I posted about this topic some time ago on another blog I was running at the time and it sparked some great conversation so I thought I would post it over here along with the comments of those who originally responded. Tell me what you think…
This morning I was greeting by a very strange email in my inbox. Our cousin found this on the Arizona Republic newspaper website. The Arizona Republic is the most popular Arizona newspaper, as well as the most liberal of the two major choices. I begrudgingly receive this newspaper as part of my CouponSense subscription because it is the newspaper this organization partners with. However, I would prefer to get the Tribune…if any newspaper at all! However, you all clicked on here because you were shocked to see “Christian nudist” not “complaining conservative”! Back to the topic at hand…
Christian nudists to build village in Florida
Columbia News Service
Jonathan Palmiter was enjoying a recent Sunday morning stroll through a lush yard full of trees and Spanish moss–naked as was Adam in the Garden of Eden.
A 59-year-old born-again Christian, Palmiter was visiting Natura, a development 40 miles north of Tampa, Fla., that, when it opens up next summer, will become the first nudist community for devout Christians in North America.
Natura is being developed over five years and will house as many as 200 people in 50 family houses on 100 acres of land, with room for up to 100 recreational vehicles, according to Daniel Bellows, chief executive of the development. He even envisions a self-contained village with home-schooling and a strip mall.
Christian nudism might sound like an oxymoron, but for thousands of devout followers, living and worshipping naked is at the core of their faith.
No one knows how many Christian nudists there are in North America, but the advent of Natura will increase their visibility.
Bill Martin, the driving force behind Natura, runs the Naturist-Christians Web site, which has 19,000 registered users and averages 35,000 hits a day. His Yahoo group–where members discuss biblical passages rather than the etiquette to follow in nude social settings–has 6,000 users.
While Bellows believes “naturism and faith are one,” other Christians disagree. Bellows, 44, said he gets e-mail messages warning him of eternal damnation, while Allen Parker, from Virginia, said, “Many Christians attack us on many fronts, but the love Jesus shows us sustains us.”
For many, nudism is the lifestyle that dare not speak its name. In Ohio, Rob L., who asked that his last name not be used, is a self-proclaimed fundamentalist who practices nudism in seclusion, fearing criticism and misunderstanding within his religious community.
Martin said he doesn’t want Natura to be only a haven for these Christian nudists–or naturists, a term many prefer. Instead, he wants Natura to make the bold statement that nudism is not only healthy, but sanctioned by God.
“Naturism was quite normal for the first few 100 years of Christianity,” said Martin, a 67-year-old Quaker. He blames puritanical Victorianism and what he calls America’s sexually obsessed culture for society’s qualms about nudity. “The culture has to be shown that naturism doesn’t lead to promiscuity. Natura will show them that.”
But the idea of raising kids in a nude environment can raise eyebrows–even Rob L.’s wife doesn’t want him nude at home when their daughter is around.
Martin and Bellows contend nudism is healthy for all. They believe it helps to correct a poor body image in children, which they believe is at the root of low self-esteem, depression and drug addiction. And they believe nudism diminishes sexual curiosity by “demystifying” the body. They point to the lower incidences of sexually transmitted diseases and lower pregnancy rates in Europe, where more relaxed attitudes prevail.
The compatibility of Christianity and nudism is detailed in “Nakedness and the Bible,” a self-published book by Canadian author Paul Bowman. The book cites key biblical events, including God’s order to the prophet Isaiah to go naked for three years, and states that, contrary to popular belief, Jesus was naked when he washed the feet of his disciples, when he was baptized and when he was crucified and resurrected.
“Nakedness and the Bible” states that nothing forbids nonsexual nudity and that misinterpretations of the Bible stem from faulty translations of ancient Hebrew words for nudity.
For example, Jim T., Natura’s spiritual adviser, and his wife, Shirley, believe the apostle Paul’s call for modesty targeted ostentation, not nudity. Besides, said Shirley, 55, women in church wearing “designer clothes and $90 haircuts” are the immodest ones.
Christian nudists have long organized their own services and prayer groups. Carolyn Hawkins of the American Association for Nude Recreation, which was founded in 1931, said most of its 270-member clubs offer Sunday services, including one in North Carolina where they are led by a member who is a Baptist minister.
Nathan Powers, a 50-year-old Texan, begins his day praying naked in his backyard. Nakedness intensifies his dialogue with God, he said. “I feel closer to God. It’s an act of humility. It is absolutely spiritual.” To reconcile being a good Christian with their need to be nude, many of the faithful turn to prayer and follow their own spiritual path. Some are led away from their particular denominations.
Parker, who organizes the annual “Christian Nudist Convocation” in Virginia, a coming-out event for closeted nudists, was raised a Southern Baptist. He is now independent, turned off by Sunday sermons he said were “too hypocritical for one afternoon.”
Jim T. let God do the talking. “As a conservative Christian, I had to let the Bible be my guide. I’m the one who’ll have to answer to God,” he said.
Secular culture has helped the cause of Christian nudists by “spawning the contemporary social nudist movement,” said John Kundert, editor of the Fig Leaf Forum, a leading Christian nudist newsletter with a circulation of 1,300 that he runs from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In turn, Kundert said he offers the Gospel to secular nudists “willing to receive” it.
