Why religion cannot make its mind up about nudity

[Jo555]

I’d take issue with Godly and un-Godly men raping anyone. Having lustful thoughts is perfectly natural; ACTING on those thoughts is the problem.

Godly and un-Godly men who cannot control their urges are monsters and should go to jail with all the other rapists and molesters.

Eesh, cruising through and here I am again. Just want to elaborate as a Christian because although I don't really see a point in addressing these issues with atheists as they don't even believe in God, there are other Christians that do read through and in that sense I feel it necessary to bring that perspective into a thread that may be more full of atheists.

Scriptures do teach that lusts are part of the fallen natural man, and they are still considered sinful.

As Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, it is not just in the act, but if you look upon a woman with lust, you have sinned. If you hate your brother, you've murdered him because it is all about the heart.

He showed us that the standard is way above just keeping a law, but being holy as God is holy; to be pure of heart.
Impossible of ourselves and why we need a Savior.

The natural man will lust, hate, steal, be jealous, etc, but in Christ that nature is put off through the work of the cross and the power of God's Spirit. The fallen natural man does not go through rehab, he's crucified and denied.

Unfortunately, some believers try and rehab the natural man, but he's just to be denied by the power of God's Spirit.

So yes, it is part of the natural, fallen man to feel lust, but one should give it no room and deny it.

I also don't equate a normal sex drive as necessarily being on equal terms to lust. The body can at times just react. Lust is a heart issue that is all about me. It's looking upon another to gratify the flesh in a selfish, self-centered way. Sin is always a heart issue, but all believers should take up there situation with the Lord, and know the blood of Jesus has you covered as you grow in Him.

 

[Niels]

The premise of this thread seems odd to me. Religion doesn't have a mind to make up about nudity. It's a mixture of cultural mores and personal feelings.

The Bible does offer an explanation for clothing, that Adam and Eve felt ashamed so God clothed them, but it never declares nudity as inherently immoral. Also, the kind of immodesty mentioned in the Bible pertains to extravagant clothing. The Biblical definition of immodesty is basically to dress and behave ostentatiously.

Regarding lust, that again depends on the culture. Behaving in ways that are culturally considered lust-provoking, that are culturally coded as explicitly done to seduce, should be avoided. The counter to this might be that if enough people dress a particular way and aren't actively trying to seduce then it's acceptable, which just proves my point that it's cultural. There are ways in our culture that people behave and dress in order to intentionally seduce or arouse lust. As members of society it is our responsibility to learn what those things are and to know the difference. Keeping in mind that they differ between cultures and change with the times.