Nudism

[Tangnefedd]

We don't come into the world fully clothed so how on earth can nudity be a sin?

 

[Doug45]

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. Who cares if you're naked? What if you don't know any better? sin is choosing to do what you know is wrong, being seperated from God, being consciously disobedient.

How's God seeing your heart?

Sin is simply a violation of God's character. It includes willfull decision to violate it but also includes the many times we violate it unknowingly.

The scripture says in James that if a man is guilty of one point of the law, he is guilty of all of it, because the One who gave the different points of the law is in fact the same person. James 2:10-11 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. [11] For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.




1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins (known), He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins (known) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (those sins not realized nor confessed). In this case, there is extended benefit in the form of cleansing us from sins that we are not even aware of.

Blessings,

Doug

 

[Natman]

Doug,

I believe what you are saying here is the truth. However, I am having trouble understanding how it applys to Crispy's post or to the topic of naturism.

Son-cerely,
Nathan Powers

 

[tgg]

For those who read the Australian forums, I have started a thread called "Naturist ministry", regarding getting ideas together to start a naturist Christian fellowship in Brisbane. We got about 18 people show up for the first one (which was an Easter mass), but since then the attendance has dwindled to just myself and the pastor.

Your thoughts would be most appreciated. However, please keep it proactive and pertinent to the topic, instead of it being a general nudist topic:

http://www.christianforums.com/f208
http://groups.msn.com/BrisbaneChristianNaturists


tgg

 

[betterthenyou]

Yea it is but who cares? ...unless its not legal then you're screwed.

 

[Doug45]

Doug,

I believe what you are saying here is the truth. However, I am having trouble understanding how it applys to Crispy's post or to the topic of naturism.

Son-cerely,
Nathan Powers

You're right, it was off topic. It was in response to the statment that sin is choosing to do what you know is wrong. That statment is way too simplistic and covers only a small amount of what we should understand sin to be. And I just couldn't resist pointing that out.

Doug

 

[jonpantomime]

eh, is this a grey area?

 

[JesusWalks78]

We don't come into the world fully clothed so how on earth can nudity be a sin?

It can lead to sin.

 

[kopilo]

It can lead to sin.

So can driving a car.

 

[TheMissus]

So can driving a car.

So can eating, for that matter.

 

[Johnnz]

I have asked quite a few people if they would ever go to a free beach. Most of the women have said "No." I then asked "Is that due to moral principle or something else?" In almost every case it was something else, of which a negative body image was the main issue. That confirms my belief that far too many people are uncomfortable with their body.

If a person feels free enough to not worry about what others think of their body, and have no underlying sexual motives, I suspect that people who can participate in some kind of nudity are greatly advantaged over those who fear such exposure. Most opposition to nudity, even when wrapped up in moral overtones, is psychologically based, rooted in ones own discomfort with a vital component of their humanity.

John
NZ

 

[fillerbunny]

I don't have any moral objection to nudity when it's done in the appropriate places. (Streaking on the grounds of your local elementary school? Not cool. Nude beach? Fair game.)

It's not something that personally appeals to me- I'm kinda modest (kinda really modest).. but I don't take issue with others doing it.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

It's all about socialization - in some cultures, even NOSES are thought of as very intimate body parts that are not to be exposed to strangers. It's only natural that those who have grown up in a culture that tabooizes (parts of) the human body should tend to feel awkward about being in the nude.

It should be perfectly clear, however, that this emotional reaction does not justify a condemnation of nudity as "unnatural". Modesty is not a natural impulse - it's a cultural phenomenon, and differs vastly from country to country.

 

[ACougar]

It can lead to sin.

In the muslim world showing an ankle or hair or neck is said to lead to sin. In our world we equate nudity with sex, so that anytime someone is seen naked it is viewed as sexual, perhaps even a sex crime.

For the vast majority of people out there, there is very little that is "sexy" about being nude. We are who we are, and the physical bodies that we utilize here in this life should not be given all this axtra power and torque that comes from denying that which is normal and natural.

 

[fillerbunny]

It should be perfectly clear, however, that this emotional reaction does not justify a condemnation of nudity as "unnatural". Modesty is not a natural impulse - it's a cultural phenomenon, and differs vastly from country to country.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

When I was thirteen, I spent a few weeks in Europe, and at some of the places we stayed, it wasn't uncommon in the least to see nude people on the beach or the public swimming pools.

It was quite a shock for me when I inadvertently bumped into this guy whilst swimming only to open my eyes and realize precisely WHAT I'd bumped into. I was completely mortified, but nobody there seemed to think anything of it.. and the local kids passed by the nude swimmers without so much as a second glance. (I, on the other hand, had never seen anybody swim nude in a public pool before, so it took a bit of getting used to on my part.)

I think it absolutely has a great deal to do with how one is socialized.

 

[Johnnz]

I don't have any moral objection to nudity when it's done in the appropriate places. (Streaking on the grounds of your local elementary school? Not cool. Nude beach? Fair game.)

It's not something that personally appeals to me- I'm kinda modest (kinda really modest).. but I don't take issue with others doing it.

This is a very common attitude, although not as much amongst many Christians, who believe nudity is in iteself morally wrong.

Genuine modesty is a virtue. But what would you think of an olympic gold medal athlete who said "I am really modest. I feel so ashamed about winning this medal?" Far too many people associate modesty with shame. That is a sad confusion. Modesty is something of character and value, shame is a negative experience. A person can be naked and modest, or fully clothed yet ashamed of their body. Crazy. Unhealthy. And unchristian.

John
NZ

 

[tgg]

Let's look at what the word 'modesty' means:

http://www.bible-infonet.org/bin/feature_articles/living/modesty.htm

The word appears only once in the New Testament, but many Christians seem to have put an undue pressure on associating modesty with physical and mental shame as Johnnz has said above.

Is it good for our mental and emotional health to be that way, even if we have achieved a great deal in our lives?

Shouldn't we be proud of the good things that we have achieved and managed to do in our lives and be happy about it when it is our turn to account for our lives to God when we leave this Earth?

What fillerbunny (and many Christians alike) are experiencing about their bodies is not so much modesty as is 'gymnophobia', which is a fear or dislike of seeing other people naked or being seen naked themselves.

 

[TricksterWolf]

Do you think public nudism is a sin?

90 pages? I can't read all this. This must be a resurrected thread.

No, I don't think nudism is sinful, bad, or what have you. I think the requirement that everyone must wear clothing is a social patch for an overly-developed society, just like the need to have an alarm clocks.

Trickster

 

[Wiccan_Child]

There is nowt wrong with nudity It's incredibly releasing, and there's nothing like the wind in yer genitals on a beach!

 

[tgg]

LOL!! Thanks for that mental picture, Wiccan_Child. BTW, seeing as you live in the UK, did you watch the recent documentary "God's Nudists" that was screened on Channel 4 last Wednesday night?

I've asked a British naturist friend to tape me a copy onto DVD.