A holy kiss

It's a cultural thing.

Even some Europeans still retain kissing as an acceptable form of greeting.

HankD

 

When people get up close to the Pope, don't they have to kiss his ring? If they don't, is that considered rude?

 

There is a difference even in the area of the US you live in. It certainly is a cultural thing.

 

Kissing is cultural. Sometimes it isn't done, sometimes it is on the cheeks, sometimes it is on the mouth.

Hugging is cultural and how well persons know one another.

 

"When people get up close to the Pope, don't they have to kiss his ring?"
"
In the good old days it wasn't just popes Roman Catholic bishops had kissing rings as well.
Abbots were expected to kiss the foot of the pope instead of the ring.
The rules are a lot more lax nowadays.

"If they don't, is that considered rude? "
"
When the later saint Thérese de Lisieux grappled the pope refused to let go of him and begged him to let her become a nun despite her young age, that caused quite the scandal in the Vatican....

In my church grown men don't kiss eachother. But that is the exception. Everybody else, one big smoochfest especially during special occasions.

 

The Russian people show respect for one another when greeting with a closed mouth lip to lip kiss. I saw this demonstrated one year at the Olympics following the athletic routine of a Russian male gymnast as he approached his male coach and planted a kiss on his lips.

This appalled me and I commented to my wife about it. Later, I watched closely and it happened again and again. Then, a light went on in my head as I was reminded of the Biblical references to a "holy kiss" and thought, "maybe that is what is meant by that".

Checking the references in Strong's Concordance a holy kiss must mean the same thing. A pure fondness for, as a friend.

I thought too that I'd find a declared difference between the Judas kiss and the kiss shown to the brethren, but alas, it was exactly the same thing.

Obviously this practice was lost somewhere along the way as we Americans are too uptight and straightlaced to be kissing our same sex friends on the lips. Even fathers are estranged from sons in this regard. A prime example of such mores, is illustrated on TV in an ad for the animated "King of the Hill", when Hank says to Bobby, his son: "Bobbie, if you weren't my son, I'd kiss you". Thus, showing the typical reaction of most homophobic fathers in regards to natural affection that they may have toward their sons. So afraid are they to kiss, hug or even touch in some cases the fruit of their loins.

In my opinion, and this is JUST my opinion, I think that if fathers kissed and hugged their sons like they do their daughters and even told their sons they loved them, we'd see less criminals, misfits, and wrong thinkers in our society than we do today.

Now for the record, I think that a kiss on the cheek (even both cheeks as some cultures do) is just as good as a kiss on the lips when greeting a friend, but that's just me.

If anyone can share a direct study of this thing called a "holy kiss" and what that phrase meant then and what it means today, I'd like to see what the author of such a study reveals. Is there a book that addresses this question or a teaching out there somewhere???

 

OOPS! I meant to mention too the kiss that we all witnessed between John Edwards and John Kerry. My 87 year old mother when telling about her disdain for Kerry/Edwards, told me in the most disgusted tone about how Edwards kissed Kerry. Her reaction showed her repulsiveness toward such an act. It was then that I reminded her that Jesus was kissed by the brethren and asked her if that was what was referred to as a holy kiss. She didn't know right away, but she did tone down her repulsion.

I got to thinking about a kiss between Bush and Cheney and decided that that might be a bit much. Besides, Bush would have to get on a step stool to reach the VP up close and personal.

Ewwwwwwwww!!! Get outta my head...... get outta my head..........

 

When I was a part of a Hispanic congregation, the men kissed the men and women kissed women on the cheek. I thought it was a sweet greeting. But it was always between the same gender. If it was the opposite gender then it was a handshake--never an embrace.

 

I dont think kissing then was the same as now for instance then when they kissed it was considered like a hug now with all the pro homosexual thing circulating around its a little bit more than just a friendly kiss. And I don't think it was on the lips then either.