On Your Honor Spencer W. Kimball
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Some
young people have prided themselves in wearing the most tattered, soiled,
and grubby attire. If we dress in a shabby or sloppy manner, we tend
to think and act the same way. I am positive that personal grooming
and cleanliness, as well as the clothes we wear, can be tremendous factors
in the standards we set and follow on the pathway to immortality and
eternal life. It is my understanding that each student who enrolls in
this great institution and its sister Church institutions understands
before coming here what the rules and regulations are, and he or she
signs the enrollment sheet with a firm promise to obey base rules and
regulations. For a young woman to wear short skirts or other immodest
wear when she has covenanted other-wise would not be a matter of cleverness
in escaping detection but a definite blot on her character. Should any
young man promise to observe certain standards of dress or hair length
or behavior and then evade those restrictions, certainly his error is
deep-seated and is not just a difference of opinion. It is nothing to
joke about, but a black mark on his character. He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. Please note that I have used the word covenant regarding
the promises you made when registering at the university. That is a
sacred word, and I use it with all of its special spiritual force. I
realize that you may not agree fully with our code for dress and behavior.
Perhaps you do not agree with it at all. You may think it old-fashioned
or unnecessary or bothersome, but the simple fact of the matter is that
the code exists under the direction of those responsible for the university
and you have promised "on your honor" to abide by that standard.
. . . We say anew and more vigorously to all of you; Trim your hair
appropriately. Wear modest, clean clothing. Your clothes do not need
to be new and in the latest fashion, but they should be clean, modest,
and neat. Be dignified in your outward appearance and in your manners
and in your inward morality. Take pride in your principles. Tear down,
as it were, any of the old sheds of the past. Repent of old transgressions
and start this school year with clean hands and a pure heart, reflected
by good grooming, acceptable apparel, and personal integrity. Let me confess one of the sad disappointments I sometimes feel: The returned missionary who, after two years of taking great pride in how he looks and what he represents, returns to this campus or some similar place to see how quickly he can let his hair grow, how fully he can develop a moustache and long sideburns and push to the very margins of appropriate grooming, how clumpy his shoes can get, how tattered his clothes can be, how close to being grubby he can get without being refused admittance to the school. That, my young returned missionary brethren, is one of the great disappointments in my life. I meet with prime ministers and presidents, with sovereigns and rulers, political and public figures all over the world and one of the things they inevitably say about us (and always with warmth and appreciation) is, "We have seen your missionaries. We've seen them all over the globe, in every state of the union and in most countries of the world. Without,exception, they look like young men ought to look. They are clean cut, neatly dressed, well groomed and dignified." My, that makes me proud! I am trying to do my own little part in missionary work, and that kind of comment makes me so proud of you. Then sometimes these great leaders say, "Your missionaries look like just the kind of young man I would want to take into my business, or in my government, or into my embassy, or into my law firm." Sometimes they even say, "They look just like the young man I would like for a son-in-law." That makes me proudest of all. (BYU Devotional, September 12, 1978) Spencer W. Kimball: Why did devotees of female-styled hair for men struggle so fiercely to encourage a natural adornment? "Doth not even nature itself teach you," Paul asked, "that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him? (I Corinthians 11:14). And the same Paul said, "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering." (I Corinthians 11:15) Not all men whose hair is tossed back and forth are effeminate, but surely there is some question about it. How far, we wonder, will men and women go to pay ovations to the god of style? Will men wear rings in their noses when style dictates? Will young people still fall prey to their god of style, which they worship? "Everybody does it."...I am shocked frequently to see people who wear the worst they possess instead of their best. Grubby clothes certainly have some relationship to grubby people. There is something uplifting when people dress up and attempt to be seen at their best. (BYU Devotional, September 17, 1974) Harold B. Lee: Without belaboring this subject may I merely say, do not underestimate the importance, symbolic and actual effect of appearance. Persons who are well-groomed and modestly dressed invite the companionship of the Spirit of our Heavenly Father, and are able to exercise a wholesome influence to those around them. Persons who are unkempt and careless about their appearance, or adopt the visual symbols of those who often oppose our ideals, expose themselves and persons around them to influences that are degrading and dissonant. (BYU Devotional, September 11, 1973) Bruce R. McConkie: Conformity to dress and grooming standards is one of the tests the Lord imposes upon us to see if we will take counsel and to see if we stand up against the pressures of the world. There is of course an underlying reason for all the counsels and commands relayed from the Lord by the brethren to the Saints. Immodesty for instance leads toward immorality. Long hair and grubby grooming open the door to rebellion against the established order and to associations which lead away from the Church. Surely those who are so adorned are not living soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. But even if we are not sufficiently in tune to recognize the valid reasons behind the dress and grooming standards, we are still expected to abide them. And in this instance, this case, we might well hearken back to the counsel given Adam to offer sacrifices. He not knowing the underlying reasons did so in order to conform to the counsel that the Lord gave. In due course, the angel from heaven explained what was involved. (BYU Devotional, January 28, 1975) J. Richard Clarke: Any kind of obedience is better than any kind of disobedience. (Ensign, November 1980, p. 83) |
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