Topless/Nude Beach?

[marciebaby]

When I was an exchange student to Norway, I remembered how horrified I was when I saw how nudity was not such a big deal over there. Even the good Christian girls went topless on the beaches. All of them!!! Evenutally I got used to it though.

I guess it's good that I had this experience because my husband is an AF pilot and often spends days or weeks or months at a time in Germany, and I've never asked about the naked people he sees swimming in the hotel pools, I know it's a fact of life, and I trust him.

On a side note-we're travelling to Italy next month. I think I'll wear a one-piece to the beach.

 

[Svt4Him]

Yes, but the reference to breasts says nothing letting them "satisfy you" as you have said. At one point it describes them as "two fawns," and another as "like towers" and at a third as "like clusters of fruit." Only the third reference could be said to be directly sexual as the next verse talks about climbing "the palm tree" and taking "hold of its fruit." The Song contains, however, similiar reference to other body parts such as the mouth being "like the best wine" or the hands "dripping with myrrh."

The overall reading of the Song is not that the breasts are any more sexual than any other part of the body, but that the human body--female or male, for the woman also describes her lovers' body--is an attractive and enticing thing.

As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
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Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
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And always be enraptured with her love.

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Not in Song of Solomon, true enough.

​

 

[bill'swife]

Nope, and I seriously doubt we ever will. No desire to go to one.
I'd feel like Eve after the forbidden fruit episode!!!

 

[Sascha Fitzpatrick]

I just expect it as part of life when I visit Europe, or tribal nations. Same with one of my ex-bf's - he was a regular visitor to Europe for work, and it was just a part of the culture there, and he never took it as anything more than that.

Yes, a lot of people go there for the 'perv factor', that is true, and I can't say I'd be comfortable enough to go to one and strip off myself.

But just because it is not part of my culture, does not give me the right to label another that does regard it as the norm, as promiscuous or sinful.

If it's a dangerous place for you to be, lust-wise, then don't go! But I don't think we should just write it all off as 'sinful' just because it's dangerous for a few to partake in it.

Sasch

 

[Vilnius]

I lived in Europe for over five years. While I lived in a part of Eastern Europe where topless bathing was rare, I still traveled to Western Europe and I found no shortage of magazines and videos promenantly featuring the female breast as an article of titilation. The guys I knew in Europe were just as turned on by naked women as we Americans.

I feel the real difference between those of us on this site and most Europeans is that they do not attempt to inform themselves with the Bible and to live accordingly. Lust for them is not an issue. The difference is NOT that they are not turned on by topless women and therefore don't lust. The European secular culture permits topless bathing and because it is the norm many Christians in Europe go along, just like many Christians here don't give their immodest dress a second thought.

 

[isaiah5213]

I haven't been to one, and I wouldn't go. I don't have a problem with other couples, but I personally know it wouldn't be a good idea for me. I trust my husband, seriously - I wouldn't even be that concerned if he told me he went to a beach and some women were topless, because he wouldn't look. But I'm a jealous type (working on it) and I would get extremely emotional being on that beach with those women. And I would compare myself to them, etc. So a no for me.

that is exactly my problem!!! also, my husband is great about letting me know if we are watching something, if he starts to struggle or not, so i am pretty confident that he wouldn't say yes to a nude beach. a friend of mine is blind as a bat w/out his glasses, so when summertime came he would leave his glasses at home when he went to the beach w/his kiddos... i thought "smart cookie"....

--by the way, i didn't write the post to say my husband struggles w/everything, and tells me this stuff daily... about... once a month we come across something to where i am clueless.. i would have no idea that it would make him struggle, and i just go my own ignorant merry way...example:.. i was getting fitness magazine, not even thinking about it, and about the 2-3 issue, he explained that the covers make him struggle. so i made sure that everytime i get the fitness magazine from then on, i tore off the cover and threw it away on the way in from the mailbox to the house. i was glad my husband was open w/me about it....

 

[EmSchmem]

Eh. That depends what kind of man you are. A boobie is a boobie, plain and simple. Sometimes people just need to grow up and get over it.

I have painted a nude model before (and even posed myself for an artist). Wherever would I be if I sat there with an erection through every painting? That would make it remarkably distracting don't you think? And to think, I made it through life with no problems. Their body isn't etched in my brain. I have to look at the painting to remember what it even looked like.

I have had plenty of sex in my life too. I don't remember all their bodies, and I certainly don't think of them during sex now.

Personally, I think the whole thing is pretty much a bunch of rubbish and just boils down to the maturity of the individual (or perhaps their close-mindedness/prudishness). Maybe they even need to get it more than once every five years. I dunno. There are only a couple that stand out in my mind and that's from when I was 16-17 years old. Two from when I was in my thirties.. I don't want to tell you just how many I've seen, but that amounts to less than 1%.

Wow. I don't even know what to do with this. I guess I can assume then that you are mature enough to have outgrown all of your sins.

 

[seebs]

Wow. I don't even know what to do with this. I guess I can assume then that you are mature enough to have outgrown all of your sins.

The apparent sarcasm here is really uncalled for.

Different people have issues with different sins. Some people have an easier time overcoming some sins than others. Me, I don't have any sin issues with nudity, just a personal modesty taboo. But I'm Minnesotan. It's purely cultural; there's no moral component to that concern.

 

[Svt4Him]

Wow. I don't even know what to do with this. I guess I can assume then that you are mature enough to have outgrown all of your sins.

Well obviously not, if an unmarried guy doesn't think about the many things he's seen when he's having sex, obviously he's not in sin. (hint: unmarried-having sex?)

