Is naturism natural?
Rabu, 30 Desember 2009
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komentar
It is all very well espousing the naturist lifestyle as being natural, but there are some thorny issues.
It is natural to be eaten by a crocodile, die of a snake bite or to fall off a cliff, there is nothing necessarily nice about being natural. What is nice, good or acceptable comes from social conditioning and this conditioning changes over time. It has its roots in antiquity, and in particular, antique attitudes based on religious beliefs. The Judeo-Christian religions come from the same set of teachings, ones dominated by a patriarchal society and the belief that all are born sinful. Shame, especially body shame, is a core element in this system, it embodies the idea that nakedness causes lust and the associated loss of control, which in turn leads to untrammelled fornication and eternal damnation.
The bible reinforces this belief, but as it was believers who translated the bible, body shame dominated their efforts, belief in body shame was already in place well before such translations were made. Translation is a tricky business, it is often hard to describe an idea from one language in another with just a few words, so the core of the translator's own beliefs will dominate the work. References to being without covering became references to naked in the sense of being vulnerable, shameful or being in an undesirable state rather than simply without clothes. "I was naked and you clothed me" could just as easily be read as "I was poor and you gave me warm clothes", a completely different interpretation.
Before the reign of Henry VIII, the bible was not available in the English language of the time. In the early 16th Century, William Tyndale translated the bible directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, but he worked in a regime where expressing particular beliefs could cost you your life. Straying from the path of whatever set of beliefs was being prosecuted at the time was dangerous. He did indeed lose his life because if it. Notwithstanding this, the bible, and in particular the book of Genesis, is taken as proof that nakedness in the sight of others is sinful. Passages in the book of Genesis seem to speak of the condition of nakedness as being disagreeable or sinful, but if other translators work on the same original text, the outcome is completely different. Such ideas were not lost on Tyndale, he wrote "They have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture, until he be noselled in heathen learning eight or nine years and armed with false principles, with which he is clean shut out of the understanding of the Scripture."
Centuries of religious dominance, guided by numerous interpretations of the bible and often enforced by violence, has resulted in the conditioning that nudity in a public place is in itself sinful. Some would take it as axiomatic that public nudity should be illegal, but would be at a loss to say exactly why. Even those who have made what they think of as a complete break from religious dogma, unwittingly continue an essentially religious practice. It is not practical for each of us to re-learn or re-invent every aspect of daily life, however, it is desirable to question systematically some of the ways in which we live in the light of campaigning or the example of others.
So, Is naturism natural? Is the nature in naturism the right word to use? Leaving out the social conditioning, of course it is, we were born nude without an automatic or even obvious source of clothing. The only reason that naturism is an issue at all is that social and religious conditioning has been widely taught. The issue then becomes, "is social conditioning natural?" In the animal world, it is natural for dominant individuals to force their will on others so in that sense it is natural that religious and social "leaders" have pursued their outlook on life and have made others follow. It is also "natural" for breakaway groups to challenge the status quo, so it is natural for naturists to challenge the Judeo-Christian inspired belief that nudity is sinful. In the sense that the word natural is used in modern society, naturism must be considered natural, it uses little or none of the earth's resources, it harms no one, it is not a threat to anyone, it enhances a sense of freedom and well being in those practice it and helps to reduce or eliminate some of the body image problems that so plague our very unnatural society.
It is natural to be eaten by a crocodile, die of a snake bite or to fall off a cliff, there is nothing necessarily nice about being natural. What is nice, good or acceptable comes from social conditioning and this conditioning changes over time. It has its roots in antiquity, and in particular, antique attitudes based on religious beliefs. The Judeo-Christian religions come from the same set of teachings, ones dominated by a patriarchal society and the belief that all are born sinful. Shame, especially body shame, is a core element in this system, it embodies the idea that nakedness causes lust and the associated loss of control, which in turn leads to untrammelled fornication and eternal damnation.
The bible reinforces this belief, but as it was believers who translated the bible, body shame dominated their efforts, belief in body shame was already in place well before such translations were made. Translation is a tricky business, it is often hard to describe an idea from one language in another with just a few words, so the core of the translator's own beliefs will dominate the work. References to being without covering became references to naked in the sense of being vulnerable, shameful or being in an undesirable state rather than simply without clothes. "I was naked and you clothed me" could just as easily be read as "I was poor and you gave me warm clothes", a completely different interpretation.
Before the reign of Henry VIII, the bible was not available in the English language of the time. In the early 16th Century, William Tyndale translated the bible directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, but he worked in a regime where expressing particular beliefs could cost you your life. Straying from the path of whatever set of beliefs was being prosecuted at the time was dangerous. He did indeed lose his life because if it. Notwithstanding this, the bible, and in particular the book of Genesis, is taken as proof that nakedness in the sight of others is sinful. Passages in the book of Genesis seem to speak of the condition of nakedness as being disagreeable or sinful, but if other translators work on the same original text, the outcome is completely different. Such ideas were not lost on Tyndale, he wrote "They have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture, until he be noselled in heathen learning eight or nine years and armed with false principles, with which he is clean shut out of the understanding of the Scripture."
Centuries of religious dominance, guided by numerous interpretations of the bible and often enforced by violence, has resulted in the conditioning that nudity in a public place is in itself sinful. Some would take it as axiomatic that public nudity should be illegal, but would be at a loss to say exactly why. Even those who have made what they think of as a complete break from religious dogma, unwittingly continue an essentially religious practice. It is not practical for each of us to re-learn or re-invent every aspect of daily life, however, it is desirable to question systematically some of the ways in which we live in the light of campaigning or the example of others.
So, Is naturism natural? Is the nature in naturism the right word to use? Leaving out the social conditioning, of course it is, we were born nude without an automatic or even obvious source of clothing. The only reason that naturism is an issue at all is that social and religious conditioning has been widely taught. The issue then becomes, "is social conditioning natural?" In the animal world, it is natural for dominant individuals to force their will on others so in that sense it is natural that religious and social "leaders" have pursued their outlook on life and have made others follow. It is also "natural" for breakaway groups to challenge the status quo, so it is natural for naturists to challenge the Judeo-Christian inspired belief that nudity is sinful. In the sense that the word natural is used in modern society, naturism must be considered natural, it uses little or none of the earth's resources, it harms no one, it is not a threat to anyone, it enhances a sense of freedom and well being in those practice it and helps to reduce or eliminate some of the body image problems that so plague our very unnatural society.
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