LYDIA SHERMAN writes at Home Living:

In this day of the “social gospel,” the common courtesy of a handshake has fallen by the wayside. Everyone must be exhuberantly hugging, instead. Will the handshake ever be recovered? There was a time when a handshake was the sharing of something great and a high honor. Today it seems to be considered too trivial, but how did the historical and dignified handshake ever become not good enough?

—- Comments —

CH writes:

I do not care for the new HugMe social silliness myself. I first encountered this in (Protestant) churches that I grew up within and it began some 10-15 years ago when the notion of “sharing” and “accountability” took over as social trends in the (Protestant) Churchian sphere.

I have distanced myself from the (Protestant) church (indeed, church in general) because of many reasons. One of them being that I do not see that the church in her current form grasping the notions of ‘sharing’ or ‘accountability’ in any healthy, wholesome form. These things now mean something emotional. I have no interest in hearing about how a perfectly reasonable traffic citation is a “test from the Lord” nor do I need to hug and share my private life at every turn.

I bring all of this together simply to point out that it seems the modern Protestant church is overwhelmed by its own narcissistic emotion. We all must be ‘nice’ and smile and we must hug and share things. All of it is emotional form with no reasonable function, other than to make us modern, narcissistic Christians feel better about ourselves.

I wish to hear the True Things of God. And I lament that during my generation (I’m 41) the things of God no longer interest His people, it seems. Including the handshake, which can communicate character, resolve and heart all in one, concise interaction. I shake people’s hand with the intent to communicate these things. Though I often fail my own resolve to live as I should, I see no reason to thus offer limp handshakes or fake hugs.

Lydia Sherman writes:

One of my readers wrote this comment: (my comment at the end)

Different men have refused my handshake (one being my father-in-law), literally remonstrating me for offering it, and saying that they wanted a hug instead. The hug that followed always included them (lewdly) pressing
my chest to theirs Ew. And even in church. Another, my husband’s cousin, will grab me up and almost crush me with this big, frontal hug whenever I return to my hometown for a visit. This is all so boorish, and I detest it,
and yet, I have felt both repulsed and ashamed. And that I must look like a fool for offering a handshake. But really, it is so absurd and wrong. To make matters worse, I now see almost everyone going in for the smarmy
pseudo-kiss on one or both cheeks, where women press cheeks on someone, but pull their lips to the side, in a grotesque gesture, in order to avoid smearing their lipstick on said cheek. It used to be the purview of
celebrities to do this, but this silliness has now filtered down to the entire society. I think people have plumb lost their minds.

My comment:

I believe the hat-tipping and the bow was even more ancient than the handshake, but have not done the research. If gentlemen wore hats they could just lift the hat or tip the brim, and no need for a bone-breaking or unwelcome sensual hug. I am for the head-nod or slight bow on the part of the woman. Many people complain about getting colds and illnesses after shaking hands with someone who says they have been sick. The hat-tipping and the reciprocal head-nod would solve that.

Hurricane Betsy writes:

Many [?] people complain about getting colds and illnesses after shaking hands with someone who says they have been sick. The hat-tipping and the reciprocal head-nod would solve that.

If “many” people get a cold after shaking hands with a person who already has one, then, my goodness, we are a population with serious immune deficiency! Normal healthy people can stand exposure to garden variety cold germs. I can be in a roomful of coughing sneezing folks and never “get” a cold. It is our own fault if we “get” every little thing we are exposed to. Time to get healthy instead, and stop blaming germs for everything. I’ll shake hands with anyone of good will, I don’t care what you’ve got.

Please follow and like us: