Beards/Unity

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>>My personal opinion is a beard is unprofessional in many
>>cases, and many companies have a set standard regarding
>>hair and facial hair on men.
>
>I think that's true especially if the company is or was established
>near a military base because facial hair is frowned upon greatly
>with a heavy influence of the military.

I can hardly believe I'm stepping into a ... [gulp]... beards thread, but
this comment on the U.S. military and facial hair caught my attention.

Here in my corner of the world (Alberta, Canada) it's quite different. We
live in a town of 12,000 -- mostly families posted with the air force base
here. I would *guess* a good 7 out of 10 military men here have mustaches.
And hey, since the USAF is often here for training, maybe those other three
clean-shaven guys are actually Americans!  :-)

In the late '70s and early '80s, several American ministers moved to Canada
to expand the UPCI's work in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was interesting to
hear some of the American presuppositions that provided the basis for
certain church standards. The military was regarded as a good illustration
of the uniform, clean-cut, clean-shaven look appropriate for Apostolic men,
although a brush cut was not necessary.

The prohibition against bowling alleys was another example. This apparently
reflected the image of a smoke-filled den of iniquity, with booze flowing
freely while the pins fly. An image that bore little resemblance to the
friendly place where, every Wednesday after school as a teenager, I had
slurped Cokes, munched Cheezies, played Canadian five-pin bowling and, in my
final year, led two of my teammates to the Lord.

Certainly on the foreign mission fields there would be more expectation and
accommodation for cultural and social differences. But Canadians often seem
to be regarded simply as Americans with Mounties, igloos and the Rocky
Mountains. We're pretty good-natured about it. Most of the time. I recall
the marked annoyance of a friend who attended a conference of Canadian
dental specialists, where an American keynote speaker's repeatedly
references to U.S. statistics and examples were followed each time by, "Of
course I'm sure it's no different here in Canada."

It's been said jokingly (but perhaps not too inaccurately) that the Canadian
identity can be defined succinctly with the words, "We're not Americans!"
:-)

Cary Robison