format_quote Originally Posted by
DigitalStorm82
Glo, why do you think christians don't cover themselves properly like the bible teaches them to do so?
I know the same can be applied to muslims... as there are many who don't cover themselves...
But at least you still see some muslim women in covering.. where as I don't see any christians covering them properly... that is... in our everyday lives...
Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that christianity teaches Jesus died for the sins... so they don't have to practice their religion so strictly... long as they live good moral lives its ok?
or its just that our definition of "Modesty" is so drastically different?
Hi DigitalStorm
I have had more debates about hijab than I care to remember (Those muslimahs gave me a hard time about it in the mixed female section ... but don't tell 'em I said that! :giggling:)
So I will keep this reply brief and would like to ask people to just accept it as my personal view, and not to use it as a starting point for lengthy debates.
If this turns into another lengthy women-who-don't-cover-themselves-are-immoral thread, I will just ignore it ...:rollseyes
I will stick to the topic of hijab, but I have to go a bit deeper into Christian thinking first ...
In some ways you are right, Christians believe that by Jesus' death and resurrection the relationship between God and humans changed completely. God made a
new convenant.
But I think you are mistaken to think that so we
"don't have to practice [our] religion so strictly" - Jesus gave some extremely tough teachings about forgiveness, about charity and loving your enemy. Jesus' teachings make huge demands on everyday living - on how to treat other people and how to search our hearts and consciences. Now I am not saying that Christians necessarily manage to follow those commands terribly well (myself included!) - but those are the commands we should strive to live by!
Many of the 'external' things which Jews had practiced until Jesus' death (and still practice in many ways now) - the ritualistic prayers, the animal sacrifices, the cleanliness and food laws etc (many not dissimilar to Muslim practices), have lost their meaning for Christians.
Because we believe that God gave those laws to the Jews to enable them to be cleansed enough to come into his presence.
After Jesus' death, the new covenant made those things unsignificant.
What's important for Christians is our relationship with God, our love and devotion to him, how we strive to follow the example Jesus set us.
Now back to the hijab:
In the context of what I have just tried to explain, there is no requirement for Christian women to cover their heads.
It is mentioned in Paul's letter to the church in Corinthians - but that is largely seen as a cultural practice at that time, not something we should all still be doing in the 21st century ...
Women are called to be modest in their actions and thoughts - some women may strive to dress like the women did in Jesus' time (as I said, some Christian groups do), but there is no requirement for all women to do so.
I don't think whether Christians cover their heads or not is any reflection on their level of faith or on how much they love and serve God ... God alone knows how much each believer is devoted to him.
Hope this helps. :)