anonymous@athos.rutgers.edu (11/30/90)
[This posting was prefaced with a request for anonymity for what I believe was a good reason. I'd be happy to forward personal responses to the author. --clh] Logan Shaw recently wrote: > Well, being a guy with long hair, and having more curiousity than I perhaps > should, I thought I would pose this question for everybody: > - Is there (in your opinion) anything at all wrong with guys having long > hair? > > - If yes, explain how the _Bible_ supports your view. Now although: I Cor 11:14: "Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him?" Seems pretty clear cut, I don't believe that many of us accept this as applicable today. Another scripture: Deu 22:5 "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." (KJV is all that I have with me here) Seems just as clear cut. With so many cross-dressers appearing on talk shows and the like these days, how are Christians responding? Given that this particular law is mingled with laws that we utterly ignore like weaving linen and wool together or building a battlement on top of every house, is Deu 22:5 sufficient evidence that cross-dressing is a sin? It's difficult for me to tell which laws in this chapter should be adhered to and which ones should be ignored. For example: Deu22:12 "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself." Are YOU wearing your fringes today? So why do I ask? Well my brother is a cross-dresser and that is why I wish to remain anonymous. He has kept it a secret and only recently decided to tell me about it. Both of us are active in our respective churches. Up until now, it would have been easy for me to dismiss cross-dressers on the basis of Deu 22:5 and my own distaste for the whole thing. But the facts of the matter are that my brother is a devoted father and husband and I love him. As far as I know, he is not gay and is faithful to his wife. He claims that he sees no sin in what he does. I don't know what the total extent of his activities are (e.g. does he go out in public, etc.) but he has told me that this has been going on since before puberty. As you can imagine, I'm having a hard time knowing what to think right now. My gut feeling is that it's silly, at best, for a man to wear a dress. On the other hand, it's difficult to discern the crime or sin in what he's doing. Love In Christ, Julia