People dressing formally at church is correlated to...what exactly?

[So the Heroes Fall]

Just out of curiosity Nathan, have you ever seen anyone with any of these at church? None strike  me as very New England WASP, even in Amherst:

-Plugs/gauges

I don't know what these are, so no.

Those things the singer of the band in the first video has in his earlobes. For the record I strongly dislike them and will never get them and the fact that your ear lobe will never fully close after them makes them a bad idea alone in my view but...

-Piercings anywhere than the ears

No.

Hmmm, those are actually pretty mainstream now.

I once knew a Christian hardcore girl with a Bible verse for the last one.

Huh. I wasn't aware that was a thing, but I'm not necessarily surprised.

Just a girl from South Dakota I saw at a bunch of shows and ran a small distro with her husband, who I think she later separated if not divorced from. I think she lives in Seattle now or somewhere (wow she'd be about 32 today...)

Church is different from a Christian hardcore show because the altar is an axis mundi and the priest is ceremonially marrying Heaven to Earth and Christ to the Church.

Yep, liturgical/charismatic difference. Mind you we don't even have an altar (or a priest for that matter.) and the venue even looks like a show space except for the cross on the back wall (and since it already has a great sound system set up actually would be an awesome venue, the only reason I haven't asked about renting out the place for bookings is because it's hard to get people to shows in NE Minneapolis unless the band is trendy or alcohol is being served)

BRTD, I also wouldnt necessarily conflate people's dress for a first Holy Communion to their normal church attire. Most people on special events step up their dress as a sign of respect and as a symbol that it is indeed a special occasion.  This is really the norm across most cultures and religions.

But when I got baptized and we also did our infant dedications, the only people dressed up were olds who obviously weren't normal attendees and were mostly family of the parents of the babies being dedicated. The parents and pastors (and of course me) were still all as casual as normal.

This is also why most people don't dress like they just rolled out of bed when they go to church.

I'd dispute the "most" in the modern day. It's not 50 years ago.

Your own life experience is not the baseline for all of humanity.

Just because you and your peers like hardcore shows or go to church in a T shirt does not mean that 1. it matters at all or says anything meaningful about said concert goer or T shirt wearer 2. that anyone else should care  3.  This and the several previous threads or discussions on the matter betray a level of superficiality and seems a conceit.  The, I couldn't bother to get dressed up, is, to me at least, tiresome and immature.  It is all a pose.  Ive seen so many "scene" people who likely spent hours on their messy hair. 

Further, By dwelling on this so much it is all quite obvious that you intensely care on what you and others are wearing.  Hence, my sarcastic suggestion that you get your own fashion sub board.  The fact that you are concentrating so much on what others around you are wearing rather than the message you are receiving makes you no better than the blue haired old ladies who snicker at another woman's scandalous top or skirt.

Lastly man, you are an old! I'd hope that obsessing over a little clique and again its conceits (your own uniform and soundtrack) is something most people leave behind in high school or latest college.  Wear and listen to what you like  but don't think that it says something really transcendental about you as a person. I'm glad you have found a group of people you like to worship with, however,  the costume you do it in is really insignificant.

So to answer your OP, nothing.

Look this has always been a quirk of mine. I have always been anti-formal dress, and I even boycotted some school events where semi-formal was at least "encouraged". I'll admit you are right in that I might be giving a bit too much focus to this sort of thing. Mind you I kind of disapprove of any type of "dressing up" such as the people you are mentioning and stupid looking sports fans the cameras love to point out in the stands.

[Ѕenator Αverroës]

Damn it! I wrote that in the hope you'd say just that and had a whole clever comeback planned, but I forgot what it was!

Something to do with rabble-core or whatever musical esoterica he's constantly obsessed with?

[muon2]

Just out of curiosity Nathan, have you ever seen anyone with any of these at church? None strike  me as very New England WASP, even in Amherst:

-Plugs/gauges
-Hipster scarves
-Piercings anywhere than the ears
-Band shirt
-Hoodie
-Tattoos over an entire arm
-Large chestpiece or back tattoos.
-Lower back tattoo ("Tramp stamp")

I once knew a Christian hardcore girl with a Bible verse for the last one.

When I go with my family you would see me arrive in a jacket and tie and my son in a band shirt or hoodie. Nothing wrong with that from my perspective.

