Many religions have costumes they require their followers to wear. If you think about it, it is kinda funny that god makes his/her followers wear costumes.

Mormons of course wear their magic underwear and white shirts. The FLDS dress their women in dresses from the 1800's. Jews wear a little round worthless cap, Amish dress from the later 1800's. Some religions do not allow the women to wear make up or cut their hair.

Then you have the Muslims that wear towels on their heads and cover their women from head to toe. The list goes on and on.

Why do you think god requires such funny and downright stupid costumes? I think it is to make their followers feel special they get to wear something no one in their right mind would wear.

Do you think god needs you to wear funny clothes?

Religious costumes, religious jewelry, religious icons, religious pagentry, ornate religious buildings are all part of the package that religious leaders use to declare:

"See our power and awe and be afraid not to join us. See, we have proof from God because he has spoken to us, told us to do this and have this and wear this. Just follow us and you will be saved."

Obviously it's not god who makes people wear costumes, it's the people and leaders of religions who use costumes as a form of control.

It's very clever, actually. Wear this to prove how devoted a follower you are. Oh look everyone, so-and-so is wearing the special costume, why aren't you? Don't you want to be special too? Oh you want to wear them? First you have to jump through a dozen hoops and obey what I say first.

Before I went through the temple for the first time, my MIL told me she just couldn't wait to wear the garments and that she just loves them. I wanted to slap her. I was not looking forward to wearing them.

Then it becomes so ingrained that wearing the costume is a good thing that taking it away becomes a punishment (Kate Kelly not allowed to wear garments anymore). We've all heard TBMs defending the Gs, declaring they are an "outside sign of your commitment to follow Christ". Mormon leaders come down on and issue statements on wearing the Gs at all times. It's a way to exert control over their followers.

I imagine in other religions it's the same - pressure from the top, then peer pressure to conform.

Yup, it's the leaders who say "Wear it" and the followers who are afraid that god will displeased with them if they do not.

But the followers make a connection in their heads that it actually *is* god telling them to wear G's......

Halloween is coming - Temple Robe Halloween costume time.

Many religious costumes as the OP put it, are cultural and not religious in nature any morw than western fashions are rwligious.

Cowboy isn't a religion

We know that most religions follow the same pattern of similar characteristics and include the following unique aspects: sacred writings, (a canon of some sort), special leaders (a hierarchy), music, accepted musical instruments, special traditions-memorialize certain days, art-illustrations, etc., unique rituals, unique buildings/architecture for meetings, pageantry, religious items, and, of course, unique costuming. Some are very exclusive. Some are not.

All of these characteristics are used to designate a particular religious group so they are not confused with others. Some are more open to other groups than others.

History shows that humans have engaged in creating a multitude of traditions, music, architecture, writings, art, to please a deity and or savior, and prepare for an afterlife.

I'm just grateful that I live in a time and place when I can enjoy any and all of that without an emotional connection/bond to any of it with no fear of recriminations. I have the same freedom to not engage as those that have the same freedom to engage in any or all of it.

I'm pretty sure that god doesn't care what you wear. We probably shouldn't walk around naked though --- it's just WEIRD. If he did require it, I'd just have to be apostate XD

What matters is your heart.

the only "religious costume" would be the prayer shall (tallis or tallit) and the headgear (kippah or yarmulke). Other than that, the rest of the "costume" for me is a sports jacket, shirt, tie, nice pants, socks and shoes.

A lot of projection going on in here. A lot of arguments based on made-up ideas about motivation and the like.

I wear a yarmulke. Guess what-- nobody makes me do so. During morning prayers and on Yom Kippur, I wear a tallit. Again, I am not forced by anyone. I suppose I could go into a discussion of what motivates me to do so, but given the hostile tone of those who've already declared quite incorrectly what my motivations must be, I think I'll belay that reveal.

Funny looking? In the eyes of the beholder. When I look out at the congregation and see splendor and beauty and variety of the prayer shawls people are wearing, I see love, I see pride, I see joy. Your mileage may vary, of course; not my problem.

I'm a feminist, so imposing unequal standards of modesty on women looks oppressive to me. That said, I've come to understand that wearing the hijab can be a consciously chosen act and a form of pride; I've seen many truly lovely hijabs over the years. My knee-jerk reaction is against burkas, but I also remain dedicated to listening to women's own experience of their garb, and open to the possibility that it might not be experienced the way I'm inclined to analyze it. I've come across this kind of surprise with other women's experiences which I'd knee-jerk assumed were simply oppressive.

1. I belong in a number of ways. I'm a US citizen, the child of my parents, a Jew, etc. I don't hide these things behind the anonymity of unthinkingly conforming to the WASP-y overculture.
2. Most of the Jews I associate with don't wear yarmulkes. My dress-choice can easily be seen as decidedly nonconformist.
3. My world view does not automatically exclude hearing contributions from a longstanding conversation carried out by the Jewish people simply because it began thousands of years ago.
4. Thanks to plugging into this long conversation, my vocabulary for expressing some important values and reactions is enriched. I also like some poetry. Occasionally someone else expresses le mot juste, and I am grateful for their contribution.
5. Some people may decide I come across as a sheep. Others may reach other conclusions. I have more important things to think about.
"That yarmulke prevents me from having to bother getting to know that person as an individual and human; I already know what I need to!" -- Does that sound like an enlightened attitude of respect, or more one of stereotyping?

