I this time of religious holidays I thought about starting discussions about all aspects of the subject of going barefoot and religion. What do you say about going barefoot at holy places? Disrespectful or actually respectful?
Most religions seem to require going barefoot on holy ground, especially Moslems and Hindi. Only Christians seem to encourage shod worship. I remember a passage in the bible saying that as Moses approached the burning bush, the Lord said to him "put off the shoes from thy feet, for thou art on Holy ground" a clear instruction from God not to wear shoes in church, in my opinion.
The different pagan beliefs, based on the pre-Christian Celtic faith (such as today's Wiccans, for instance) state that any part of creation is sacred. Therefore, holy ground is found everywhere. The Goddess cannot be worshipped in man-made temples, as the whole Earth is Her body. Here, the spiritual basis of barefooting is not only present in churches. The Holy Ground pictured in the Genesis quote above was a place where God came down to Earth in person (so to speak), therefore sanctifying the ground. Churches are built not by God, but rather by men who then bestow ritual blessings on the place. So, even if the quote is a valid example of respect and humility, I think church officials would rather turn away a barefoot visitor, not so much for disrespect of God but rather for disrespect of the institution. That's, IMO the difference between religion and faith. I prefer faith much more, really. May the Goddess bless you, ~*Ganesha*~
I've never understood the idea that you have to be in a suit and tie to go to church, a church that is based on the belief that the son of a common carpenter is the son of god
You don't have to wear a suit and tie-those are just rules that people made up. If Jesus walked in there, they'd probably kick him out for not being dressed right. Just wear whatever you want to wear to church. God doesn't care about what you're wearing-he just cares about what's in your heart. Actually, in the Coptic Christian Church, everyone removes their shoes to receive communion as an act of respect, and if I'm not mistaken, the clergy are always barefoot in the sanctuary for the same reason.
Both of you are right on. I worship at an Episcopal church, but thankfully it's pretty laidback. In fact, there are one or two barefooters (or at least part-time barefooters) in the congregation with me. But I'm the only one who goes up to the altar to receive the Eucharist in my bare feet. I do this precisely because of the passage cited above by bfjohn. There is no more holy place or holy moment in the church than the Lord's Table; I consider it holy ground. So as a spiritual discipline I've begun to go up there every Sunday in bare feet to receive the sacrament. I've actually never become completely comfortable doing this either, because I'm such a spectacle while up there (What will the visitors thinks?? etc.). But I do it anyway. It gets especially interesting during major services like Christmas Eve and Easter when it's a lot more formal, and a lot more people are there who aren't normally. But I stay barefoot! I've also taken up the habit of passing the peace barefooted too. (Passing the peace is basically a liturgical version of greeting the people around you in the name of the Lord--it's still supposed to be a holy time, not so much a casual meet-and-greet. That happens after the serivce. LoL) That's a way of recognizing the holiness and sanctification at work in my fellow church mates. In fact, I'm not even sure why I bother bringing the sandals to church at all anymore. I should just leave them home and go in completely barefooted. I'm actually thinking about doing just that when Lent comes around. We'll see.
because it's annoying. going barefoot is hard if you are not accustomed to, so in the past this was a common way to make penitences. now we (...you) have suits and ties in the place of cilices all these things are functional to the purpose of religions - make people's life miserable.
Yay for Liberal Episcopal churches! I'm Canadian so I worship at an Anglican church, and I show up to the midnight Christmas Eve mass in my brand new Christmas PJ's EVERY year. people are just so used to it that it's not even an issue. I'm going to assume that barefooting will be much the same.
I go to a small baptist church in the UK and lead worship most weeks. I have been going to my church barefoot and leading barefoot for over a year now. Apart from the usual inquisitive "why?" and "aren't your feet cold?" questions (especially at this time of year!) I have had no problems with any of the congregation or the church leadership with being barefoot at any time. I totally agree with above posts that God doesn't really care what I wear so long my heart is in the right place. Apart from being barefoot, I generally dress normally in jeans and t-shirt / jumpers etc even when leading parts of the service. In fact there are numerous passages in the bible that refer to God's hatred of the external "show" of being religious, and it is what goes on in your heart and soul that really matters. I went to a Christian Youthwork conference in Southport a couple of months ago and spent the whole weekend barefoot with no issues at all. In fact, one of the female speakers at the conference was also barefoot! I have noticed at these larger Christian gatherings that younger Christians are not constrained by the "suit" brigade and are often barefoot during worship or prayer times. So long as you're not doing anything illegal or dishonouring to God, then I personally see no reason to put shoes on for God!
