[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Jay

Further, I have been wrestling with the topic of beards and mustaches, but I did not feel that his helped to mark him as being separate from the world or the things therein.

I found it to be an erring notion that our appearance and the way we dress is intended by God to mark us as separate from the world. If you think about it, no where in the entire bible is appearance designated to indicate we are distinct from the world. That is a man-made tradition that has somehow become scripture when it is not even in the scripture.

Jesus said our love for one another is what tells the world we are his disciples, not the way we look. To me, it's just like the Roman Catholic Church's emphasis on prayers to Mary to think that the way we dress shows the world who we are. It's not in the bible.