[asexual trans victimologist]

Just out of curiosity Nathan, have you ever seen anyone with any of these at church? None strike  me as very New England WASP, even in Amherst:

-Plugs/gauges
-Hipster scarves
-Piercings anywhere than the ears
-Band shirt
-Hoodie
-Tattoos over an entire arm
-Large chestpiece or back tattoos.
-Lower back tattoo ("Tramp stamp")

I once knew a Christian hardcore girl with a Bible verse for the last one.

When I go with my family you would see me arrive in a jacket and tie and my son in a band shirt or hoodie. Nothing wrong with that from my perspective.

Yeah, there are families like that at my church too (sometimes even with the generations reversed!).

[So the Heroes Fall]

Do you ever see people listening to iPods entering/leaving? (Or using iPods/phones to look up Bible verses)

[fezzyfestoon]

I always thought it was simply that you save your best for church out of respect for its standing in your life. Church should be the most important thing in your life, so it deserves your best clothing.

[So the Heroes Fall]

By that logic I should've dressed more formally than normal when I was at Dude Fest.

[fezzyfestoon]

By that logic I should've dressed more formally than normal when I was at Dude Fest.

I will not discuss anything related to that.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Just pointing out the logical conclusion of that. Here's another example: Do people with Super Bowl tickets dress up formally to the stadium stands?

[Joe Republic]

That you equate your churchgoing with a music festival or a football game says quite a lot about you.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Well all of them are quite similar. People waving their hands, jumping up and down, yelling loudly, etc.

[fezzyfestoon]

Well all of them are quite similar. People waving their hands, jumping up and down, yelling loudly, etc.

And yet in the mess that is BRTD's logic, there are the occasional specks of poignancy that never cease to surprise me.

[Harry]

I think about religion in the same vein that I think about sports, so the metaphor works.  Both have extreme blind loyalty that defies rationality.

[So the Heroes Fall]

I think about religion in the same vein that I think about sports, so the metaphor works.  Both have extreme blind loyalty that defies rationality.

So that explains why if you lived here you'd be more likely to go to a Catholic church than one where I know the lead pastor who has an anti-gay marriage ban bumper sticker on his car. Well that and the dislike of handraising.

[patrick1]

I think about religion in the same vein that I think about sports, so the metaphor works.  Both have extreme blind loyalty that defies rationality.

So that explains why if you lived here you'd be more likely to go to a Catholic church than one where I know the lead pastor who has an anti-gay marriage ban bumper sticker on his car. Well that and the dislike of handraising.

I find that many Hispanic congregants hold hands during the Our Father and then raise them up together during the doxology: For thine is the kingdom... I'm with Harry, even this makes me uncomfortable.  I prefer staid worship

[Harry]

I think about religion in the same vein that I think about sports, so the metaphor works.  Both have extreme blind loyalty that defies rationality.

So that explains why if you lived here you'd be more likely to go to a Catholic church than one where I know the lead pastor who has an anti-gay marriage ban bumper sticker on his car. Well that and the dislike of handraising.

I find that many Hispanic congregants hold hands during the Our Father and then raise them up together during the doxology: For thine is the kingdom... I'm with Harry, even this makes me uncomfortable.  I prefer staid worship

A lot of whites do that here too, but I don't join in.  No interest in holding hands with a stranger.

[So the Heroes Fall]

....that happened in my row at my cousin's first communion and I didn't have a problem with it nor did it strike me as odd. And I never found it odd at more charismatic Lutheran services where it's fairly common.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Here's proof it's not quite a high/low church thing either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BOFYmcHEIc

Although if you draw a political compass style high/low axis and liberal/conservative axis it's safe to say the liberal/low corner will be overwhelmingly casual and the high/conservative corner overwhelmingly formal, so maybe a combo of the two.

[TJ in Wisco]

It's probably correllated to age, income level, "high church", and political conservativism in some general sense.

[BushKenya]

Let me toss in my two cents (maybe worth but a cent and a half), but here goes:

I normally don't dress up for church just because I'm lazy.  Whenever I feel the energy, I will wear a suit and tie, especially on Easter, Fourth of July, and Christmas.  I actually enjoy wearing suits even more so than jeans and t-shirts.  If it weren't so darn expensive to buy several suits, I would enjoy a job as a TV News Reporter who wear suits by default.  They make me feel better about myself.

That said, I do not perceive wearing a suit as a necessity in church.  God doesn't care about what you wear on the outside, He cares more about what you look like on the inside.  His aim is to change people from the inside out, not the outside in like religion does.

