1Genesis 1
26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

Beards and Mormonism have an interesting history. Most prophets throughout history are depicted with beards. Nearly half of modern LDS prophets have beards, along with countless general authorities. God and Christ are always depicted with beautiful beards and flowing, white locks of hair. There are clear pronouncements from general authorities that this is a potentially changeable product of current cultural trends.

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Yet, despite all of this, LDS culture has shunned the beard. Temple workers cannot wear beards. Most General Authorities have clean shaven faces. BYU asks all young men to shave their faces, but allows mustaches. So rather than having a bunch of handsome, burly lumbersexuals at the Lord’s University, we have a bunch of Michael Ceras running around. Thanks, beard ban. Thanks a lot.

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And what of our women and their body hair? If hair is simply an evolutionary response to changing climates throughout Earth’s long history, why does God have a beard? Following this logic, If women were truly created in the image of God, then our Heavenly Mother must have leg hair follicles, right? The answer is yes. Some general authority said it, go look it up. Can’t find it? Your problem. Also, there is no better way to feel united with your pioneer ancestors (familial or inherited) than to go a few months in the cold winter without shaving.

So let us, as a culture, reassess this aversion we have to hair- facial hair, leg hair, hair in general. If our perfect Heavenly Parents are hairy, then growing out our beards and leg hair will just bring us closer to them. To celebrate hair as a group, a number of blogs have assembled for a beard growing contest for men, and a Pioneer Woman (leg hair) contest for women.

So the rules are as follows:

MEN: Pick a bearded Prophet, Apostle, or General Authority and try to grow a comparable beard. Please provide a picture of yourself, along with a picture of the General Authority that you are trying to look like.  There are two bearded categories:

1) Beards that start smooth faced. Those that start smooth-faced must take a picture of their baby face with a newspaper documenting the starting date (Jan 1, 2015 or later).

2) Those that start already bearded.

 

WOMEN: Reconnect with your divinity by posting pictures of your hairy Pioneer Woman legs. Feel free to post before/after pics.

The contest ends January 31, 2015.  Please submit photos by that date.  Voting will begin on February 1, 2015.

 

The prizes:

The person that gets first place in each of the three (leg hair, smooth to bearded, already bearded) categories will receive a one-year subscription to Sunstone Magazine.  The person that receives the most overall votes will receive, not only a one year subscription to Sunstone Magazine, but also a free ticket to the Summer Sunstone Symposium.

EMAIL ALL ENTRIES TO PAULEBARKER@YAHOO.COM

May the best hair win!

 

 

Thomas has lived all over the place, but calls Kentucky his home. He served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic West Mission. He is father to a beautiful boy and a precious girl. In his free time, Thomas loves to read, draw pictures in MS Paint, and sing heavy metal from the 80's.

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