We all have weird and wonderful ways of justifying our sin. Someone going to a strip club? Well, obviously you aren't a mature Christian if you can't handle it. Obviously someone is being fooled.

 

[SirKenin]

Well obviously not, if an unmarried guy doesn't think about the many things he's seen when he's having sex, obviously he's not in sin. (hint: unmarried-having sex?)

We all have weird and wonderful ways of justifying our sin. Someone going to a strip club? Well, obviously you aren't a mature Christian if you can't handle it. Obviously someone is being fooled.

I think it's a case of maturity and to each his own. If you can't handle walking down a beach and seeing a couple of boobies without sinning I think that's your problem. It's your issue. That doesn't make it sin. It makes you a prude.

See, there's no biblical foundation to the drivel here, just like in the other thread. There's a couple of people that are trying to force their beliefs on everyone else as being the only way to go, and others saying "you're full of it". lol

I like how seebs put it. It isn't a morality issue. It's a personality issue. It's that ugly organized religion rearing it's ugly head once again, filling people full of utter rubbish. Are you getting why I hate organized religion yet?

I don't even have a problem walking into a bar and seeing the occasional boobie. It's no big deal to me. It doesn't fill me full of lust. I don't want to jump the woman right then and there and do the funky chicken. It's no different to me than watching someone playing a game of pool. I even had friends that were strippers and it didn't bither me a bot.

It was the same when I was painting. I looked at it as a beautiful figure and a marvel of God's creation and a pleasure to paint. God did a remarkable job when He made women, and being a prude just robs yourself of admiring that. My girlfriend and I go out and admire beautiful women when we are driving around. They are truly a pleasure to behold. I have eyes for noone but her, of course, but it is fun to go around and mutually admire them for who they are.

Even going to a nude beach. You don't have to sit there like some guy who hasn't had sex in ten years and stare at all the pretty women. Don't be a dork. You just go there to laze around in the sun in a far more relaxed, open minded atmosphere than most.

I think the difference between you and me is that I have a very open mind. I believe that I live a very different lifestyle than you and I keep all my options open unless the Bible says otherwise.

 

[JesseBassett]

I wouldn't want to go to a nude/topless beach. It would be sick to me.

 

[Archivist]

I wouldn't want to go to a nude/topless beach. It would be sick to me.

Then by all means don't go. If something offends you then you should probably avoid it.

I am curious, however, as to whether you would be willing to go to a beach where men go topless? If so why would you be willing to do that but not go to a beach where women go topless. Remember, until after World War I it was considered offensive for men to go topless in public.

 

[JesseBassett]

Then by all means don't go. If something offends you then you should probably avoid it.

I am curious, however, as to whether you would be willing to go to a beach where men go topless? If so why would you be willing to do that but not go to a beach where women go topless. Remember, until after World War I it was considered offensive for men to go topless in public.

I would not even go to a beach where men are topless. Just the thought of it is disgusting to me. As the Bible says "Guard your heart".

 

[SirKenin]

I would not even go to a beach where men are topless. Just the thought of it is disgusting to me. As the Bible says "Guard your heart".

You might as well lock yourself in a box.

 

[seebs]

My spouse and I have a friend who is an artist, and my spouse is an artist. While we would all feel it a little inappropriate for us to, say, be naked in front of each other in a hot tub, I don't think there's a moral problem with nude modeling. Art isn't sex. (And, as anyone who's dated an artist knows, art is more interesting than sex.)

 

[SirKenin]

seebs, what is her medium? I use watercolors myself. Typically I paint modern art reminiscent of Kandinsky or perhaps a touch of cubist, but I have an admiration for the female figure and like painting it on occasion. What does your partner paint?

Ok, it's off topic so you don't have to answer if you don't want to.

Being on topic, people think of boobies and all they can think of is sex. That makes it their problem as they fail to differentiate between sex and art. To them everything is sexual and that indicates a shortcoming in the individual. There's nothing Biblical about it. I think the nubile female is perhaps the finest creation known to man and there is far more to it than sex.

 

[seebs]

My partner does some oil paints, a tiny bit of watercolor, and mostly marker art. Most noticably, a webcomic called Metanoia. The friend does marker art and watercolor, and some pencil sketches.

Back on topic: I think this is clearly coming out as a Christian liberty issue.

 

[Avaya]

I do have to add though that seeing a naked womam or partially naked woman affects a guy different than a girl. And every guy will say they are mature enough to handle it, but no guy can clear the memory out of their minds, were it actually burns an image in there.

Exactly. Men are visually stimulated and my opinion is that people should not dabble with temptation. What good can come from it?

 

[Avaya]

Well obviously not, if an unmarried guy doesn't think about the many things he's seen when he's having sex, obviously he's not in sin. (hint: unmarried-having sex?)

We all have weird and wonderful ways of justifying our sin. Someone going to a strip club? Well, obviously you aren't a mature Christian if you can't handle it. Obviously someone is being fooled.

That reminds me of a conversation I had at lunch today about a television program that I do not watch. My relative who was watching it mentioned how people with kids probably don't watch it and my reply was, "Why does one have to have kids in order to have morality?" I wouldn't do some of the same things I don't do now even if I didn't have kids. Being a good example to children is NOT the only reason to abstain from certain behaviors. Being a growing Christian who continually seeks to please God is a much better reason to abstain.

 

[Avaya]

I think the difference between you and me is that I have a very open mind. I believe that I live a very different lifestyle than you and I keep all my options open unless the Bible says otherwise.

I can't think of the specific verse, but the bible does say that NARROW is the path to Him and wide is the road to destruction. IMO, open minded = tolerant = wide path - which does not = the narrow path God would have us to trod.