At my small, Southern Baptist church, we do have one lady (my cousin) who has tattoos all over her arms, neck, and back.  She barely has any blank skin left.  I've seen her in a two-piece bathing suit and she is still covered all over, too.  The older people of my church don't care for it, but they do not condemn it.

My pastor wears a collared polo and khakis.  My music minister/youth minister will usually wear the same, but will once in a while put on a suit with a maroon shirt and a black tie.

Again, I really could care less what people wear in church, unless they are wearing a bathing suit or otherwise leaving little to the imagination.  I prefer suits for men and dresses for the ladies, but that's not a requirement in my opinion.

I know I am an old, because I prefer the older, slower hymns as opposed to the newer, faster contemporary.  *Watches BRTD cringe at the thought of older, slower hymns*

[So the Heroes Fall]

Here's the part that stuck out to me:

Let me toss in my two cents (maybe worth but a cent and a half), but here goes:

I normally don't dress up for church just because I'm lazy.  Whenever I feel the energy, I will wear a suit and tie, especially on Easter, Fourth of July, and Christmas.  I actually enjoy wearing suits even more so than jeans and t-shirts.  If it weren't so darn expensive to buy several suits, I would enjoy a job as a TV News Reporter who wear suits by default.  They make me feel better about myself.

That said, I do not perceive wearing a suit as a necessity in church.  God doesn't care about what you wear on the outside, He cares more about what you look like on the inside.  His aim is to change people from the inside out, not the outside in like religion does.

At my small, Southern Baptist church, we do have one lady (my cousin) who has tattoos all over her arms, neck, and back.  She barely has any blank skin left.  I've seen her in a two-piece bathing suit and she is still covered all over, too.  The older people of my church don't care for it, but they do not condemn it.

My pastor wears a collared polo and khakis.  My music minister/youth minister will usually wear the same, but will once in a while put on a suit with a maroon shirt and a black tie.

Again, I really could care less what people wear in church, unless they are wearing a bathing suit or otherwise leaving little to the imagination.  I prefer suits for men and dresses for the ladies, but that's not a requirement in my opinion.

I know I am an old, because I prefer the older, slower hymns as opposed to the newer, faster contemporary.  *Watches BRTD cringe at the thought of older, slower hymns*

Since when is the Fourth of July a religious holiday?

[BushKenya]

Here's the part that stuck out to me:

Let me toss in my two cents (maybe worth but a cent and a half), but here goes:

I normally don't dress up for church just because I'm lazy.  Whenever I feel the energy, I will wear a suit and tie, especially on Easter, Fourth of July, and Christmas.  I actually enjoy wearing suits even more so than jeans and t-shirts.  If it weren't so darn expensive to buy several suits, I would enjoy a job as a TV News Reporter who wear suits by default.  They make me feel better about myself.

That said, I do not perceive wearing a suit as a necessity in church.  God doesn't care about what you wear on the outside, He cares more about what you look like on the inside.  His aim is to change people from the inside out, not the outside in like religion does.

At my small, Southern Baptist church, we do have one lady (my cousin) who has tattoos all over her arms, neck, and back.  She barely has any blank skin left.  I've seen her in a two-piece bathing suit and she is still covered all over, too.  The older people of my church don't care for it, but they do not condemn it.

My pastor wears a collared polo and khakis.  My music minister/youth minister will usually wear the same, but will once in a while put on a suit with a maroon shirt and a black tie.

Again, I really could care less what people wear in church, unless they are wearing a bathing suit or otherwise leaving little to the imagination.  I prefer suits for men and dresses for the ladies, but that's not a requirement in my opinion.

I know I am an old, because I prefer the older, slower hymns as opposed to the newer, faster contemporary.  *Watches BRTD cringe at the thought of older, slower hymns*

Since when is the Fourth of July a religious holiday?

It is a Christian holiday in the fact that it is because Christ died for us and His grace that our forefathers were able to wrestle our freedom out of the hands of the British Crown and it's because our men and women have died continue to die protecting that freedom that we are able to worship freely without fear of the government coming in and carting off us to jail or killing us (such is the case in China and many nations in the Middle East).  So, it is mandatory we give thanks to the LORD on Memorial Day and Independence Day, as well.

