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- Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!hal.com!bang.hal.COM!not-for-mail
- From: landman@hal.COM (Howard Landman)
- Newsgroups: rec.nude
- Subject: Re: Christian nudes
- Summary: Christians violate Leviticus 19:4 every week.
- Message-ID: <1ehblrINN28o@bang.hal.COM>
- Date: 20 Nov 92 00:31:55 GMT
- References: <1der1lINNmgv@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> <1992Nov10.054026.945@lucid.com>
- Distribution: na
- Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Inc.
- Lines: 50
- NNTP-Posting-Host: bang.hal.com
-
- I apologize to the group in advance for fighting chapter with verse. This
- post comes in two parts, first a somewhat satirical Bible lesson, and then
- a more reasoned discussion. You'll have to find the demarcation between them
- yourself.
-
- >In article <1der1lINNmgv@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> gchatham@cats.ucsc.edu (Gregory Chatham) writes:
- > What I DID mean: lust = sin
-
- Gee, how curious. Someone who violates the commandment against worshipping
- sculptures every time he goes to church wishes to lecture us on what the
- Lord really wants us to do. WIll wonders never cease?
-
- >(see Rom 14:21 -- "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine,
- >nor do anything that causes your brother to stumble...")
-
- Well, yes, Greg: we all know how anhedonic most of the new testament is,
- especially the parts due to Paul (Corinthians comes to mind as a particularly
- vitriolic example of life-hating.) This is, of course, in direct conflict
- with many things God Himself says in the Torah. For example, God specifically
- DOES NOT prohibit alcohol, and FORBIDS us to deny to ourselves anything
- which He has not explicitly forbidden. Therefore, any prohibition against
- alcohol is in direct violation of God's law. (Christ himself turned water
- into wine for a wedding party - he knew the value of celebration.) So
- Romans 14:21 is just, well, WRONG. The best thing to do with such stuff
- is to follow the Lord's commandment in Deuteronomy 23:13-14 and keep it
- outside this newsgroup.
-
- >I am saying that the concerns of those who havn't yet
- >reached your stage of "elightenment" concerning
- >the proper view of the body, need to be addressed.
-
- That's a valid concern. But also valid is the concern that people who are
- not yet enlightened, expecially children, should be exposed to enlightened
- role models so that they can grow in their enlightenment. We're not
- supposed to hide our light under a basket, remember?
-
- Now, this takes some judgement. It is not an easy call. I would probably
- never take my mother (in her 70's) to a nude beach or a clothing-optional
- resort. We've discussed it, and she's worried that she might have to see
- naked men "with their doolollies hanging out". She would find this rather
- upsetting, I think. However, my teenage niece doesn't seem to be bothered
- by it, although so far she has chosen to remain clothed in such surroundings
- (a choice I fully respect).
-
- The decision becomes more difficult when it involves strangers. The question
- is, should concern for the possible disturbance of strangers outweigh our
- obligation to provide healthy role models to others? Sometimes, perhaps,
- but certainly not to the degree that it's embodied in the legal system.
-
- Howard A. Landman
-