"Being natural and matter-of-fact about nudity prevents your
children from developing an attitude of shame or disgust about the
human body. If parents are very secretive about their bodies and go to
great lengths to prevent their children from ever seeing a buttock or
breast, children will wonder what is so unusual, and even alarming,
about human nudity."--Dr. Lee
Salk, Psychiatrist (from an article in McCall's Magazine, June,
1976)
Is This OK for Our Kids
To Be Naked?
Imagine two young boys. One has
visited a nudist club many times with his family, the other may have
only rarely seen a parent unclothed, and they may have seemed
embarrassed when that happened. The non-nudist boy says to his friend,
"Look what I've found!" as he shows the nudist kid a copy of Playboy
or some similar magazine, which he found somewhere.
As they look at the pictures of
scantily clothed, erotically posed women, the boy who has seen
hundreds of people of all ages and body types, will probably think,
"I've seen lots of naked people before. Why does he want to sneak
looks at this?" He might also think, "This isn't even what most people
look like."
Growing Up Without
Shame of Nudity
Puberty can be a very difficult time
for adolescents; their bodies are growing rapidly, their genitals are
changing, body hair is developing. Some kids feel clumsy. Many are
embarrassed by the changes that are taking place. They can become VERY
body-conscious. At that time, a wise parent will try to keep lines of
honest communication open but still give them privacy and time to be
alone in their room or with their friends. Most adolescents would
rather be ANYWHERE except where their parents are.
All these things happen to nudist
kids, too. The one big difference for kids who were lucky enough to
grow up in a nudist environment is that those kids have literally seen
those changes take place, as their older friends and/or siblings went
through that difficult time. Because of that experience, they are
better prepared for it themselves.
SAFETY When In Public
Nude
We read in the papers almost daily of
some teacher, youth leader, church official or some other trusted
individual who took advantage of a child in a sexual way. With
hundreds of nudist clubs in North America, that problem almost never
takes place at our nudists facilities.
A family which is open enough to have
experienced nudism, just like a healthy non-nudist family, is also
open enough to have discussed sex abuse with their children. These
children know that they can tell their parents immediately if they
ever suspect that something is wrong.
Been told by authorities that the
reason nudist clubs have a very low incidence of sex offenders is that
we have the reputation of prosecuting those individuals, while until
recent years, many other organizations have "swept those problems
under a rug", more concerned with their public picture than with the
safety of the people they should have been protecting.
Historically, sex abusers have felt
much safer committing their misdeeds within organizations which have
tried to cover up their problems with molesters.
You may find it encouraging to know
that many nudist clubs, have a very good relationship with law
enforcement agencies. Some of their officers are members of our club.
You can be certain that if nudist clubs were doing anything illegal or
immoral, they wouldn't join. Instead, they would very quickly close
the club down!
Another fact to ponder: Almost all
sex offenders are males. At a nudist club, it would be very easy to
tell if a man were to become sexually excited.
Interesting Facts
About Nudist Families
Surveys show that overall, adults who
were reared as nudists think of their childhoods as having been
stable. They also find that nudists tend to be very slightly better
educated than their non-nudist peers.
The divorce rate is lower among
nudist families, and their children tend to make better grades than
similar children in non-nudist families. I don't think that this is
BECAUSE the families are nudists; it's more likely that the marriages
are more stable AND their kids make good grades AND the families are
nudists because the family members tend to communicate a little more
openly with each other in their daily lives.
Learning to Accept &
Respect All Bodies
In spite of what Madison Avenue would
have us think, human bodies really do come in all sizes, shapes, and
conditions. Few are "beautiful" using Hollywood's standards. We think
it's helpful for kids to learn this early on; you may be aware that in
those parts of the world where nudity is acceptable at places like the
beach and public saunas, there is a much lower rate of eating
disorders and suicides among youth.
In those cultures, where kids see all
types and ages unclothed, they learn acceptance of the maturing and
aging processes; they don't think they have to have face lifts, boob
jobs and collagen injections to become socially acceptable; they don't
grow up thinking "You are what you wear".
