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What Does Your Religion Say About Nudity?

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
While I know you were hopeful when clicking the title, there no nude selfies of Salix here. Sorry to disappoint.


Inspired by a few posts in another thread, I'm starting this one so as not to derail that one.

It was implied in that thread that going to the beach is pornographic, as were most television shows.

I think most, if not all of us were born nude, and nude is our natural state. But it would appear society and religion have made nudity taboo and have made humans prudish in nature.

We have issues with seeing other humans naked, but have no issue bringing our children to the zoo to see naked primates.

Assuming you follow a religion, what does your religion say about nudity?

If you consider yourself non-religious, what are your personal views?
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
While I know you were hopeful when clicking the title, there no nude selfies of Salix here. Sorry to disappoint.


Inspired by a few posts in another thread, I'm starting this one so as not to derail that one.

It was implied in that thread that going to the beach is pornographic, as were most television shows.

I think most, if not all of us were born nude, and nude is our natural state. But it would appear society and religion have made nudity taboo and have made humans prudish in nature.

We have issues with seeing other humans naked, but have no issue bringing our children to the zoo to see naked primates.

Assuming you follow a religion, what does your religion say about nudity?

If you consider yourself non-religious, what are your personal views?

I've been at a couple of nude optional beaches, and I didn't find it much different that any other beach. In Hinduism, in the old days, the sari had no top associated with it. That came later. Some remote villages still have only the wrap. It's just so easy to turn away.

But that's just my personal POV. The beaches of Goa have a real problem with Indian men ogling. They need to grow up.

Hinduism doesn't really talk about it much, but generally the culture is modest in dress.
 
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Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
Assuming you follow a religion, what does your religion say about nudity?
There are several different ways people think about this, because Christianity is a derived religion which has gone through several changes. At each change there is a new difference.

Originally there is Judaism, and that is a community religion. Let us summarize Judaism as if (because it is not) it is something which appears whole-cloth as a single system, bang. There is law, the culture, the belief and there is the practical aspect. In the law nudity is sometimes (in certain contexts) a euphemism for sex. This can be easily seen by using one of the word for word translations. (see Leviticus 18:6) In the culture there are rules about nudity and in the belief and in the practice of daily life. Much of this is unknown to most people, but it impacts Christianity.

What transfers to Christianity from Judaism, and what opinion does Christianity offer on nudity? Christianity is originally called 'The Way', alluding to the way to achieve Abraham's dream of shalom. In his dream we all live in peace, each family living from the land. The negative aspects of humanity are covered, accounted for, managed whatever you want to call it, and one of these is jealousy. Christianity takes from Judaism the opinion that nakedness arouses jealousy, lust and generally raises the specter of violence in a system that is designed to counter violence, to nullify its presence in the person, to take away the reasons for violence.

Then of course there are various changes in Christianity. There is the modern assumption that nudity is simply shameful for its own sake. That's unsupportable from a logical standpoint and so is what I call a Victorian assumption. Its like an engine in a world where the engineers have all died, so everybody thinks the engine is magical. Hence often Christianity will overly emphasize clothing, yet the people will not know why. You'll occasionally see extremes, and those extremes create reactions to the extremes. That's why there is a naked church somewhere in the US which literally meets in the nude. They're reacting to rules about nudity with no reason given.

A lot of Christian people associate rules about nudity purely as a resistance to lust. Often its thought to be all about preventing lust and protecting marriage. There can be other assumptions.

Quakers I know a lot less about, but they are a second or third reformation. They have dropped all trappings of traditional religion as much as possible. The conservative Quakers are moderately dressed, sometimes only wearing gray and may have some rules about this. The liberal Quakers have modesty at meetings, but there is no rule saying they have to. Still I wouldn't advise showing up naked, because unless everyone was doing it you'd be disrupting the meeting.
 

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
The Bible says we should dress modestly, in a way that honors God and is respectful towards others (1 Pet. 3: 3,4).
It is true that we are all born naked, and there's nothing wrong with nudity itself. The problem is what kind of ideas people might get from seeing images of naked people. Most people associate nude images with sex and in this world everything has been sexualized out of proportion because anything that evokes sexual thoughts sells.
Images of people with little or no clothes are being used left and right to promote everything from tooth paste to cars and laundry detergent. I'm not even going to get started on pornography or the fact that there are pedophiles out there who get excited seeing naked children!
The human body is beautiful and if humans had the right mind set, they would look at each other and appreciate that beauty, but there are so many sick, depraved people out there, that if one doesn't doesn't want to get attention for the wrong reasons it might be better to keep some clothes on.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
The Bible says we should dress modestly, in a way that honors God and is respectful towards others (1 Pet. 3: 3,4).
It is true that we are all born naked, and there's nothing wrong with nudity itself. The problem is what kind of ideas people might get from seeing images of naked people. Most people associate nude images with sex and in this world everything has been sexualized out of proportion because anything that evokes sexual thoughts sells.
Images of people with little or no clothes are being used left and right to promote everything from tooth paste to cars and laundry detergent. I'm not even going to get started on pornography or the fact that there are pedophiles out there who get excited seeing naked children!
The human body is beautiful and if humans had the right mind set, they would look at each other and appreciate that beauty, but there are so many sick, depraved people out there, that if one doesn't doesn't want to get attention for the wrong reasons it might be better to keep some clothes on.

Would it make sense that nudity became sexualized as a result of the idea that humans should dress modestly?

Other species do not dress and don’t appear to sexualize nudity. Even humans in nudist communities don’t sexualize nudity.

Wouldn’t it stand to reason that we have sexualized nudity as a result of suppressing it?
 

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Would it make sense that nudity became sexualized as a result of the idea that humans should dress modestly?

Other species do not dress and don’t appear to sexualize nudity. Even humans in nudist communities don’t sexualize nudity.

Wouldn’t it stand to reason that we have sexualized nudity as a result of suppressing it?

Could be. Personally I don't like the objectification of people but I guess we have to deal with the society we have, not the one we would like to have. The vast majority of the world sexualizes nudity.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
My view is a bit like the Time Squad Episode with Winston Churchill*

*Apparently You Tubes algorithms are not privy for Time Squad cartoon nudity with Winston Churchill. I can't find the damn thing anywhere. Guess they had to wash out their eyeballs.
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
While I know you were hopeful when clicking the title, there no nude selfies of Salix here. Sorry to disappoint.


Inspired by a few posts in another thread, I'm starting this one so as not to derail that one.

It was implied in that thread that going to the beach is pornographic, as were most television shows.

I think most, if not all of us were born nude, and nude is our natural state. But it would appear society and religion have made nudity taboo and have made humans prudish in nature.

We have issues with seeing other humans naked, but have no issue bringing our children to the zoo to see naked primates.

Assuming you follow a religion, what does your religion say about nudity?

If you consider yourself non-religious, what are your personal views?
I've heard report....
David did dance in the streets ….naked

for cause of grief

not sure if I really get it
the cause and effect

but such is the report
 
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