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

Here's the part that stuck out to me:

Let me toss in my two cents (maybe worth but a cent and a half), but here goes:

I normally don't dress up for church just because I'm lazy.  Whenever I feel the energy, I will wear a suit and tie, especially on Easter, Fourth of July, and Christmas.  I actually enjoy wearing suits even more so than jeans and t-shirts.  If it weren't so darn expensive to buy several suits, I would enjoy a job as a TV News Reporter who wear suits by default.  They make me feel better about myself.

That said, I do not perceive wearing a suit as a necessity in church.  God doesn't care about what you wear on the outside, He cares more about what you look like on the inside.  His aim is to change people from the inside out, not the outside in like religion does.

At my small, Southern Baptist church, we do have one lady (my cousin) who has tattoos all over her arms, neck, and back.  She barely has any blank skin left.  I've seen her in a two-piece bathing suit and she is still covered all over, too.  The older people of my church don't care for it, but they do not condemn it.

My pastor wears a collared polo and khakis.  My music minister/youth minister will usually wear the same, but will once in a while put on a suit with a maroon shirt and a black tie.

Again, I really could care less what people wear in church, unless they are wearing a bathing suit or otherwise leaving little to the imagination.  I prefer suits for men and dresses for the ladies, but that's not a requirement in my opinion.

I know I am an old, because I prefer the older, slower hymns as opposed to the newer, faster contemporary.  *Watches BRTD cringe at the thought of older, slower hymns*

Since when is the Fourth of July a religious holiday?

It is a Christian holiday in the fact that it is because Christ died for us and His grace that our forefathers were able to wrestle our freedom out of the hands of the British Crown and it's because our men and women have died continue to die protecting that freedom that we are able to worship freely without fear of the government coming in and carting off us to jail or killing us (such is the case in China and many nations in the Middle East).  So, it is mandatory we give thanks to the LORD on Memorial Day and Independence Day, as well.

Whatdafuk?

[BushKenya]

Here's the part that stuck out to me:

Let me toss in my two cents (maybe worth but a cent and a half), but here goes:

I normally don't dress up for church just because I'm lazy.  Whenever I feel the energy, I will wear a suit and tie, especially on Easter, Fourth of July, and Christmas.  I actually enjoy wearing suits even more so than jeans and t-shirts.  If it weren't so darn expensive to buy several suits, I would enjoy a job as a TV News Reporter who wear suits by default.  They make me feel better about myself.

That said, I do not perceive wearing a suit as a necessity in church.  God doesn't care about what you wear on the outside, He cares more about what you look like on the inside.  His aim is to change people from the inside out, not the outside in like religion does.

At my small, Southern Baptist church, we do have one lady (my cousin) who has tattoos all over her arms, neck, and back.  She barely has any blank skin left.  I've seen her in a two-piece bathing suit and she is still covered all over, too.  The older people of my church don't care for it, but they do not condemn it.

My pastor wears a collared polo and khakis.  My music minister/youth minister will usually wear the same, but will once in a while put on a suit with a maroon shirt and a black tie.

Again, I really could care less what people wear in church, unless they are wearing a bathing suit or otherwise leaving little to the imagination.  I prefer suits for men and dresses for the ladies, but that's not a requirement in my opinion.

I know I am an old, because I prefer the older, slower hymns as opposed to the newer, faster contemporary.  *Watches BRTD cringe at the thought of older, slower hymns*

Since when is the Fourth of July a religious holiday?

It is a Christian holiday in the fact that it is because Christ died for us and His grace that our forefathers were able to wrestle our freedom out of the hands of the British Crown and it's because our men and women have died continue to die protecting that freedom that we are able to worship freely without fear of the government coming in and carting off us to jail or killing us (such is the case in China and many nations in the Middle East).  So, it is mandatory we give thanks to the LORD on Memorial Day and Independence Day, as well.

Whatdafuk?

Yes, indeed!  In fact, it is said in our church that EVERY day of the year is THANKSGIVING DAY.  The turkey only happens on one of those days, but we are to constantly give thanks to the LORD because He alone is the author of everything good in our life.  Without Him nothing would be possible.

[Simfan34]

Here's proof it's not quite a high/low church thing either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BOFYmcHEIc

Although if you draw a political compass style high/low axis and liberal/conservative axis it's safe to say the liberal/low corner will be overwhelmingly casual and the high/conservative corner overwhelmingly formal, so maybe a combo of the two.

What the hell is this?