What´s with the beard, dude?!

Latest fashion between the men of Cairo: growing a fluffly and bizarre beard as a sign of religious fervour.

Appearances always seemed to matter so damn much in Egypt. This is one of the things I never got around to accept. Most people will thrive on APPEARING to be "something" rather than BEING whatever they are. External signs of finantial power and status have always been over rated, turning assholes with money into kings and decent people into slaves, but now the matter is reaching newer, scarier hights:

Appearing to be a "RELIGIOUS" person is in the order of the day. And, by "religious", I mean someone who shows external traits that other identify as pious, morally clean and respectable.

Once again, what each person REALLY is does not seem to matter, as long as he/she appears to be a direct son/daughter of the Prophet Mohamed.

The callus on the forehead - from the praying prostration position - and the beard seem to me like props of a character acting in a huge theatre play called Egypt.

Consciousness and responsability for our own acts seem to me like the REAL RELIGION. Not stealing, lying, cheating, harming others, etc. My catholic side (from which I can run but I cannot hide as it defines me on a considerable scale) finds itself reavaluating the delights of SHAME and GUILT. Although Christian Catholic Church has played like a criminal with these two feelings, instilling them in their followers as a way to control them, I start to find some great value in them.

It is not that bad to feel shame or guilt when you do something ugly to yourself or others. Why not? Nothing scarier than a person who is not ashamed of anything. Poker face while lying, cool as it can be while cheating, sleeping peacefully at night after stealing or playing with other people and so on...I´ve met quite a few characters who did not possess the quality of FEELING SHAME on their faces and the view is not pretty. The ones who still do, rarer and rarer as the world goes crazier than ever, do not need any exterior signs of religiosity. Simply because being RELIGIOUS is a private matter, a decision from inside of yourself to try to be the BEST HUMAN BEING you can be.

Wonder if all those beards and marks on the forehead are equivalent to REAL VIRTUE.

Egypt, oh my beloved Egypt...crazy you are, no doubt about it. Yet, never boring!