Naturism, the quest for tolerance

Many people wish for something better than their daily experience. Feelings of uncertainty, fear and loneliness fuel the search for something better. Some find solace in religion, often in the form of belief in a superior being who can lend a guiding hand through the perils of life. Religions have teachers, priests, imams, rabbis etc., people whose learning and example offer further support and lend even more meaning to life itself.

But there are other ways to find inner peace. The path to a spiritual life does not necessarily lead to religion, one can be awed by nature, beauty, love or peace without the need to seek an external reason for their existence. As a naturist, I find that just being naked in nature is sufficiently uplifting to provide a rich spiritual life. Once having shed clothes, especially in a social setting, many of the learnt preconceptions about nakedness disappear, it is not embarrassing, sexually provocative nor is it threatening. On the contrary, it leads to peace, acceptance of one's own body and distance from the relentless appearance led battle for the perfect body. Gone are worries about fashion, the gap between one's self and the media led frenzy for size zero creations. In their place is a sense of calm and a realisation of the more important things in life.

Whatever its benefits, being a member of a minority it is not an easy path to follow. There is no voice loud enough to create a bulwark against the voice of unreason. This is odd, as part of the teaching of all religions concerns their persecution when the religion was in its infancy. This should lead to tolerance of other minorities but often it does not. The dominant religion in a country will seek and often achieve legislative power in the country, the resulting legislation will often be to the detriment of minorities, the voices of the minorities ignored.

It is clearly the case that no belief system has the answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything", not that followed by Moslems, Christians, Jews nor any minority like the naturists. As a result, it is cleary a universal truth, that tolerance of other people's beliefs must be A Good Thing. I feel no compulsion to stop others in following their beliefs, provided they cause no harm. I am happy to have a land with churches, mosques, synagogues and temples etc. All I ask is tolerance of my way of life, my beliefs. It does not seem much to ask.

I also take it as a universal truth that my body cannot be in itself, bad. It cannot be sinful in any religious sense. Religious people believe that bodies are the result of creation by a God or Gods, so implying or stating that a body is sinful is saying that the God has made a mistake. A divine creator surely cannot make a body where one part is good and another sinful. Sin is in the intent of the sinner, someone going peacefully about their daily lives in a peaceful manner and harming no-one cannot be sinful.

So if you see me naked tending the garden, sweeping the path, walking or just reading a book, please think of this, I am seeking peace with the world, with myself and with you. I am not a threat to you, your children nor anyone else, I am not using precious resources, causing pollution or global warming. I am a human being like you, I share your frailties, hopes and fears, but have learnt that social nakedness is A Good Thing. Please be tolerant and I will be to you.