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NUDISM, NATURISM, GYMNOSOPHY, AND BODY FREEDOM

MODESTY, DECENCY, DIGNITY, CHASTITY, 
AND NUDITY IN LIGHT OF
THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM

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MODESTY, DECENCY, DIGNITY, CHASTITY, AND NUDITY
BY SHANE STEINKAMP

I meet many Catholics who believe that a naked person is, by definition, in a state of indecency or immodesty.  They think that to be seen naked by someone other than a doctor or a spouse is wrong.  Some further believe that to simply see someone who is not a spouse, child, or patient in a naked state is to commit some kind of sin.  This is a very understandable view in light of the messages most people receive while growing up.  It's interesting, however, to examine these beliefs in the light of important Church teachings.

I was recently asked to consider the subject of nakedness in the context of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Namely, in light of the following;  

(Parts of The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition) are highlighted in navy blue.)


PART THREE - LIFE IN CHRIST 
SECTION TWO - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

CHAPTER TWO "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

ARTICLE 9 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

...

II. THE BATTLE FOR PURITY

2520 Baptism confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires. With God's grace he will prevail

- by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright and undivided heart;

- by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill God's will in everything;

- by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses yearning in fools"

... 

2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.

2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.

2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.

2525 Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of the communications media that their presentations show concern for respect and restraint. Purity of heart brings freedom from widespread eroticism and avoids entertainment inclined to voyeurism and illusion.

2526 So called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated in the moral law. Those in charge of education can reasonably be expected to give young people instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.

2527 "The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-present attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of peoples. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were, from within; it fortifies, completes, and restores them in Christ."

IN BRIEF

2528 "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28).

2529 The ninth commandment warns against lust or carnal concupiscence.

2530 The struggle against carnal lust involves purifying the heart and practicing temperance.

2531 Purity of heart will enable us to see God: it enables us even now to see things according to God.

2532 Purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision.

2533 Purity of heart requires the modesty which is patience, decency, and discretion. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person.


The subjects of Modesty, Decency, Dignity, and Chastity are closely interwoven.  So much so that it is sometimes difficult to separate them into different virtues.  In order to understand each one it its own light, and then understand purity in the light of all of them, it is necessary to inquire closely of the Catechism in order to understand the matter thoroughly.

In order to begin, we have to go all the way back to:


PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

...

Paragraph 6. Man

355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."

...

I. "IN THE IMAGE OF GOD"

...

357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.

...

364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:

...

IV. MAN IN PARADISE

374 The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him, in a state that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in Christ.


This establishes the inherent and irrevolkable Dignity of Man, as Created in God's Image.   All men - and women - are endowed with inalienable human Dignity.  This is regardless of dress or material possession.

In order to understand Chastity, we have to examine:


PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION TWO
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

CHAPTER TWO
"YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

ARTICLE 6
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not commit adultery.

You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

2332 Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.

2333 Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.

...

2336 Jesus came to restore creation to the purity of its origins. In the Sermon on the Mount, he interprets God's plan strictly: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

...

The tradition of the Church has understood the sixth commandment as encompassing the whole of human sexuality.

II. THE VOCATION TO CHASTITY

2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.

The integrity of the person

2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.

...

2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort. 

The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

...

2349 "People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single." Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practice chastity in continence:

Offenses against chastity

2351 Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. ...

2353 Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young.

2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. ...

2355 Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. ...

2356 Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. ...

...

2395 Chastity means the integration of sexuality within the person. It includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery.

2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.


So Chastity is something that involves sexuality.  It is something that involves action and intention.  If a man looks at an undressed woman - perhaps by observing a neighbor through an open window - and has lust for her, then he commits a sin against Chastity.  She, however, has not sinned against Chastity, but is the unwilling victim of the sinner's lustful intentions.  She cannot be said to be responsible for his sin any more than a woman could be responsible for her own rape.


PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE
MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER ONE
THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

ARTICLE 4
THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS

1749 Freedom makes man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.

I. THE SOURCES OF MORALITY

1750 The morality of human acts depends on:

- the object chosen;

- the end in view or the intention;

- the circumstances of the action.

The object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the "sources," or constitutive elements, of the morality of human acts.

1751 The object chosen is a good toward which the will deliberately directs itself. It is the matter of a human act. The object chosen morally specifies the act of the will, insofar as reason recognizes and judges it to be or not to be in conformity with the true good. Objective norms of morality express the rational order of good and evil, attested to by conscience.

1752 In contrast to the object, the intention resides in the acting subject. Because it lies at the voluntary source of an action and determines it by its end, intention is an element essential to the moral evaluation of an action. The end is the first goal of the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action. The intention is a movement of the will toward the end: it is concerned with the goal of the activity. It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken. ...

1753 A good intention (for example, that of helping one's neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. The end does not justify the means. Thus the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a legitimate means of saving the nation. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving).

1754 The circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary elements of a moral act. They contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or evil of human acts (for example, the amount of a theft). They can also diminish or increase the agent's responsibility (such as acting out of a fear of death). Circumstances of themselves cannot change the moral quality of acts themselves; they can make neither good nor right an action that is in itself evil.

II. GOOD ACTS AND EVIL ACTS

1755 A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself (such as praying and fasting "in order to be seen by men").

The object of the choice can by itself vitiate an act in its entirety. There are some concrete acts - such as fornication - that it is always wrong to choose, because choosing them entails a disorder of the will, that is, a moral evil.

1756 It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc.) which supply their context. There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.

IN BRIEF

1757 The object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the three "sources" of the morality of human acts.

1758 The object chosen morally specifies the act of willing accordingly as reason recognizes and judges it good or evil.

1759 "An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention" (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Dec. praec. 6). The end does not justify the means.

