The churches views on nudism

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• SA

  

  Stone Andy

  Mar 7, 2021

  [quote] Do: Love your neighbor! Don't: Covet It is God's key instruction as to how we should interact with our fellow man.[/quote] Love your neighbor as yourself! Yes. And first we need to love ourselves! Earlier in the thread we talked about the creation stories in Genesis. The prologue of John(In the beginning was the Word)is also a relevant creation story whereby"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."What does it mean? That the divine became human, flesh, penis, warts and all? Is it a one shot deal that died with Jesus? Or do we share Jesus divinity as regular flesh dudes? Is his continuation of divinity solely through the Church? And if so, which Church body? Following the Apostle Paul's view of our human body as a negative "thorn in the flesh" and his view of the Church as the Body of Christ, challenges us as Christians to accept and love ourselves, doesn't it? I believe we're called to cocreate with God in this time and place, our time where we find ourselves on Earth. We need to accept our human body alone - both vulnerable and beautiful - first before we can accept our body as an object to be covered. Otherwise the covering is the object, and that diminishes our beauty. You don't put a basket over a latern, do you? That's an analogy Jesus made which I believe applies to our bodies. Why cover them when our divinity shows from our human naked selves? So I bless you for the light, beauty and truth God created in your naked human body for you to show up in naked glory, and it's all good.

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• NU

  nudeyooper

  Mar 7, 2021

  [quote]These would likely all go away if "officialdom" would come out and say that nude is not only okay, but perhaps the better way to live. Unfortunately it will never happen as the lobbyists for the textile and fashion industries would and probably do push to make sure their sales are not impacted and instead are increased.[/quote] Any change in our way of living will being lobbies to oppose it. Our capitalist system is geared to create more money from what we have and do with it, be it physical or intellectual. It is money that drives change and we can be assured that if nudity among us made money, it would be more commonplace. It is no secret that church attendance and religious practices are in a decline for at least a generation if not more. Is that decline at least partly responsible for relaxed attitudes about naked behaviors? Nudity in our society does make money, but that nudity that makes money involves sex. We profess that nudists live a more pure lifestyle, but we have not really shown how living nude can be a money maker.

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• JO

  

  John

  Mar 8, 2021

  nudeyooper wrote: [quote] It is no secret that church attendance and religious practices are in a decline for at least a generation if not more. Is that decline at least partly responsible for relaxed attitudes about naked behaviors? [/quote] It seems to me that public attitudes are becoming less relaxed, rather than more relaxed, regarding public nudity. If they were more relaxed, I think you would see nudism go mainstream, with more resorts and nude beaches and camps, and therefore more opportunities for a revenue stream. But I don't see that happening. But the decline in church attendance indicates something possibly positive for us. I think it's due to the fact that the kind of religion encountered there is less of a fit with the attitudes of young people. They can't relate to many of its tenets, such as no premarital sex, no abortion, no stepping up to address the real social problems of their communities, and no commitment to addressing real gender equality in some cases. That's pretty much what tore it for me. But if young people opt out of organized religion, they may also opt out of many of the dictums of those religions, and seek moral guidance from people who don't consider social nudity a sin. Churches mainly exist so that people can find other people of like minds. Some reinforce each other's faith, some reinforce each other's prejudices, some are merely to provide some sort of social life in groups that otherwise lack it. Some do real social good, others just collect wealth for their clergy.

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• LA

  

