Mormon Prophets and Missionaries' Beards Disappeared And Never Came Back
David O. McKay and The Hippies Ensured No More Beards
How does the man above look to you? He appears to be a mature, intellectual, well-dressed, kinda guy to me. Clean and good-looking haircut too. A well-manicured beard. He looks financially stable. He is probably someone's husband and someone's father, and someone's son. He looks like many people I have known throughout my life. A good, honest, friendly man. Maybe even a staunch church-goer. What do you think when you see his beard? Would I be interested in what he had to say? I think so. I can't think of a reason why not.
The Mormon Church's handbook does not provide specific beards or facial hair guidelines. And yet, full-time missionaries, temple workers, Mormon Church Prophets, and almost all Mormon Apostles since the 1950s have not been allowed to sport beards of any kind. It seems odd, especially when the Mormon God and Jesus both have beards. While it is usual these days to see some male members have beards and even attend the temple, the guidance and encouragement are to be still clean-shaven. After all, you are taught that the modern prophets and apostles are examples of how a good man should look, at least to unwritten but spoken law. To such an extent, you may be asked to shave if you are called to serve in specific leadership positions. For example, I was asked when serving as part of a Stake Presidency (Regional leadership), but I declined. Fortunately for me, the Stake President himself also declined.
Would Todays Church Leaders Look Unkempt If They Had Beards?
How does Elder Jeffery R. Holland look sporting a goatee and mustache? I knew Elder Holland when he served as Area President of North-West Europe and was based in England before he was called to be an Apostle in 1994. I thought highly of him then, as he was always positive and a nice man. I loved listening to him during training. I am sure I would have loved listening to him just the same if he had been bearded. Of course, it is only my perspective, but he looks dignified in these fake pictures.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, below, looks even more loving, kind and trustworthy than usual with a well-maintained beard. Undoubtedly a German and a beard doubles up his importance to the church. After all, being relatable to the church members and new converts would surely be an advantage.
Elder David A. Bednar, below, might not look as young as usual with a beard, but it may help change the public perception of him in his case. However, having a beard doesn't change who he is. Elder Bednar would still be Elder Bednar, no matter what.
Although the Mormon prophet, Elder Russell M. Nelson, below, does look like a pioneer cowboy from Utah's past, wearing a beard doesn't seem to change my perception of him either way. I visited his daughter's home some years ago and talked in the kitchen as we ate. Each empty water bottle he drank he threw across the kitchen as if he was playing basketball, cheering if it went into the trash. While the beard wouldn't have improved his basketball skills, it certainly would help change his 1950s business executive look to someone most of us could view as a religious leader—one of us.
Aside from Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, every Prophet until David O. McKay sported some facial hair. Indeed, it was explicitly encouraged when the Mormon missionaries were sent to Great Britain as facial hair appeared to make them look more dignified and trustworthy!
The post-war period following WW11 took place along with all the new cultural and rebellious changes of the 50s and 60s. In 1951, Elder David O. McKay was appointed the new prophet of the Mormon church. McKay would be the first of all prophets since to be clean-shaven. So why did that tradition start and remain ever since?
A Mark of Indifference
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said while serving as BYU President in 1971 explained, "Our rules against beards and long hair are contemporary and pragmatic," Oaks told the student body. "They are responsive to conditions and attitudes in our society at this particular point in time … [and] are subject to change . . . In the minds of most people at this time, the beard and long hair are associated with protest, revolution and rebellion against authority,"
Elder Oaks continued to explain that in his mind and the minds of Mormon leadership, "They (beards and long hair) are also symbols of the hippie and drug culture . . . In addition, unkemptness — which is often (though not always) associated with beards and long hair — is a mark of indifference toward the best in life." So there you have it.
Let's take a quick look at Mormon prophets pre-1951.
"In addition, unkemptness — which is often (though not always) associated with beards and long hair — is a mark of indifference toward the best in life," states Elder Oaks, now serving as the first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. Do the previous Prophets of the Mormon church look like they have a "mark of indifference toward the best in life"?
What did Hugh Nibley, usually a Mormon church apologist, say about this subject? "…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, and necklaces, LSD and rock, Big Sur and Woodstock, come and go, but Babylon is always there: rich, respectable, immovable… We want to be vindicated in our position and to know that the world is on our side as we all join in a chorus of righteous denunciation; the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances," from a 1973 lecture that Nibley gave at BYU, later reprinted in the collection, What is Zion? Joseph Smith Lecture Series 1972–73.
© Stephen G. Arrowsmith 2022
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