to go, Scott.
I'm Catholic. I'm a liberal Catholic who does not attend Mass every week and who disagrees with some doctrine (but little dogma), but I am Catholic nonetheless.
I am a Christian. I guess the world may say I am devout, though I know that I am a sinner saved by God's all-sufficient grace, and I know He accepts me, hair and all, whoever else doesn't.
Rudy
good to hear from you rudy! keep it up!
mjtoo 8-)
I am one who is outside the main stream, all right. I was raised Christian but now consider myself an agnostic. I have little or no use for organized religion and agree with some here that most, if not all, of the war and turmoil going on today and for thousands of years is caused by the various organized religions.
All of them try, to some greater or lesser extent, to force their beliefs and rules on the rest of the world. So many of these people are such hypocrites that they would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous--and yes, I inlcude Christians, for I was one.
By the way, I have no use for Karl Marx or Marxism (another religion). The world would do well to read Thomas Paine, and Adam Smith, and our founding fathers, to name a few.
Some of these writers were religious and some not, but they--as well as the Bible--have many good and important ideas. I refer to common sense ideas(such as the Golden Rule) instead of dogma and mumbo jumbo which means nothing. And most of them had long hair,too! Antique Longhair
I am one who is outside the main stream, all right. I was raised Christian but now consider myself an agnostic. I have little or no use for organized religion and agree with some here that most, if not all, of the war and turmoil going on today and for thousands of years is caused by the various organized religions.
All of them try, to some greater or lesser extent, to force their beliefs and rules on the rest of the world. So many of these people are such hypocrites that they would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous--and yes, I inlcude Christians, for I was one.
By the way, I have no use for Karl Marx or Marxism (another religion). The world would do well to read Thomas Paine, and Adam Smith, and our founding fathers, to name a few.
Some of these writers were religious and some not, but they--as well as the Bible--have many good and important ideas. I refer to common sense ideas(such as the Golden Rule) instead of dogma and mumbo jumbo which means nothing. And most of them had long hair,too! Antique Longhair
Reincarnation and the Oneness of Everything are my two metaphysical beliefs. I'm pretty sure, but not certain, there is a "God," but whatever it is is beyond my limited understanding.
Feeling called upon to pull Irrationality out of the gutter and try to redeem it. Irrationality includes love, an appreciation for beautiful music and sunsets, loyalty, and lots of other pretty neat things about being human. Want an 'evil' to condemn? How about extremism?
Charlie