  Lance

  Mar 9, 2021

  There is really no one church position on social nudity. Some churches have a decided position but many others do not and, even within denominations, different priests/pastors/ministers have widely divergent viewpoints. For many who practice Christianity as their faith journey social nudity is a deeply personal decision; it was for me. To follow a church in everything they practice does not, to my mind, give us the freedom of choice implied by a believe in free will. I often struggle with denominations who insist that their way is the only way because that is not my experience. I have dear friends in more denominations than you can count on two hands yet all, ALL, are convinced of the rightness of their personal relationship with God. Many of us take years resolving our own questions before we step out into social nudity, hence my 65 years and a first year social nudist. Because, for me, social nudity was a huge step I had to resolve my internal questions regarding nudity and sexuality long before I took my clothes off in front of other people. I had to deliberately remind myself every time I took my clothes off, even at home in private, that I was in a safe space and nudity was my choice. When it came time to actually strip down it was a non issue because the resolve was already there.
  I watched a friend as he explored social nudity as a Christian and vicariously followed his journey in silence. My embracing social nudity was my choice and I have no regrets. The actual social nudity was not as big a step as I had made it in my own mind BUT it is my choice and it is not something I share randomly. I dont know if my church has a definite position on social nudity and I really dont need their approval because I do not believe that my decision on social nudity has any effect on my faith or beliefs. I have found a level of freedom in social nudity that I have never experienced before and I cannot believe that that discovery jeopardizes my salvation or my relationship with God.
  This is a personal response; I cannot speak for any church nor for any other practitioner of Christianity. This has been my journey and there may be changes in my beliefs as I spend more time as a social nudist. I am quite excited for this journey and I am loving being comfortable in my own skin, even and especially, when I am in nothing else. Be comfortable in your own mind and soldier on. Like Dr. Seuss said: be yourself...those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind.

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• SA

  

  Stone Andy

  Mar 9, 2021

  Great continued thoughts on this thread. I see young people rejecting the tenets of both churches and nudist organizations for the same reasons: they are prejudiced/exclusive and out of touch with the values and motivators they care about. But young people care deeply and often just aren't willing to put up with the crap and dysfunction that for us older people was just a given.
  Money is always a driver. It seems like things start out of strong principal with no financial incentive and then stabilize to a golden period. When people figure out how to monetize it, it gets corrupt and defeats its original purpose. I see that as relevant with churches and nudist resorts. They are the purveyors of religion and nudism, but increasingly irrelevant in their current practices and organizations to how people wish to express their faith and body freedom.
  In my mid-50's, I have no crystal ball to see how young people will define the future relevant to Christianity or nudism, but I believe in them more than what is disintegrating before me now.

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• BO

  bob

  Mar 10, 2021

  religion has been the nay Sayers to nudism because it reinforces their use of Fear of Death, our inherent fear of shame , and use of condemnation. to fill their coffers and to steal and manipulate taking the dieings property. Churches or religion will never be allies to nudism and living natural. They want to dictate control of lives same as AANR and groups of prudist nudists want to dictate morality of nudists.

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• BO

  bob

  Mar 10, 2021

  personally i think sciences and technology have shown the younger less brain washed from birth but more educated to see thru the sham of religion and mans imaginary entities . they don't need or won't tolerate the selfish controlling ways of nudist resorts, but will travel to countries that offer freer social acceptance of nudism and lifestyles. Without the discrimination and biases of gender or status. . The biggest danger to the demise of nudism is the stuck in the mud older prudist nudist tyrants and women nudists that want to act the victim.

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• JO

  

  John

  Mar 10, 2021

  gregoryp wrote: [quote]https://nakedandunashamed.org/ this will explain everything[/quote] That link doesn't work for me. I get back an error message saying that "the authenticity of the received data could not be verified." But this link should work: http://www.nakedandunashamed.org/

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• JO

  

  John

  Mar 11, 2021

  I should add that the website is for someone with an Evangelical Christian slant. That represents only a narrow view of Christianity, whose various sects are all over the map regarding Christian theology.

  And there are similar schisms in Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism, from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal, interpreting their own holy literature as they see fit. So there really is no such thing as "The Church" except in the minds of people who think that their church is the one, true church.

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• JI

  

  Jim

  Nov 6, 2021

  I know the original post was five years ago but I hope you see this. I believe one of the John Paul popes (in any case it was one of the fairly recent ones) who in one part of his speech asked "isn't the hand more honorable than the glove"? I wish I could find it. I believe he was referring to our bodies and how we use them. You can be clothed and still be provocative, or you can be nude and innocent.

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• JI

  

  Jim

  Nov 6, 2021

  VERY well said, thank you

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• SA

  

  Stone Andy

  Nov 7, 2021

  I found this overview on nudism and Chrisitianity helpful; https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2007/4/2/318740/-

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