Go to religion

r/religion•5mo ago

TheresJustNoMoney

When Apostolic women cannot remove their hair for any reason, what do they do when they get cancer? And if chemotherapy, the type of treatment whose side effects include having their hair fall out, is the best option for treatment?

Hopefully they make an exception for getting chemo and just let their hair fall out, do they? Or do they try any other type of treatment that lets them keep their hair?

Hopefully there isn't a parallel to how the JW's refuse blood transfusions even when it would save their lives.

 

all 14 comments

sorted by: 

best

disable inbox replies

 (?)

formatting helpcontent policy

[–]EveningYou3471Agnostic 10 points 5 months ago 

I used to be a Oneness Pentecostal and we had a lady go through Chemo at our church, there was no stigma from the church, leadership, or the members about her losing her hair, however I believe the lady was insecure about it as she would wear wigs. Of course with these kinds of sects, your experience may vary.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• report
• reply

[–]Professional_Ant_315Kemetic 7 points 5 months ago 

I grew up Pentecostal, not Apostolic but I’ve been to many of those churches and know many who are. The basis for not cutting their hair stems from a bible verse saying long hair is a woman’s glory (i forgot which.) I don’t think they would go out their way to keep it as it’s falling out naturally by treatment rather than cutting. Though that’ll vary by Apostolic to Apostolic because there is no one Apostolic church or org.

Also, growing up Pentecostal and now reading these comments confused on who the Apostolics are…this feels surreal lol.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• report
• reply

[–]jebtendersAnglo-Catholic 1 point 5 months ago 

I thought they meant the Armenian church at first

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–]_meshuggenehJewish 4 points 5 months ago 

Apostolic referring to what? Which denomination are you mentioning here?

• permalink
• embed
• save
• report
• reply

[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] 4 points 5 months ago 

A Pentecostal sub-denomination. (Or is it called a "sect?")

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• edit
• disable inbox replies
• delete
• reply

[–]_meshuggenehJewish 4 points 5 months ago 

Sub-denomination fits.

Haven’t heard of them before, but in my experiences with people from that faith, Pentecostalism is not a monolith. Their attitudes can be both very leaning and very strict depending on the issue.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–][deleted] 4 points 5 months ago 

They aren’t too big in the logic department.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• report
• reply

[–]NowoToneApatheist 2 points 5 months ago 

What are apostolic women?

• permalink
• embed
• save
• report
• reply

[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] 3 points 5 months ago 

Women that go to an Apostolic / Pentecostal church.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• edit
• disable inbox replies
• delete
• reply

[–]NowoToneApatheist 2 points 5 months ago 

I didn’t know the first one, but are Pentecostal churches against cutting women’s hair? It’s the first time I hear that. There’s a Pentecostal group where I live and they don’t seem to be very different from other Protestant groups, unlike, for example, Jehova’s Witnesses.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–]pomegranatebeachfox 3 points 5 months ago 

There are a few groups within pentecostalism that tend to use the term apostolic a lot when referring to themselves. The more technical term used to refer to these groups is "onenes pentecostals." They're called this because they take a slightly different approach to their trinitarian theology - namely that God is one and he simply has three different forms. As opposed to the more "orthodox" view that God is one but he is made up of three distinct persons.

Oneness pentecostals tend to be very "conservative" in the sense that their women wear only skirts or dresses, they do not cut their hair, and some of them wear head coverings.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–]Professional_Ant_315Kemetic 2 points 5 months ago 

I wouldn’t exactly call Oneness and Apostolic the same thing. UPCI, the largest Oneness org, allows its congregations to to be flexible on hair and dress and there are trinitarian Apostolics.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–]pomegranatebeachfox 1 point 5 months ago 

That's a great point! Thank you. I can only speak from my personal experience, which is limited (although not non-existent). I was pentecostal for a lot of years before becoming agnostic. Thank you for clarifying/correcting!

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply

[–]NowoToneApatheist 1 point 5 months ago 

Thanks for the explanation.

• permalink
• embed
• save
• parent
• report
• reply