Grew hair and beard naturally; received comments from devout Catholics saying I look like Jesus but suggested I cut my hair. This reflects irony in practices vs. beliefs; if Jesus looked like me, would they urge him to change? Parallels drawn to Jewish perceptions of Jesus—traditional views may have led to denying him then and now. Questions raised about Jesus's modern-day image and societal role. Respect for religious values noted, aimed to prompt reflection on judgments based on appearance. - Shaughnessy 🐺
The Irony of Traditional Christians Over the past year and half I have been growing out my hair. Sun, 04 Aug 2024 21:28:38 GMT https://healthandfreedom.substack.com/p/the-irony-of-traditional-christians Over the past year and half I have been growing out my hair. And recently, over the past 3-4 months, I have been growing out my beard.
No cutting, no trimming.
100% natural look.
And I have brown hair and a brown beard so you can imagine what that may look like.
Last week I flew back East to the Suburbs of Philadelphia, where I grew up. Yesterday I went to a wedding with many devout Catholics and today saw extended family whom many are devout Catholics as well.
First off, I must say I have tremendous respect for the religious (those of all religious) because they tend to follow strong value systems which to me matters most.
But, not so much to my surprise, there has been a re-occurring interaction between many of these people.
Over a dozen people came up to me and said I look like Jesus.
And then the very next thing they would say is
“You should cut your hair.” “You should trim your beard.” “When are you going to shave?”
From my understanding growing up in a Catholic family attending Catholic schools from kindergarten to 12th grade, according to Catholics, we are made in the “Image & Likeness of God” and are called to “Be Like Christ.”
Based on these interactions, these things might be taught but don’t seem to be practiced.
I am by no means claiming to be Jesus, but according to all these people back home, I currently look like him.
Yet, almost all of them told me to change my appearance, cut my hair, and shave my beard?
Here lies the irony If they saw Jesus, who according to them had a similar appearance, would they be telling him to do the same thing?
Would they tell Jesus to cut his hair and shave his beard?
This reminds me of the Jews during the time of Jesus. The Jews were considered the holy whereas the Romans were the political ruling class.
And during the time of Jesus, the Jews looked down upon him.
Many saw him as a preacher of blasphemy.
They thought his views were radical and did not follow the Torah.
They believed only the past prophecies and stories in the Torah were to be true.
But how can any of those prophecies become true if you accept nothing new?
This interaction of the Jews and Jesus reminds me of modern day traditional Christians.
There is no way to know for sure, but based on behavior, it is possible that many of the modern day religious would have been the same ones to deny Jesus back in the day.
It’s easy to believe in Jesus after his days but what about during them?
Some questions to reflect on… If Jesus was alive today, what would he look like? What would he do? What messages would he share? If Jesus was alive today, would he be a participant or an outcast in society? If Jesus was alive today, would you be one to follow or deny?
With Truth & Love,
Shaughnessy 🐺
P.S.
As mentioned, I respect these religious family and friends even though they question my appearance because I respect their value systems. They are good, kind-hearted people.
So, I do not share these things out of anger or frustration, but rather, to provide an alternative perspective and pique curiosity particularly around how we judge others based on how they look or what they do.