SCL

You stupid christians are such phonies. Side hugs? Come on! You might as well not touch. First its all this kindness then its hold off man this hug must be for sex or something. I know a couple of women who pull this and they love to act like they're being so wonderfully human to give me this phony touch routine. I mean why even bother? Aren't the hips touching too? I think some people use it as a means of feeling righteous -especially women. Its as if they're saying i'm going to keep the perverts in check. I find it insulting and it freaked out one of these gals when i wouldn't reciprocate her attempt at a half hug. I just stood there and said hello. I say let the half hug die with the dinosaur. Hug or don't hug but keep the righteous off me dear god with their half witted behaviors.

I admit that I will use the side-hug if ever I am confronted with hugging someone of the opposite sex at church. Especially if it is a new member joining. Well obviously you don't want to make them uncomfortable the day that they join, right? I have no problems with frontal man-hugs however. I'm not 100 % sure what that says about me, but thats just what I do. I have to admit my wife is sometimes concerned about my bromances with some of my guys at church.

i'm new to this blog, so maybe this has already been done, but i suggest…..Christians love making everything about sex. this side-hug thing made me think of it. i know this is something people do, but in my personal life, it has never occurred to me to make a full-frontal hug a stumbling block for physical intimacy. i know about a friend who wasn't gonna full-frontal her fiance even until she was married, so of course they weren't gonna kiss either. and that floored me so much. i feel like Christians put so much emphasis on NO SEX NO SEX NO SEX that it ends up being all we think about anyway….and when it comes time to enjoy it with our spouse, we have to totally rewire our brains for it to be okay. i've seen pure relationships suffer from this because after marriage the couple can't enjoy sex because it's been such a negative thing up until then.

Bought the book and am laughing so hard!!! Never heard of the website until I saw the book and now I am interested in reading everyone's comments.
I find it sad all the arguing about the side hug though. This is an era in America where if a school teacher says "Congratulations" and pats the kid on the shoulder that he could be investigated for child sexual assault. So I find the side hug to be a great compromise for showing affection in a community and still CYA.
BTW for all those who think it is ridiculous to equate hugs with sex, I was a very frontal huggy preteen who hadnt realized she had "blossomed" until sexually assaulted by a grandpa type during a frontal hug. It has taken me decades to be able to hug anyone at church and it is almost always a side hug. Full frontal hugs are now reserved for my husband, certain extended family members, and same gender BFFs. I do have some non-same gender BFFs but I exercise caution on full frontal hugs with them because I want to "Abstain from all appearance of evil" 1Thess 5:22.

Well Argeninian christian males, greet each other with a kiss on the cheek.
Other Latin American christians (and non christians) greet eachother with a kiss on the cheek for the opposite sex.
There is (should be) nothing sexual about the greeting.
It is a cultural thing, people should get over their hangups, but also be respectful and understanding of other cultures, and new people.
Peace
Tentmaker

If you don't want your crotches to touch, don't thrust your pelvis forward. Common sense.

Anyone who has a problem with this should take partnered dance lessons. There you will learn how to make full frontal contact while leaving your crotch out of it. I have made some very good full frontal contact with men without any sexual organ contact. It's amazing.

i don't particularly like hugging in genreal unless it's a family member or a gf. However some people, guys and girls are offended if you don't give them a hug if they know you.

The side hug does leave your back side open to infringement. I know from experience(not so flattering from an 85 year old lady with an apparent goose-like nerve tick in her fingers). Perhaps that is why the children called her mother goose. #shudder#

I wear wonderbra- that is why I prefer the side hug.

How about a "trinitarian handshake" instead?

I CANNOT stop laughing, thank you thank you for posting these snippets of hilarity
p.s. Side hugs have been a pet peeve of mine since grade school, and so I always go in for the Real Thang- life is short, if I'm giving someone a hug, they're getting the big ol' bear hug <3

[...] Anything you have ever thought of regarding Christians or church is in the book.  Things like side hugs, the deep v-neck syndrome (DVS), and the metrosexual worship leader.  Definitely some great [...]

Have you ever noticed that the Duggars have the side hug DOWN? I've never seen anyone in that family give a frontal hug. Not even among siblings, and for real, if you are so afraid of bodily contact that you won't even wrap your arms around your own blood sister, something is very wrong with your Word.

I don't like pressing my body up against a man I am not intimate with. Those of you who are freaked out about the idea of side hugs need to get over it. Sometimes a full on hug may feel like a mauling under the guise of being friendly.

Side hugs? Seriously? This should be the badge of Phariseeism. If you're that insecure and uptight about bodily contact that you need to "side hug" people you have mastered the ranks of extreme religious fervor. Give your self a self-righteous pat on the back now there!

I dedicated my life to Christ four years ago, as an adult. In the childhood church I’d noticed a lot of Christians (particularly my parents) had lots of serious hangups (and usually petty). To my chagrin, as an adult and in the past 4 years, I’ve again noticed a ton of hangups. As for this “side hug” business, I’d noticed the pastor who led me to Christ would hug me with his pelvis noticeably drawn back. He was like a brother, no need to be so noticeably squeamish! And it turns out he and spouse have such a hangup about other Christians in general and to what extent there’s communication and fellowship (you read that right), even if involving other securely long-term married couples (me included), that they consistently drive others away. Now it’s to the point for the past 2 years we have zero fellowship or communication. Probably never will again. There is a hypocrisy in his dealings with others which, on principal, I could not tolerate and he refused to listen to reason. Sad overall.

