Regrettably, Christians and Jews seem to prefer to forget that Adam and Eve were each created naked by our God and walked together in public unashamed. It clearly says this here in Genesis 2:25.
Obviously, we know better what's good for us than God because our first parents immediately went into the fashion business as noted in Genesis 3:7 at http://diigo.com/0m7tx .
We also like to ignore how the Old Testament, for example, portrays Isaiah, the major prophet ignored or ridiculed by God's people, the Jews, as he wandered unclothed and unshod for three years under the power of God ...and not as a punishment.
Maybe this helps to expalin why nudity in a textile social setting is often tied to lunacy in most situations of 21st Century society.
Nudity and sexuality are often linked, but they don't necessarily have to be. In fact, most Christian naturists believe that it's clothes that make a body sexual.
To put it simply: if you see someone in the naked all the time, you begin not to notice it anymore. It becomes normal and you no longer feel "urges" toward that person.
However, if that person is normally clothed, due to the curiosity of the unknown and the "forbidden," when they remove their clothing, it is more likely to become a sexualized experience.
Most anti-nudity views are originally politically-based, not rooted in religion historical research proves. I'm also unable to find a New or Old Covenant prescription against being naked in public. (Yes I know the OC story of the daugters and their father, but that's all it is, an Old Covenant story ...not a command to clothe ourselves.
Might the more healthy attitude to how God created us, as advocated by Christian naturists, also help resolve the "body image problem" that is increasingly plaguing both women and men in our society. In a 2009 follow-up to a 1984 survey about female body image, Glamour at http://is.gd/D4IJbv found that for twenty-five years, body dissatisfaction has remained steady across eras at 40 perce
Genesis 2:23-25 causes me to wonder if the so-called shame about being naked in public, weather permitting, is not simply habitual, cultural and learned behaviour!
Is it really God's will for us as so often taught?
Might it instead be a punishment visited on us by Satan's con game of 'shame' given Who made the first garments?
In this context, while not a Christian, Kahil Gibran makes an interesting observation in "The Prophet" in his section on "Clothes":
"Some of you say, 'It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we wear.'
And I say, Ay, it was the north wind,
But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.
And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.
Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.
And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." (p.35-36)
gfp (2012-01-04)
Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [b]sky and over every living thing that [c]moves on the earth.”
Humankinds orignial and basic life purpose which has never been rescinded and is suplemeted for each Jesus Follower as outlined in Ephesians 2: 10 at http://diigo.com/0n20e in context.
I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the [d]surface of all the earth, and every tree [e]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
In 1968, Karen, my wife, and I became changed our diet and our lifestyle from what most people follow. We gave up the SAD (Standard American Diet) after different diseases almost killed me and threatened Karen's life. In Karen's case, colon cancer could have killed her. The results of a gangrenous bladder almost put me in a grave.
In less than four (4) months following our shift in diet Karen and I were both completely healed. We have remained vibrantly healthy ever since.
In November of that year, we became what are called "Live Food Vegans", i.e., we started to eat only fruits, vegetables, seeds nuts and and gluten-free grains. In addition, less than 20% of what we eat most days is cooked in any way.
Karen and I have learned a lot about how to be and stay healthy. At 70+, we both are told we look like we're in our 50s.
Our lifestyle, which involves more than than just a diet change, we call our S-M-A-R-TLifestyle™. You can read more about what happened to us and our lifestyle at this link (http://is.gd/l0mZPv).
We agree that a Jesus Follower is free to eat what s(he) wishes, within reason. That's part of being free In Jesus! Nonetheless, we simply believe that the diet outlined in the Christian Bible in Genesis 1:29 was God's "best" one for his perfect creation. He has never rescinded that diet.
By following it, you too can reap the substantial rewards of natural law which anyone can take advantage of ...like we did in 1998.
Genesis 1: 26-31 describe the first humans' creation as the original ancestors of every man and woman who has ever lived as confirmed by modern DNA and gnome science. They also confirm God's original life mandate and ideal diet for every human ...neither of which He has EVER rescinded.
gfp (2012-01-31)