Soloist wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 7:59 pm
My husband and I have friends who wear a wedding ring, and neither of us think that makes them any less Christian than us, but they also don't assume we are unchristian for not wearing one. If you have the same concept, then that’s fine, but some people are reading you to say that not wearing one is unchristian, which I would think would be just as bad as saying everyone wearing simple wedding bands are unchristian.
Having to live constantly in fear of someone making assumptions/misunderstanding you would be very crippling. Here are some other examples if we wanted to do that, all actual examples.
1: head covering-once a common Christian practice, this has been dropped by most Christian women, and most people don't even know it's in the Bible. Back when I was wearing a veil, I got mistaken, for Catholic, orthodox, Jewish, and even Muslim. i've known other people who have been mistaken for Muslims as well, even though their style of head covering would have been obviously not Muslim to anyone with any basic knowledge of it. This happens less often with a Mennonite style Capp, but I wouldn't say that every Christian is required to wear that style, and it still does happen sometimes. should we drop that because we fear somebody might think we are another religion, or should we use that as a discussion if the conversation does arise?
2: hanging out with family members. The children and I've gone out to eat with my brother before, and I've wondered before if someone might think he was my boyfriend or my husband, which would be a little awkward, because he has long shaggy hair and wears some crazy gamer/comic character shirts. Also, hugging a family member of the opposite sex in public might make somebody think you are together, but it would be really offensive to my brothers or dad/Uncle for me to refuse to greet them with a hug after not seeing them for a year or two, and I don't think it's wrong and anyone with a brain would probably realize that a romantic greeting is more than just a quick hug. They might also notice the similarities and features between myself and my one brother, but my other half brother is half Hispanic and also has tattoos and stuff like that, but I think it would be very offensive not to want to be around him because of what other people might think.
Same with my husband and his sisters, which might even look worse, since he's a guy and his sisters have crazy hair and are not at all modest, but I don't think he should avoid being seen around them just because somebody might assume something. It's not like he's holding hands or sitting right up next to them, and again, most logical people will give the benefit of the doubt or not even think about it at all.
3: purity rings. This was a thing when I was a teenager, but it can easily make people assume that the young girl in question got married way too young, or maybe is being unfaithful if she happens to be talking to a guy who isn't wearing one, even though she's not doing anything inappropriate with them. I personally don't endorse purity rings, but I'm not going to judge someone who wants to do it and it is a nice concept.
4: teenagers caring for their siblings: especially in large families, I've seen this happen before, and there was this one 12 or 13 year-old who was always caring one of her baby/toddler siblings, and looking older than 12 or 13, we and other people mistook her for the mom. Does that mean that, just because some people might assume she's a teen mom, she should never walk around in a store with her little brother or sister or take care of them in a park while mom is doing something else or otherwise out of sight? We actually got confused and thought she was her dad's wife at one point, which we thought looked like an age gap, but were like whatever, so that could be another example of someone potentially imagining evil.
All I'm saying is that you can't try to construct your life so perfectly that nobody ever makes wrong assumptions, and most of the time, these are all easy to clear up if somebody bothers to ask, and the majority of people think of more than one possibility. Especially given that, as Mennonite ladies typically dress so much different than other people do anyway, I don't think the lack of rings automatically makes people think we are living in fornication. I personally don't see an issue with a couple feeling convicted to wear a wedding ring, but I do see an issue with saying that it's unchristian not to.