Christian Naturism vs. Pornography Poll

[LivingFree]

Well, I like your comments. I'd like to wrap up my comments here by drawing a comparison between Victorian clothing ethics and contemporary conservative Christian "porn" attitudes and comments. In the Victorian Era prudish legislators became so afraid of "lust" that they required piano legs to be covered by skirts, so men would not be tempted by naked legs. That's certainly a far flung Pharisaical application of Jesus' warning about lust in Matt. 5. But in the same way, in our generation we have confused "appreciation of simple nude beauty" with lust, and called it porn. The definition of porn is clearly, depictions of sexualized activity. There is no sexualized activity in naturist photos, yet many people call all nude photos "porn." Also, most of DOMAI and some Playboy photos do not have great amounts of sexualized posing in them; they simply present the female form in all its glory. (Hugh Hefner originally conceived of the idea of a magazine with female nudes to satisfy the male desire to be entertained, not necessarily to cause erotic arousal, although many use it that way, and Hefner had no problems with it.) But we have put "skirts" on the nude form and called it "porn." John Ashcroft exemplifies the worst of this mentality in a public, official capacity. When we read Song of Songs just the way it is presented in Scripture, one has to wonder exactly what God was thinking when he inspired Solomon to write it, and allowed the ancient Jewish community to include it in their Scriptures, and allowed the Church to follow suit. (Notice that every part of the nude form, male and female, is mentioned there, except the groin area.)

[natman]

When we read Song of Songs just the way it is presented in Scripture, one has to wonder exactly what God was thinking when he inspired Solomon to write it, and allowed the ancient Jewish community to include it in their Scriptures, and allowed the Church to follow suit. (Notice that every part of the nude form, male and female, is mentioned there, except the groin area.)

That may be a matter of interpretation. I have read many commentaries that point to the mention of the "navel", stating that the original Hebrew word that was translated "navel" actually referred to a part of the female body a bit further south.

SOS 7:2
"Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies."

Many mention the order, workin from feet to head; feet, thighs, navel, belly, breasts, neck, eyes, nose and head, and point out that the "belly" is the entire section above the groin and below the breasts.

[LivingFree]

That may be a matter of interpretation. I have read many commentaries that point to the mention of the "navel", stating that the original Hebrew word that was translated "navel" actually referred to a part of the female body a bit further south.

Many mention the order, workin from feet to head; feet, thighs, navel, belly, breasts, neck, eyes, nose and head, and point out that the "belly" is the entire section above the groin and below the breasts.

Both BDB and The Blue Letter Bible don't support the part "further south." The root word, shorer, refers to a twisting, like a rope, which would indicate the region of the umbilical cord. "Belly" would be an appropriate translation. I agree that "thighs (waist) and belly would then be a bit out of order, but there are other Hebrew words for vulva which could have been used here but aren't.

[jochanaan]

Hmmm...Did they have a rating system back then?

[Bare_Truth]

So then would you say that naturism has had very little affect on pornography's lure in your life?

Well, I could not say that. I would have to say something like,:
I virtually did not view porn before I got internet access, and then out of curiosity I saw some and realized that it was ridiculous fantasy when it was not just outright depraved and I rejected it. I then discovered Christian naturist sites and saw beauty and honesty and openness except when I stumbled across porn sites masquerading as naturist/nudist sites.

But hey! I lived a sheltered life shaped by prudery before I found liberty. Porn is disgusting because it objectifies others as things and not as persons. That does not mean I was somehow inherently morally more pure than others, merely that I was luckier than some others , but not lucky enough to be raised naturist .