By Lynda Heller

While sexuality seems to be taking over the world, some Christians are fighting against oversexualization in unconventional ways.

One of the best ways to capture the attention of an audience is to mention the word sex. This explains why everything seems to be sexualized these days, and why so many movies awkward passionate scenes. Looking at billboards and magazine ads, it is clear that the advertising industry is capitalizing on people’s interest in anything sexual. I get frustrated as more and more words have a sexual twist, forcing me to be cautious about what I say. For example, the word “fetish” used to just be creepy with magical connotations, now it is creepy with sexual connotations. This is disappointing because it could be such a useful word, but now it must be avoided or else it might be misconstrued.

I know I am not the only one disturbed by the way that sex is taking over society. Once something has been sexualized it can be difficult to reclaim it, but some Christians are going to extreme measure to overcome modern perversity. Christian naturists declare their bodies to not be be sexual objects by abstaining from the wearing of clothing. They live in entirely naked communities, trying to restore innocence to the human body.

The naturist movement spans many denominations of Christianity, including anabaptists. In the 1500s, a group of nudist anabaptists ran through the streets of Amsterdam naked in an attempt to evangelize. Unfortunately, they were later killed for their streaking. (This tradition of Anabaptists running naked clarifies why Messiah College is so accepting of the men’s soccer team’s boxer run.)

Christian naturists use the Bible to defend their lifestyle. They point out that clothing was imposed on humans by themselves after sin entered the world. When God made clothes for humanity, He was performing the first blood sacrifice rather than condemn Adam and Eve’s attempt to hide themselves.

To nudists, clothing is covering the pure (that which is made by God) with that which is made by humans. Any insult to the body is an insult to God’s creation. As Christians, they seek to respect the Creator by respecting the human form as it was made. They do not try and make anything more or less out of the body than what it is. And, I imagine, with a range of ages and body types in a nudist community there will be few illusions about exactly what we are as humans.

Perhaps the most compelling point made by Christian naturists, is that clothing is not working out too well. Humans are beset by psychological disorders relating to body image. Perhaps if we were more open about our flaws we would be less insecure, and place less importance on physical attractiveness. I am certain that we would laugh more. But don’t worry, as much as I respect the Christian naturist movement, I am not personally interested in joining because it would be far too cold.