Whenever I used to attend church, I always wore flipflops so I could take them off because me and shoes dont go well together. I dont think it is disrespectful. In my belief God made the world, so why set a barrier in between yourself and the earth, even if it is a building?
Perhaps it's merely the demographics of our forums, but I find the predominance of Christianity in the replies here interesting. In Thailand, which is 99.5% Buddhist, most monks are barefoot all of the time, and entering into a temple with shoes on would be considered a heinous act of disrespect. The same goes for mosques all over the world, and for Taoist and most Shinto temples. I've attended weddings and other events at Catholic churches in Micronesia and no one even notices bare feet.
I concider my self as being sort of religous, but I´m not a church going person. I think real religion are not about talking, it´s about what we do to our fellow citizens. I think churches are in a risk of talking alot but not doing as they say. I think this forum are in a way religous. If we help barefooters to a better life it´s the way god wanted us to behave. I think about many of you folks being harassed for going barefoot. Could someone really call themself religous if they bully other persons around for going as god created the feet? I can´t imagine god likes that he created humans to run around barefoot but then sometimes in history we started to close our feet in prisons that´s harmful for our body.
You are so right. By purpose I didn´t write about cristianity. I would like to know more about if anyone have experience of other religions too. How about jews? Have you seen any jew going barefoot? I know muslims are not allowed to wear shoes indoors when praying. What do muslims think about going barefoot?
Well I am an intractable atheist now, but I was raised in the Roman Catholic church from birth until about 12, when my rebellion began, and I can say for certain that I always felt a sort of hypocrisy about the issue of how to dress for Church. We were always taught to "dress in our Sunday best" as kids, and we always were made to wear slacks and dress shirts. When asked why, my parents would try and explain that it was a scared place and that we needed to go there showing respect, and that included the way that we dressed. Of course when I tried to get them to dig deeper and explain the discrepancy of their savior being a humble carpenter who probably wore simple robes and sandals, now turning around and only accepting his future followers if they wore their best clothing...well, let's just say that their inability to justify such things is what began me on the road to nonbelief. And my feeling is that the Catholic Church should have NO problem with (and in fact could justify requiring) bare feet in Church, because one of their central figures, Moses, is told explicitly by God to remove his shoes when he is standing on sacred ground. So shoes in Church should be a no-no.
I too was raised a Roman Catholic, was brainedwashed or was at least it was attempted by my elders, but needless to say it never took ahold of me . Likewise with Matthew, I always wore my "Sunday Best", slacks, dress shoes and stress shirts, oopps...... I meant dress shirts! I can still recall how good it felt to get out of that stuff when I got home. Even though I hated dressing up for church, you would never ever consider wearing shorts, t-shirts or even sandals to your place of worship. The late Jackie Kennedy had her fellow church members in disbelief when she wore sandals to a Palm Sunday mass in Miami during the late 60's. However I do recall a priest at my church who actually wore leather sandals beneath his robes when saying mass. Quite different from what was drilled into me all those years.
i am a simi pagan living on The Good Red Road , and i belive that not only ur home but nature is holy /sacred and that i am try to go bare foot as much as posible . i feel that when u are close to mother earth via barefootedness it brings u closer to Creator/WakanTanka / God , tho i have recently started back up on my barefootedness every year i try to last longer and longer . it is about what u belive and if it makes u happy in the light of creator then it is a good thing . for me i dont belive in Sundaydress , but in being comftable in the house of creator . i feel suit and tie is for the ones that have millions and dont want to really be connected to all things . maybe it is me , but i was raised by my mom and late father who were hippys my father faught in Nam . so i am a true second Gen, Hippy and that even tho i dont have money i am rich in love and connectiont to creator . i hope that some may get what i am saying and know that i speak from my heart so my thoughts come out a bit rambled many blessings .
