Topless Men - Time to Reflect

[Johnnz]

One post on the nudism thread stated that it was wrong for a man to be topless in public. The derisory cries from us Antipodeans were loud and long.



Those of us who are not American are most often bemused, but sometimes deeply concerned, at the intermingling of American cultural values with Christian concepts. We have the advantage of a different cultural heritage which allows us some perspective into your culture.



Much of American evangelical/pentecostal Christianity has its distinctive blend of culture and Christianity. I make this comment simply to alert readers to this fact. When some contributors state “This is what the Bible teaches” they are often saying “This is what my cultural/religious tradition has taught me”.



I am not joining with the liberals and post modernists in reducing Christianity to an accommodating tolerance of all views. I reject their views and as such. I belong firmly within evangelical circles. However, it seems that many American evangelical/pentecostal churches are not well acquainted with some the good evangelical scholarship, both American and European, that is available.



Many posts on the forum exhibit either this mixture, or come in the form of questions and struggles from Christians who have not been given information relevant to their needs, including their intellectual ones.



Any comments?



John

NZ

 

[Buzz Dixon]

re topless men: I've got got four words for ya --

Assymetrical tufts of hair.

 

[cabbitgrrrl]

here is one reason that topless men should be unacceptable, forget christian influence and stuff, this guy takes the cake

 

[IchbinBerliner]

Heck, in my state its even legal for women to go topless

 

[Arnold_Philips]

The ones that look good should just be shirtless the entire time. The world would be better for it.

 

[All4one]

I have never seen a moraly stable person go topless in public. When running a marathon I went down to a "wife beater" and at the finish line my pastor, who run with me, was topless but it was all in the reason. I do not see much of a reason to go topless but I would not condemn it under the circumstance. Just to go topless is without cause. I don't see anything wrong with working in your yard in this way either. It is just in the motivation. Are you doing it to show off your tatoos and try and be "bad" or because it is hot outside?

In Christs Love,
All4one

 

[Hydra009]

I have never seen a moraly stable person go topless in public.

Have you ever been to a beach in Europe? Or a nudist beach here in the states?

 

[Fuzzy]

Or a house construction site, or a lifeguard at a public pool or amusement park,
or any of the "alternative" festivals like Burning Man. Nowadays, it may not be a good idea for anyone to go topless in "public" for health reasons, such as skin cancer or painful
burns, but that has nothing to do with morality.

 

[All4one]

Have you ever been to a beach in Europe? Or a nudist beach here in the states?

Like I said... moraly stable person. As far as construction and all that I think it is fine but i'm referring to people comming into wal-mart topless and pants pulled down real low. Not just that but restaurants as well.

Love Ya Bro
All4one

 

[Jetgirl]

I have never seen a moraly stable person go topless in public. When running a marathon I went down to a "wife beater" and at the finish line my pastor, who run with me, was topless but it was all in the reason. I do not see much of a reason to go topless but I would not condemn it under the circumstance. Just to go topless is without cause. I don't see anything wrong with working in your yard in this way either. It is just in the motivation. Are you doing it to show off your tatoos and try and be "bad" or because it is hot outside?

So a topless person is never morally stable unless it's under conditions specified by you?

(I think my profile picture shows why this conversation is of interest to me. )

 

[Fuzzy]

All4one - So, are you saying the only morally unstable topless people you know of are
at Wal-Mart?

Jetgirl-Was that airbrushed on or painted by hand? And what medium?
I've been working with liquitex acrylics blended with aloe gel, applied by hand
but A) it's tedious, B) fade or blend effects are frustratingly tricky, C) I'd prefer
to go with airbrushing, but I most often do this where there's no power.

 

[MsAnne]

Topless Men - Time to Reflect

MsAnne...............taking time to reflect on topless men.

 

[crashedman]

One post on the nudism thread stated that it was wrong for a man to be topless in public. The derisory cries from us Antipodeans were loud and long.



Johnnz,

If this is the case, then we should get rid of crucifixes featuring Jesus wearing only a loincloth on them.

Those of us who are not American are most often bemused, but sometimes deeply concerned, at the intermingling of American cultural values with Christian concepts. We have the advantage of a different cultural heritage which allows us some perspective into your culture.

This worries me too. We also come from a country where clothes are really not all that necessary for survival.

Australians had existed for 40,000 years without them and they didn't have such a wasteful, debaucherous culture that much of our country has become now. They started to become sick and suffer skin diseases when the first missionaries FORCED them to wear clothes.

Much of American evangelical/pentecostal Christianity has its distinctive blend of culture and Christianity. I make this comment simply to alert readers to this fact. When some contributors state “This is what the Bible teaches” they are often saying “This is what my cultural/religious tradition has taught me”.

Very true.



I am not joining with the liberals and post modernists in reducing Christianity to an accommodating tolerance of all views. I reject their views and as such. I belong firmly within evangelical circles. However, it seems that many American evangelical/pentecostal churches are not well acquainted with some the good evangelical scholarship, both American and European, that is available.

Even so, it would be completely impractical if you ask me. Frankly, I would say this: even though we might be civilised, we haven't really changed all that much as a species since the caveman era.

We still have the mentality of 'survival of the fittest' and 'every man for himself', together with bashing each other up over women and the horrid treatment of our young.


Crashedman

 

[Jetgirl]

All4one - So, are you saying the only morally unstable topless people you know of are
at Wal-Mart?

Jetgirl-Was that airbrushed on or painted by hand? And what medium?
I've been working with liquitex acrylics blended with aloe gel, applied by hand
but A) it's tedious, B) fade or blend effects are frustratingly tricky, C) I'd prefer
to go with airbrushing, but I most often do this where there's no power.

It was a water-based acrylic that was airbrushed on (the best thing I've ever done for myself, it was 105 outside). It looked like the guy had a portable power supply and a couple tanks of air at the ready.

I've tried painting too.... actually had more sucsess just using a cosmetic sponge to just blot it on.

 

[Fuzzy]

It looked like the guy had a portable power supply and a couple tanks of air at the ready.

I've tried painting too.... actually had more sucsess just using a cosmetic sponge to just blot it on.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll try the sponge thing, too.

 

[Old Man Turtle]

Until relatively recently, it was illegal for men to go topless in public in America, even at the beach. Jeff Pollard wrote a book titled: Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America. He shows the historic rise of immodesty and how it relates to topless men. It's a great read.