G
GWofVA
Guest
Now I know that with a topic such as this, I’m bound to get a lot of flak from both sides of the fence but, in my opinion, it needs addressing. This is a debate so please present your arguments for or against in reasonable, logical terms without hysterics. Everyone is welcome to participate. Thank you.
In the United States today, the general populace has a great aversion to nudity of any sort except for what can sell merchandise, basically sexual nudity. This form has become the main staple in the minds of millions of people so that whenever nudity is mentioned, people automatically think sex. This is a problem. People do not recognize the differences between general nudity (going to the doctor, stepping out of the shower, etc.) and sexual nudity (pornography, explicit advertisements, etc.). Due to our nation’s roots in Puritanical theology, this has been the train of thought for hundreds of years and many people see no reason to change it.
This is where our Catholic faith comes in. For centuries, our Church has taught not to commit adultery, not to covet another man’s wife, and most importantly, never to lust. As you may have noticed, all of these have to do with sex. After all, for what other reason would one want to possess another than to engage in “extracurricular activities.” This however makes no mention of general nudity. As seen by the customs and traditions in Jesus’ time, nudity was fairly commonplace. Fishermen went nude, there was a public bath where women went nude, and even the prophets of God were naked when the occasion called for it. This, as we can see, was the product of their culture. At no point was nudity addressed in their religion except for prohibiting unauthorized sexual nudity. This parallels with our own faith. As of this moment, there is no place in Catholicism (except for John Paul II’s Theology of the Body) or the Catechism which mentions rules about general nudity . . . only sexual nudity, aka lust. Now some may mention the part about “keeping hidden that which is meant to be hidden” but when you consider it that is very obscure. Some may take it to mean the genitals while others may take it to mean the entire body . . . both extremes, neither helpful. Thus, as the Church does not offer any truly clear guidelines about the parameters of where modesty begins and ends, then people look towards their culture for guidance. At this moment, many Catholics throughout the U.S. are living under the Puritanical guidelines which this society was founded with.
Consider: Why are men in the U.S. so infatuated with women’s breasts? In no other society throughout the history of the world have men ever been so captivated by the mammary glands except for this one we are in. Well, if one thinks about it, they will most likely come to the conclusion that it is because we hide them, put them away, create a pillar-of-salt kind of taboo around them. This lack of familiarity comes from the home. As I read on another forum thread, most parents of young children state that they will go nude (or partially so) around their own children only until curiosity and long term memories are being established. What could be a potentially helpful lesson for the child towards what makes mommy and daddy different becomes a “hush-hush, these are what they are but we must never mention them again” situation. Thus, these parts are relegated to being yucky, gross, or titillating in their minds. Young boys never learn that breasts are the source of nourishment for babies and infants; young girls never learn that their bodies are not playthings for boys. In essence, this leads to the creation of a circular stigma by which the children when they grow up and become parents themselves will wind up passing on the same “taboo” or “plaything” mentality to their children. General nudity needs to become commonplace in the home so that children will realize the ordinariness of the human body. Does anybody think that there would be half as many teen pregnancies if kids thought, “Oh, its just another body.” Would pornography be half as popular if people realized that the bodies of the models were distorted and unhealthy when compared to the natural appearance of their own family? Truly, we cannot allow this culture to maintain its present course or our children and their own will have to suffer for our failure to act. If Jesus was able to die on the cross naked for us, shouldn’t we be humble enough to go nude for love of our families, too?
Peace in Christ, gw
In the United States today, the general populace has a great aversion to nudity of any sort except for what can sell merchandise, basically sexual nudity. This form has become the main staple in the minds of millions of people so that whenever nudity is mentioned, people automatically think sex. This is a problem. People do not recognize the differences between general nudity (going to the doctor, stepping out of the shower, etc.) and sexual nudity (pornography, explicit advertisements, etc.). Due to our nation’s roots in Puritanical theology, this has been the train of thought for hundreds of years and many people see no reason to change it.
This is where our Catholic faith comes in. For centuries, our Church has taught not to commit adultery, not to covet another man’s wife, and most importantly, never to lust. As you may have noticed, all of these have to do with sex. After all, for what other reason would one want to possess another than to engage in “extracurricular activities.” This however makes no mention of general nudity. As seen by the customs and traditions in Jesus’ time, nudity was fairly commonplace. Fishermen went nude, there was a public bath where women went nude, and even the prophets of God were naked when the occasion called for it. This, as we can see, was the product of their culture. At no point was nudity addressed in their religion except for prohibiting unauthorized sexual nudity. This parallels with our own faith. As of this moment, there is no place in Catholicism (except for John Paul II’s Theology of the Body) or the Catechism which mentions rules about general nudity . . . only sexual nudity, aka lust. Now some may mention the part about “keeping hidden that which is meant to be hidden” but when you consider it that is very obscure. Some may take it to mean the genitals while others may take it to mean the entire body . . . both extremes, neither helpful. Thus, as the Church does not offer any truly clear guidelines about the parameters of where modesty begins and ends, then people look towards their culture for guidance. At this moment, many Catholics throughout the U.S. are living under the Puritanical guidelines which this society was founded with.
Consider: Why are men in the U.S. so infatuated with women’s breasts? In no other society throughout the history of the world have men ever been so captivated by the mammary glands except for this one we are in. Well, if one thinks about it, they will most likely come to the conclusion that it is because we hide them, put them away, create a pillar-of-salt kind of taboo around them. This lack of familiarity comes from the home. As I read on another forum thread, most parents of young children state that they will go nude (or partially so) around their own children only until curiosity and long term memories are being established. What could be a potentially helpful lesson for the child towards what makes mommy and daddy different becomes a “hush-hush, these are what they are but we must never mention them again” situation. Thus, these parts are relegated to being yucky, gross, or titillating in their minds. Young boys never learn that breasts are the source of nourishment for babies and infants; young girls never learn that their bodies are not playthings for boys. In essence, this leads to the creation of a circular stigma by which the children when they grow up and become parents themselves will wind up passing on the same “taboo” or “plaything” mentality to their children. General nudity needs to become commonplace in the home so that children will realize the ordinariness of the human body. Does anybody think that there would be half as many teen pregnancies if kids thought, “Oh, its just another body.” Would pornography be half as popular if people realized that the bodies of the models were distorted and unhealthy when compared to the natural appearance of their own family? Truly, we cannot allow this culture to maintain its present course or our children and their own will have to suffer for our failure to act. If Jesus was able to die on the cross naked for us, shouldn’t we be humble enough to go nude for love of our families, too?
Peace in Christ, gw