Agape love and fellowship in Christianity should be the most natural thing on Earth. But no, it’s ruined by silly attitudes and un-Christlike fears and sometimes political agendas.

So here we are, four years later: My spouse still refuses to attend church with me, I’ve withdrawn from attendance because apparently even a middle-aged mildly overweight MARRIED woman is somehow considered “a threat” by various mentally unhinged types, there is zero communication with the pastor or his wife who led me to Christ four years ago.

So this “side hug” business? Doesn’t surprise me in the least. I thought Christ SETS YOU FREE.

Unfortunately there are a ton of slaves to fear and suspicion instead.

Here I was thinking the side hug was invented by people weighed down with bags and/or musical instruments! Silly me.

I'm a front-hugger, but I have a couple of guy friends who always swing me around for a forced side hug. Or they turn 90 degrees right before we make contact. Talk about awkward.

Being 4-11 and having friends much taller than me I don't like the full frontal hug because I might as well motorboat them!! sorry, can I say that here?

[...] tackles the difficult subjects like the side hug and understanding how metrosexual your worship leader [...]

I hug both to the side and to the front, the key is to not, in a woman's case, press your chest against whom ever might be receiving said hug. That's awkward on both ends. I hate when I get another woman's chest pressed against mine, and I certainly don't want to be doing such do my female OR male friends. Just general respect, that's all.

My husband is a VERY affectionate person who will hug anyone and everyone. When a good friend recently told him that when we first met her she thought he was hitting on her, he freaked out. Turns out it was because he hugged her good-bye. He is now working on “side-hugging” except for close family & friends. In our day and age it’s better to be safe than sorry…

Love it.

go big or go home. if you are going to hug someone, hug someone. side hugs offend me.

Jon, I think the word crotch is on the radio icky words list…You just said the word crotch like 7 times in 30 seconds on that Christian radio show.

I prefer the “Atta boy” or “Atta girl.”

I prefer the “Atta boy” or “Atta girl” or the “rump bump.”

My primary love language (if you don't already have an entry about those…) is physical touch, so I've given and received my fair share of side hugs. The type of hug really depends on the level of familiarity with the other person: any time the youth group is around, you will see plenty of side hugs, but then you'll also see the "dance huggers", the "back poppers", the "ninja sneakers", etc. The variations have actually become a bit of a joke in a very small, eccentric circle.

This is hilarious!

Side hugs are dangerous b/c they expose you to the persons armpit. Depending on the person, that could be unpleasant. Funny stuff man.

The side hug is a new one to me. I'm more familiar with the lean-in one-armed shoulder hug. You know, when you stand a good foot and a half apart, both people awkwardly lean in and gingerly wrap a single arm around the other's back – alternate arms, of course. A mini-embrace, followed by a single pat on the back – or double if you're really affectionate, and then quickly straighten back up from the waist and take a step back so as not to crowd personal space…

[...] all street,  freestyling the merits of the non-sexual Christian Side Hug. what could be construed for a Saturday Night Live sketch is [...]

My in-laws invented the side hug. Really, it's sad, maybe even tragic among Christians; however, you've got to remember that it's about them (unless of course you have b-o).

[...] 106.  The Side Hug: “In the side hug there’s no risk of two crotches touching.” [...]

[...] 28 Apr There is a great satirical comment on the Stuff Christians Like website about the uncomfortable topic of side hugs. [...]

The problem I have with the side hug is that a lot of nice people put their hands right on my pistol, which I carry on my belt, under my shirt at three o'clock. I have developed protective habit:

1) staying in my chair near any known side huggers – this one works pretty well!
2) keeping my right arm reflexively tight against my side so that can't work their hand in there. This one has the result of making the hug come off awkward – which makes me seem like I don't like the side hug.

I think everyone should cover their bodies as exposed flesh can cause the mind to wander to impure thoughts. Even ones eyes need to be covered as eye contact can be sensual and elicit impure thoughts…… No but really you all need to work on controlling your thoughts. You can side hug air 5 or what ever , if your a pervert that gets hard from a hug you're the problem no the hug. Like someone said if you dont want to hug then dont hug dont come up with some rationalization that front hugging leads to sin or sinful thoughts. Im a sinner to the most degree working toward bettering myself and I have never thought about sexual actions while hugging someone. If I was thinking about sex it happened before I was hugging them and the hig didnt increase the thoughts or desires. You all have so much sexual frustration you dont even realize sex is running your lives. Like reverse sex addicts. You spend so much time avoiding sexual stimulation it seems to be all you think about.

In my job as Minister of Youth and Young Adults the side hug is in full effect!

I'm cool with the sidey. It's way better than when someone comes up for the full frontal and they straddle up to you with that smirk that says, "Come here…"

[...] I love hugs. I can’t get enough of them. And no – I don’t just do side hugs. But thanks to StuffChristiansLike.com – I have to admit they are pretty hott right [...]

I went to a very conservative Christian high school where hugs of all kinds (frontal, side, or otherwise) were extremely frowned upon, especially with members of the opposite sex. that's why my friends and I created the "hand hug." it's like a high five meets a friendly hug. start by high-fiveing the person you wish to hand hug (make sure you're both using the same hand or things will quickly turn into awkward-side-hand-hug mode). proceed to wrap your thumb around that person's hand, thus creating a hand hug.
say you're using your right hand, and your friend is using their left hand. if you try to wrap your thumbs around each other's hands, you'll quickly realize you've just created an awkward sidehug with your hands. that makes things even more awkward.