Naked Reflections: Random thoughts about nudity and nakedness
Nakedness and religion
Have
you ever wondered why there is
such a wide divergence of attitudes
towards nudity in religion? Isn't
it strange how some religions, including the world's largest, positively
loath nudity, yet other, equally ancient and valid religions such as
Wicca have no problem with it or indeed actively embrace it?
Certainly nothing in the Christian Scriptures specifically
condemns the naked body: quite the opposite in fact.
I
have a simple theory, and at the risk of outraging scholars and
theologians
who have far more knowledge than me, I'm
going to share it with you. And it's all to do with the differences
between men and women and the control
of the masses.
Here then is the Gospel according to Liz
The
world's
four
main religions evolved
from
ancient communities which were hierarchical and patriarchal in
character, and traditionally deprecated women to some degree. Women
were considered to be second
class citizens, unfitted to make important decisions and totally
subservient to the menfolk.
Being
hierarchical meant that the tribe or community was ruled from the top
down, with the king or chief at the very top, his family and advisers
on the next rung down, the priesthood next, then everyone else.
Everyone else, of course, being
the ones who toiled in the fields and quarried the stone and did all
the work that kept the place going—and allowed the upper classes
to live in the style to which they had become accustomed.
Of
course a hierarchical society only functions if you've got some way
of keeping the plebs
under
your
control,
and it soon became apparent that
the easiest way to keep a superstitious and unsophisticated peasantry
in order
was
through religion. Promise them exclusion
from heaven and eternal
damnation if they ignore the preachings of the priesthood and they'll
walk
through fire if
you tell them that God desires it—and
some Gods did.
And so in patriarchal, hierarchical
communities
religion was used to order society according to the will of the
ruling classes.
Now,
the ruling classes didn't approve of sex, other than for
reproduction. Or, rather, they did
approve
of sex, and
lots of it, for
procreation and
pleasure, but only for themselves. If
the commoners indulged in too much hanky-panky they might be
distracted
from
their duties and
then
who would do all the hard work? Certainly not the king and his
cronies, and so it was written that sex for breeding was just about
OK as long as you didn't enjoy it, but carnality was a sin for
which
you
would
be
condemned
to hell-fire and
everlasting torment, unless you were one of the nibs in which case you could go at it like rabbits and still go to heaven.
But
if sex for pleasure was to be properly
discouraged
you had to go after its companion—lust.
And what was the main cause of lust? The naked body, especially the
voluptuous, bewitching,
beguiling wicked female body which could ignite uncontrollable
passions in the poor simple menfolk and
encourage
unbridled lust and
licentiousness, which
would keep them from their work, ruin
the economy, depress
the stock market and
generally
bring
about the
end of the world. And
so it came to pass that nudity too became a sin.
These
misogynistic, anti-sex and anti-nudity teachings became firmly rooted
in all of the male dominated religions,
(an
acquaintance of mine calls them 'Sky-God
faiths')
where
they
live on as part of the accepted dogma to this day. Nothing
to do with divine revelation. Just good old fashioned control of the
masses.
The
religions which allow or encourage nudity on the other hand have
either evolved from the much older, (possibly
neolithic)
matriarchal
beliefs
(which my friend calls 'Earth
mother'.religions)
or are more
modern faiths
which are less
influenced by historical prejudices and ancient attitudes.
Neo
Paganism generally emphasizes the sanctity of the Earth and Nature
and usually incorporates the concept of both a male and female deity,
with the female principle often deemed to be the more important.
Fertility
therefore is central to the belief system, and sex—including
sex for pleasure—is seen as natural
and desirable and
is revered as part
of the life cycle. Similarly nakedness is considered to be wholesome
and natural, and often forms part of the sacred ritual as
it is considered
to bring you closer to the divine—indeed,
the Goddess
herself is often represented in the nude. The
body is sacred and extraordinary and
is something to be celebrated
and
respected, and
quite rightly so, in my humble opinion.
So
now you know why some religions let you get your kit off, and some
don't.
Here
endeth the lesson.
