Coggins7 wrote:Loran, I know at Salt Lake Community College, the students in Cosmetology spend a considerable amount of time teasing the hair of their practice dummies (no, not me - I mean the artificial ones) in preparation for teasing the hair of their women customers. Should the LDS students refuse to participate on the grounds that it violates their newly defined religious principles?
The answer is no. As I heard Packer's talk, the counsel was for Latter Day Saints, not those of the great and spacious building. And, as Packer's counsel had no particular moral meaning, in and of itself, nothing precludes Mormon hair stylists from teasing the hair of others, just as nothing prevents Mormon restaruant or hotel owners from serving liquor. Just as alcohol is not in and of itself evil, neither is teased hair, and this was not Packer's meaning. Teased hair, overuse of body ornimentation, such as earrings, jewlry, tattoos, body piercing, to different degrees, are an integral part of the culture of "the world" represented by the great and spacious building, and the Saints don't need to be imitating Babylon, even in small things, because imitation, in time, very often leads to integration.
Gospel teachings try to avoid sin at the periphery so that it need not be dealty with later at the center, or core.
This seems a wrong-headed interpretation, in my view. I think it is more accurate to say (as has been echoed by countless of the Brethren) that heeding this seemingly silly advice is really more a badge of loyalty and obedience. Wearing only one pair of earrings and not teasing one's hair is, in effect, a means of saying, "Yes, I will obey. I will do what you say, Elder Packer."