Mission

Beards used to be the norm in the LDS Church. In the 1960’s, Church members began taking a dim view of beards, and BYU in particular ultimately banned them. This was a temporary ban in response to then current conditions in the broader culture, was subject to change, and a BYU president at the time thought it would eventually change. Instead it seems to have taken root throughout the Church. Despite there being no support in the scriptures or in the Church Handbook for such discrimination, men with beards are not infrequently either excluded from various Church callings, or told to shave as a condition of participation. If there was any doctrinal foundation for this practice, it would be time for bearded Saints to reach for their razors. However, this is simply cultural bias, and it should be eliminated. Beard Men ("beard" is a verb, in this sense, but not the mean verb) aspires to create a space for Mormon men to articulate issues of appearance inequality they may be hesitant to raise alone. As a group we intend to put ourselves in the public eye and call attention to the need for institutional acceptance of Mormon men growing beards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Aren’t we supposed to follow the Brethren? They don’t have beards.

Actually, we’re supposed to follow Jesus. And he has a beard.

Isn’t it wrong to be an agitator?

See the preceding answer. That said, if we were going on about the Church “subjugating” beard growers, or if we were demanding positions of leadership despite not having a testimony, or ignoring a Proclamation given by divine revelation that doesn’t comport with our own worldly values or behaviors, or if we were suggesting approvingly that people who leave the Church over political disagreements are worthy models for others to follow, or bragging about how impressive our peers are and how their views are more important than those of millions of Latter-day Saints, then yes, we would be wrong. People who understand that the Church is guided by revelation from God don’t debase themselves by acting as if Church doctrine is created by political pressure, and those who don’t believe in revelation really ought to get out of the faces of those who do (we’re busy with our faces, trying to neatly trim our beards). What we’re talking about here, though, is just a silly bias that has crept into LDS culture, and that ought to creep back out. We aren’t doing anything nutty like working up a spreadsheet to demand that 50% of the Church sport beards. No, people have different roles. We just want those who think beards have something to do with spiritual status, to do a little more thinking about that before they start shavesplaining. We believe all men should have the privilege of growing a beard according to the dictates of their own conscience.

Didn’t Hugh Nibley say something about personal grooming?

You mean about how “the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearance,” or about how “the worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism. Longhairs, beards, necklaces, LSD and rock, Big Sur and Woodstock come and go, but Babylon is always there: rich, respectable, immovable, with its granite walls and steel vaults, its bronze gates, its onyx trimmings and marble floors...”? Yes, he did. It never hurts to go back and re-read Approaching Zion, or Elder Poelman’s “The Gospel and the Church talk” (especially the uncensored original version, before he had to return to the Tabernacle and re-record parts of it). Of course, our Church leaders are marvelous examples for us, and we should emulate the kindness and righteousness that so often characterizes their lives. Whether we need to wear suits all the time, and embrace baldness, is another matter.

What about J. Golden Kimball—what did he say about beards?

Well, he had one. Doesn’t that tell you all you need to know? And then there’s the story James Kimball relates in “More J. Golden Kimball Stories” about how when Golden was a General Authority, he went to Cedar City to pick a new bishop, looked over on the south side of the chapel where the men were sitting, noticed a questionable looking man, and said “You—you with the mustache and sandy hair. Yes, I mean you. Come up on the stand and sit here by me. You'll be the new bishop.” When someone later expressed surprise that Elder Kimball had picked Will Corey to be a bishop, he replied “Well, I know he isn’t a church man, but I tell you something: I wanted a man who could kick the hell out of those people, and he looked like just the sort to do it." There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Resources

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