I recognize you made a personal choice. You must have been shocked when you showed up to find much of the congregation made the same choice. What a divine coincidence.

He said most of the Jews he knows do not wear the yarmaluke. Perhaps you should read before commenting.

You'd be right if that was who I replied to. Take your own advice. :)

I have a response to you Touchstone. In no way did I mean any disrespect for your religious choice, merely gave my opinion. I do wonder what you think of the Burka, the complete covering that is required of Muslim orthodox women. Do you see in them the same splendor and beauty and variety as the prayer shawls of your choice of worship?

I think you are saying by your post that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I would so agree. And I see no beauty in having some religion hold up something to me as 'special' to wear based on their religious leaders who have deemed it to be so. and who then use these 'special pieces of clothing' to control their members.

The burka is required by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Most Muslims do not wear it or support the Taliban

Iran and Saudi Arabia require women to be covered. In many other Muslim countries it is a choice or part of the culture

It is a choice for the ladies. I can tell by the look in their eyes.

For many women wearing the hajib is a choice meant to show pride in their Muslim heritage.

Whoa! Thank god T shirt and jeans are not a "costume" and are not imposed on us as a necessity for belonging in a group. Thank god we don't make "statements" with our clothing -- and, wow, like, if we did, man, all those statements would be how each of us is unique. Although, we all end up looking alike! Weird, man. Ironic.

This is one of those cases when "Simply Being Human" seems to be confused with "Everything I Hate About Religion!" Dress is human -- period. All people, including you, use it to explore the boundaries between socially required and self expression. It is used to establish class, position, sexual attractiveness, and to make statements about values -- including beauty as well as divinity. We think we have a nice balance between self-expression and cementing our belonging in the group, but let me suggest we might be just a tad ethnocentric.

I cannot take seriously the blanket condemnation of religious dress as ugly, ridiculous, or expressing control/being controlled. One of my First Nations Facebook friends loves to post pics and vids from Powwows. Those costumes are art -- pure and simple -- gorgeous, good-as-it-gets. They are also, of course, tied to Native American religions. Anyone who gets her knickers in a twist over yarmulkes but loves berets, backwards baseball caps, ski hats, and hippy headbands needs to stay after school and write on the board fifty times "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." Good heavens. Do you pass out "Xenophobe of the Year" Awards around here? How many are competing? In drama, costumes and masks were originally used to impersonate the gods (best guess) -- which led eventually to the costumes of Star Wars and the Ascot scene in My Fair Lady. Let us now praise the wonders of impersonating the gods and goddesses.

As for religious dress being controlled dress -- please. Let me guess -- you ran right out and got a tattoo and couple of extra piercings -- because it was so UNUSUAL in your generation? It expressed how you were NOT controlled? And you were the only one who wasn't controlled. Every time you get dressed in the morning you are putting on a costume, and not to realize how much of it is proscribed -- even if just by poverty and laziness -- is to rather miss the point of something important we all share as human beings.

Humankind is an endless source of weirdness -- and maybe we might give thanks for that -- even though sometimes the weirdness is connected to religion -- so let's praise lederhosen, kimonos, saris, ball gowns, prom dresses, good slim fit jeans, embroidered cowboy shirts, and mile high white hats and not think them ridiculous on Catholic bishops but quaint on Brittany lace makers in folk dance. I think we should celebrate the infinity wardrobe possibilities of being human and many things we can say with the colors, textures, and shapes we wear, what we choose to cover and we show. And we should grant to those in religions the same right we claim for ourselves.

A very enlightening piece on garb and adornments. Thanks, JaneEliot!

Saree

All excellent points.

Great point.

The burka was a fashion statement that just caught on. The older folks use to complain about the young kids slouching around in their burkas and the next thing you know everyone was wearing one.

And for those few thousand headless souls who don't dig burkas, skinny jeans are all the rage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2014 12:43AM by thingsithink.

We should be glad when people wear their religious garb. It saves you the trouble from having to spend time finding out:

1. They to relate to a group (need a sense of belonging)
2. They conform
3. They probably allow a religion to provide their world view
4. They want a packaged way to express awe and fear
5. They have no idea they come off as sheep


I'm not saying these things are all bad necessarily. Sometimes the garb helps others relate to them. It lets other people have a hint of what the person's values are and reveals a lot about how they might think.

At least they are announcing they might be a religious automation to those of us who don't particularly want to deal with that.

Some of it is cultural but I think most of us recognize religious branding for what it is. Maybe some view it the same way they would as a T-shirt with a message. Who knows.

Of course you do not
let Western cultural norms affect your fashion choices

Actually it is the Sikhs, not the Muslims, who wear TURBANS on their heads. Sikhs have, while being very different in their beliefs and cultures (Sikhs are from India, especially from Punjab state), somehow Sikhs have many times been mistaken for Muslims, to the point of being victims in multiple prominent cases of anti-Muslim hate crimes.

God does not need anyone to wear "funny" clothes. We, however, may choose to wear particular kinds of clothing for reasons that benefit ourselves or each other, whether they are religious types or not.

I'm a Goddess from the 60's. If you're a male, you'll wear baby blue leisure suits and greased up Elvis hair. If you're female, you'll wear a mini skirt, ribbed sweater, and go go boots with teased up blonde hair and LOTs of black eye liner.