Christian naturists are particularly mortified by the caricature of the nudist as a randy middle-aged swinger. Parker and his wife attend many naked parties that he insists are wholesome. Some of the most spiritual conversations they’ve had have been in hot tubs with other couples, he said.
“You can admire beauty, but lust is wrong,” said Rob L., the Ohio fundamentalist. On his Web site, he describes his first co-ed nudist experience. At a nude swim years ago, he bumped into an attractive woman in the changing room. When he didn’t get an erection, he knew he could separate nudity from sex.
Indeed, nudist Christians said faith helps them resist temptation. “God created us as sexual beings, and gave us coping mechanisms,” said Jim T. In any case, said Shirley, people are “sexier” in Victoria’s Secret lingerie.
The lifestyle of these Christians doesn’t necessarily make them lefties of the 1960s free-love, live-and-let-live mold. They tend to be deeply conservative on issues like homosexuality and premarital sex, and Republican, differing only from other Christians in their need and desire to be naked whenever possible.
For Bellows, the ideal society would be clothing-optional, but he isn’t holding his breath waiting for that to happen. As much as Christian nudists advocate for naturism, they put faith above all else.
“I am a Christian first, a naturist second,” Palmiter said.
What a very interesting group of people. I mean, at first I was completely disgusted by the use of the Bible to promote such a lifestyle…especially since Adam and Eve felt shame because sin was introduced to the world (and it is still here so the need to cover up is a more natural response, biblically, it seems to me, than revealing everything you have). Of course, a lot of people are naturally nudists by their personality…not me! I have days when I can hardly leave my house satisfied with the way I look in clothes and makeup – let alone naked! Hmmm, so, I wonder, do nudist women wear makeup??
But seriously, what are your thoughts? Do you agree that living in a nudist society where there is an acceptance of body image regardless of shape or size would promote a healthier self image? Do you agree that our children would be less likely to pursue the mysteries of sex at such young ages?
In my opinion it is dangerous teaching your children to “flaunt” themselves as if it were natural in a society that is driven by lust and sex. Self confidence and security in self are one thing, but you just don’t dress up like a steak and walk into a pack of hungry wolves while preaching the health benefits of being a vegetarian, if you know what I mean.
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 Posted by drewsfamilytx
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| I know what you mean. And when he said this:“Christian nudism might sound like an oxymoron, but for thousands of devout followers, living and worshipping naked is at the core of their faith.”I think it’s sad that that is the core of their faith! It should be Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins. Plus, even if I were to actually believe his arguments defending his practices, I would think them to be quite legalistic…but I’m not even going to go down that road because I’m sure I would offend someone with my comments.When they talk about being nude as a form of worship, they are completely in denial or don’t see at all where this road will lead. Much like a husband who views pornography but defends himself to his wife, insisting (and perhaps even believing to be true) that he is only admiring the beauty of the human form…and he has NO desire to be with any of these other women…puh-lease!So no, I don’t believe he’s right at all and I cringe that he even uses the term “christian”– it’s yet one more thing that the enemy can use against true Christians. |
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 Posted by mrskbrook
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| Ok, I live about 100 miles Northeast of Tampa, so they’ll be my nieghbors!!!! I feel like JenIg about now……… |
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 Posted by Hubby
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| Takingthechallenge NAILED it!!!Genesis 3:14 starts the discipline and curse that God sets on humankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, then DIRECTLY FOLLOWING this decree, God CLOTHES them both in verse 21. |
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 Posted by Sunny
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| I am suprised they use the defense that Jesus was probably naked on the cross. Even if he was (which is probable) it was a sign of shame, not something to be glorified and followed. |
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 Posted by Harriette
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I couldn’t help but start to giggle as I read through this post……….whew – how’d I miss this???? This is about the best example of why there are a gazillion “denominations” – a group takes God’s Holy Word and interprets to suit “THEIR” wants; in this case “want nots”……..aaaahhhhhhh.Immediate thoughts are Adam and Eve once partaking of the forbidden fruit were in shame and from then on clothed. That just covers it (bad pun) as far as nudists’ communal living. Then following Christ’s birth and upon His adult life’s work – I don’t recall any particular New Testament scriptures where upon he spoke to the masses to disrobe and run about nude forever and ever, Amen……….or maybe that speach might be found among the Gospels the high priests selectively omitted from the New Testament books (……….aaaahhhhh…….one of my favorite topics but not for the nudist reasons…….).We probably could all do a better job about accepting our bodies as natural and effectively admonishing this on to our children, but this has absolutely nothing to do with our Christianity. I tried early on to not over-react w/my sons upon their entering the bathroom – but UP TO A CERTAIN age – there, of course, comes a time when modesty is mandatory and I agree w/earlier comments about not wanting our children to grow up flaunting themselves – it’s a gray area and each family must follow as they are led in this arena. I, do, however, believe that the whole nudist thing is a bit “out there”……….whew! you can pick ‘em!!
Merry Christmas!
Harriette |
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