Short Reading About Nudist Culture
Discovery
Basically, nudists consider nudity to be
normal, acceptable, and good, and believe it should not be equated with sex.
According to that thinking, I was basically a nudist, but at that particular
time, I was still unwilling to admit it.
Even though it brought me great encouragement
to know that there were others who believed as I did, even other Christians, I
was still not sure if it was pleasing to God or not. I was still asking, "Is it
really right or is it wrong?" "Is the Lord God pleased with such
activity?" I didn't know what I should believe, and on a few occasions had
prayed that God would reveal the truth.
I believe God answers prayer, and know that
God's Word provides answers, but ironically, I never did a study of nudity from
the Bible - mostly because I was afraid of what I would find. It wasn't until I
got hungry for God, wanting to subject every area of my life to His Word, that I
decided to do a serious Bible study on it. I thought for sure I'd find I was
wrong or maybe perverted, but I didn't care, my objective was to do what was
right.
Now I knew of no teachings on nudity (or
nudism) and did not feel comfortable discussing my experiences or beliefs on the
subject with anyone else, feeling they would not understand. So my study
involved lots of prayer, and reliance on God's Holy Spirit. "If anyone lacks
wisdom, he should ask God..." (James 1:5) and "...the Holy
Spirit... ...will teach you all things..." (John 14:26) See also 1
John 2:20, 27 and 5:20.
After a few months of study, and lots of
prayer, to my surprise, I began to discover that I was actually right, and that
it was "the world" that has perverted ideas about the nude human form - God's
"good" creation.
Deeper study
Though, by that time, most of the scriptures
made sense to me, there were still a few scriptures that troubled me. Since I
had also been reading a Prodigy BBS on naturism (nudism), I decided to post a
message there to Christian nudists, hoping they could help me with these verses.
There were many replies, and though one or two of them were people wanting help
themselves, all the rest were tremendously encouraging.
Though people who wear clothes have no special
name for themselves, and I am not fond of having to classify myself as a nudist,
the fact is, I have found it to be the closest thing to which I can relate my
beliefs, and convictions.
For me, I am happy being nude or clothed, and
after two years of prayer and study of God's Word, I have found nudism to be a
way to live out the reconciliation of my beliefs, and convictions about
chaste nudity with the truth in God's Word. In the process, I discovered that
"clothing optional" living is not about "getting naked," or even about sex, but
is about...
- ...living free from unnecessary body shame.
- ...living free from fear over undue
condemnation (because everyone else wants to condemn all forms of nudity).
- ...accepting yourself and others completely,
and unashamedly, based on internal character, and not outward appearance.
- ...being more open, honest and truthful,
recognizing that these things require true humility.
- ...recognizing that nudity and sex do not
have to be related; people are not "sex-object" and neither are their parts.
- ...recognizing that nudity does not have to
be shameful, and people do not have to be offended by it.
Furthermore, the "clothing optional" attitude
allows me to be more practical, comfortable, and healthy by allowing me to adapt
to each situation without worry or fear, and by allowing my body to function
more closely to the way it was designed to work. God designed the human form to
be nude, and through nudism, I have discovered that my whole being benefits the
most from being nude often.
Though most people do not have a correct view
of themselves and others, especially regarding nudity, the Bible makes it clear
that we are to "renew" our minds to be Christ-like in our attitude. The Bible
says that those who live for Him live like Him, for they "have the mind of
Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16 So far as clothing goes, Christ Himself said, "Why
do you worry about clothes? Do not worship them, worship God!" Matthew 6:25,
Luke 12:22
"Do not let anyone take you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which DEPENDS ON HUMAN TRADITION AND THE BASIC
PRINCIPLES OF THIS WORLD rather than ON CHRIST. ...Such regulations indeed have
the appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility
and their harsh treatment of the body, but they LACK ANY VALUE in restraining
sensual indulgence." Colossians 2:8, 23
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