Reflections: 15 August 2016

Both the prude and the hedonist wish to believe in a world without the fall, but all our supposedly righteous acts avail us nothing in the sight of God and none of our pleasures are fully innocent. That American Christians are more troubled by the breaking of social taboos than acts of self-justification tells us that American Christianity has become a new form of paganism, a mostly amoral system of propitiating spiritual forces for one's own ends. What is a bathing suit but a self-justification machine? With a bit of cloth one declares oneself modest, decent, and worthy of social acceptance. As if this weren't silly enough, bathing suits are also employed to draw attention to the wearer and to the very body parts they are meant to conceal. But somehow the idea that one might omit this extraneous fetish object is too scandalous to even entertain. Why should we be more troubled by naked bodies, on a beach or at a pool no less, than obvious attempts at self-justification? Jesus said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." (Luke 12:1-2) Our lust and our pride are on the inside and no amount of clothing will hide them in the long run. The very attempt is a sign of carnality, "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." (Luke 12:23)