new thread
Hey guys,
I haven't posted any progress pics of my hair in about five (5) months because I'm away from home and from my friend who has the digital camera and the expertise to upload pics to this site.
Yesterday was the ten (10) month mark since my last haircut. It was a guage 4 buzz cut. My hair has now realized about five (5) inches in length. Yesterday I started to put my hair into a ponytail. What a rush! Not all of my hair reaches to the tie in the back but the ponytail makes my appearance look more neat and less obtrusive.
Some people have challanged me about my hair. I explain to them that I am a born longhair which means that I have hade the desire to have long hair all of my life. Since approximately two point five (2.5)% of the adult male population have hair that is shoulder length or longer we are clearly a minority. The majority should not dictate how all males should wear their hair. Generally, they respect me and my desire for long hair. One (1) guy called me his "Fashion Friend" because of the ponytail. I was told that when I return I maybe told to cut my hair.
Does anyone have any advise for me at this point?
Longhaired bro,
Raymond
yes - advise is spelt with a 'c'
Don't give in. Cutting it will just strip you of your identity. Embrace who you are and tell people that this is you whether they like it or not. Why don't you post up some pics? I really wanna see your progress.
Give us some context? Return to where. Are there still places in the US where a man cannot grow his hair? Institutions restrict. Yes, get out of them.
James, Asheville NC
Hi Raymond,
Thanks for the update!
As far as advice goes, hmmmm... I'll give it my best shot, below:
If I'm remembering correctly, aren't you a Catholic priest? Other than one of my sisters-in-law being Catholic, I have no familiarity with that religion (or the Catholic attitude towards long hair on men). BUT, it should go without saying that religious institutions in general tend to be very much on the "conservative" side -- of almost every social issue I can think of!
It might help you at this point to hear a bit about my own religious background...
I was raised a Christian Scientist. Yes, they are indeed "peculiar" in many different ways from other Christian church groups, especially re. going to doctors; but re. hair length on men, they don't give a hoot. This was not always the case, though: during the 1960s, for example, long hair on men shocked most church-goers there, just as much as in other churches and similar conservative-thinking institutions. And when I was young, I used to work within that church organization; so believe me, I can empathize with your predicament!
If the mental environment in which you regularly live & breathe& have to work in, however, still tends to have ultra-conservative thinking and attitudes re. what hair length a man "should" have, this means you need to prepare yourself for some degree of an up-hill battle...
HAVING long hair, as opposed to GROWING long hair (meaning, having to deal with going through the infamous "awkward stages") can make a big difference in the level of resistance from others that you might have to meet head-on at your job. Depending on what state / province / country you live in, laws may or may not protect your right to grow your hair long, if church laws are usually exempt from the laws of the land on that issue (which they usually are).... HOWEVER, the average boss is less likely to say, "cut your hair!" once someone's hair is noticeably long but kept in a neat ponytail; so, your issue of concern will most likely be whether or not your bosses can stand to look at you while you're going through the awkward stages!
Only you and you alone know your own environment where you work, and to what degree it will be worth it to stay there and endure... In the long run, none of us here can ever give truly accurate advise to another, because none of us live in your shoes -- only YOU do!
Having said the above: good luck!!!
- Ken in San Francisco
The Catholic Church's attitude to long hair is largely based on Paul letter's rantings about men dishonouring their head if they don't keep their hair short. (Perhaps a bit of jealousy here because Paul is often depicted as bald.)
Catholic attitudes (even amongst the clergy) are usually far more liberal than the Vatican's.
Still there are certain aspects of scripture which are theological and others which are social, God never pronounced on longhair and there were biblical characters such as Samson where longhair was considered a virtue, part of the nazirite vow.
I know that speaking as an atheist, making a theological argument is rather contrived, but I'd say this is undoubted one of those issues which is far from clear-cut (pun intended).
Hi Sorted,
Yes, I am very familiar with the rantings of St. Paul (who's not all that much of a "saint" in my mind because of that - LOL) -- and yes, I have heard that Paul was bald, and have seen paintings / drawings depicting him as such; so one definitely wonders about his struggles with jealousy (supposedly also Julius Caesar had very thin hair, which is why male Roman citizens had to keep their hair short, too)....
Re. the Nazarite vow of NOT cutting a man's hair, I remember reading in a Bible commentary once how long hair on a man's head was viewed as both symbolic in many positive ways, and also to be admired as with a woman's hair -- the world needs more Nazarites!!
Re. being an Atheist, in my opinion you should never hesitate to speak up about ANY subject, including theological comments. My favorite sister-in-law is an Atheist, a wonderful, generous, honest humanitarian who PRACTICES WHAT SHE PREACHES (unlike some of the fanatic self-righteous fundamentalist Christians who point fingers at people, telling them they're going to hell, then secretly seeing a prostitute on the side!) -- she was even raised by Atheist parents!
In any case, anyone and everyone should feel free to discuss theology, because I find that I learn a richer perspective by listening to others that think differently than me (I'm not an Atheist myself, for example; but I've learned more about the Bible and Biblical times from Atheist family members and friends who know a lot more than I do re. World History, etc.
Anyway, just wanted to respond by saying I enjoyed reading your comments!
- Ken
Hey Ken,
I never shy from theological discussion on account of my atheism, I just feel its rather contrived to make a theological argument when at the end of the day you don't believe any of it is real.
I suppose to an atheist discussing whether, its right or wrong to have longhair based on your biblical interpretations is a bit like having an argument over what Captain Kirk would do faced with a Klingon invasion. As an atheist you are in your own mind discussing a work of fiction, so drawing any conclusions about what the protagonists think about one thing or another is a bit contrived.
Still, it can lead to interesting conversations.
And the discussions over such a subject between a person who is emotionally involved and one who isn't is quite an interesting dynamic, if eventually fruitless.
Couldn't nearly everyone find a longhair somewhere in their religion?
Go on, I'm sure you can think of someone..
LOL, well, as I posted down the page below quite a bit (as in WAAAY down this page by now....), San Francisco has a rather outlandish outdoor contest every year on Easter Sunday, called "Hunky Jesus" -- and as you can imagine, most of the contestants either have long hair, or else wear a long-haired wig on their head...
Hmmm, where do you think they ever got the idea that Jesus had long hair? There were no cameras to take pics back then in his day, and yet most of the artists that have ever painted a portrait of Christ Jesus have the image in their mind of a long-haired guy.
Hey, I'm OK with that (LOL)!!
- Ken
Raymond, I think it's really up to you and God. I have been a Christian since I was 9 years-old. These days, my hair is almost mid-back and I'm at peace with wearing it this way. However, I am not a Catholic, as I assume you are. I don't know what restrictions and guidelines might be imposed on you by the situation you find yourself in.
My own advise would be to be in total prayer about it and follow what God instructs you to do personally. Regardless of what the authorities involved in your present situation say, it's what the Lord tells you as an individual that's important.
Steve