1760 A morally good act requires the goodness of its object, of its end, and of its circumstances together.

1761 There are concrete acts that it is always wrong to choose, because their choice entails a disorder of the will, i.e., a moral evil. One may not do evil so that good may result from it.


The topic of Morality is rather more complex than Dignity and Chastity because it involves three separate considerations: the object, the intention, and the circumstances.  

We can examine the state of nakedness as it involves these three considerations.  

The object is, of course, the body.  If a person undresses for the sake of bathing or caring for bodily functions, this in and of itself is a moral action because the body must be cared for and used properly.  

If the body is used improperly, however, the object changes.  If someone exposes himself with the intention of arousing alarm, distress, or lust in other persons then that person commits a sin.  The object is no longer the body, but another person, and the intention is immoral.  

A woman who removes her clothing in a seductive way in a nightclub or similar den of iniquity commits an immorality because her specific intention is to arouse lustful intentions in the minds and hearts of the onlookers.  It is a kind of prostitution.  If the same woman removes her clothing in front of a doctor in order to be examined, then the intention is different and no immorality is present.

If a man removes his clothing in the presence of other men, say in a gym locker room, no immorality is present because it is a proper place and circumstance to be nude.  If that man  made an honest mistake of wandering out of the men's locker room and into the women's locker room (what a mistake that would be!) he still does not commit an immorality so long as he is not aroused to improper thoughts by something he might see and quickly redresses his error and returns to the men's room.  He has committed a terrible mistake - and the circumstances are indeed suspect - but it was not immoral.  If it was his intention to wander nude into the ladies room, then that, of course, is immoral - it is a sin - because he knows that it is improper for him to enter the ladies' room. 

Discussion of Morality must, in turn, come to sin, and in this context, Adam through his sin, was ashamed of his nakedness.  Some people point to this as a means to justify the idea that nakedness is inherently sinful.

It's interesting to note God's response to Adam's shame: Genesis 3:11 "And he said, "Who told you that you were naked?"

Since there weren't any other people, who were they hiding from? Adam and Eve were husband and wife, and no one else could see them, so there was no immorality involved.  They were hiding from God. They weren't spiritually mature enough to appreciate that we are ALL naked in the sight of God. God made garments of skins for Adam, but the Bible does not say the state of nakedness is being condemned. Because of the Fall, Adam and Eve were no longer in Eden and were thus subject to the varieties of weather and climate, and God knew they would need clothes. God loved and cared for them even after they had sinned.

It is interesting to turn back to the Catechism to further shed some light on this Original Sin, and some of its consequences.


PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO
THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

ARTICLE 10
"I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS"

...

I. ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved."521 Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."522

978 "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them. . . . Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil "523


So, through Christ, we are no longer beholden to Adamic Sin, but rather there remains "in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them."  We are free from Adam's sin - and Adam's shame.  

This, of course, doesn't cover personal sin, indeed, "we must still combat the movements of concupiscence (strong lust) that never cease leading us into evil."  So, what about that sin?  Let's turn again to the Catechism.


PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE
MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

CHAPTER ONE
THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

ARTICLE 8
SIN

...

II. THE DEFINITION OF SIN

1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law."

1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods," knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God." In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.

...

III. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SINS

1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."


In none of this can we find anything that says that the body, or any state of the body, is sinful.  Rather sins are immoral actions and thoughts.  Simple nudity, even in the presence of others, is not in and of itself a sin.  As we have seen above, there must be an evil intention or immoral goal.

So, to return to the original article of Purity, let's re-read it having educated ourselves and see if we can make some determinations.  I have included notes in red.

PART THREE - LIFE IN CHRIST 
SECTION TWO - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

CHAPTER TWO "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

ARTICLE 9 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

This is the wrongful intention that we learned about.  It is an immorality on the part of the one lusting.

...

II. THE BATTLE FOR PURITY

2520 Baptism confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires. With God's grace he will prevail

- by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright and undivided heart;

Chastity involves sexuality, as we have seen, and is irrespective of a person's state of dress or undress - unless one dresses provocatively.

- by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill God's will in everything;

Again, the intention weighs heavily.

- by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses yearning in fools"

It is impure thought that incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments.  We must be on guard against these impure thoughts, weather we are dressed in heavy coveralls, or naked in our own bathtubs.

... 

2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.

Modesty is a two way street.  It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden.  Going back to morality, we can apply the same considerations to Modesty; the object, the intention, and the circumstances.  It would be immodest to encourage a lustful desire in another person by wearing provocative clothing, but to refuse to undress when it is beneficial to do so - such as for a doctor - is not immodest.  

Conversely, Modesty guides how we look at and behave towards other persons with dignity and solidarity.  We should never look or behave towards anyone in a way that does not respect them as a person rather than an object of lust or desire.

2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

Here is a useful definition.  "Modesty is decency."  The Catechism doesn't define decency, but to do so we only need to turn to Romans 13:13 "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy."  From this we see that indecency - and then also immodesty - arises from impure action rather than a state of being.  

A further clarificaition is given to our context by, "It inspires one's choice of clothing."  What does this mean?  St. Paul gives us the answer in 1 Timothy 2:9  "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,"  So immodest dress would be gaudy dress - braided hair, flashy jewelry, and expensive clothes.  Just as we wouldn't dress in a provocative way to encourage lustful desires, we should also not dress lavishly to encourage jealousy or envy.  To do so would also be immodest.  Again, in our context, this says nothing about simple nudity being immodest - although in certain settings it could well be, such as in a sleazy night club where prostitution of many kinds takes place.

2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.

This is modesty of the mind and the feelings.  Just as we wouldn't look at an actual person in such a way as to treat them as an object and not as a human being with inherent dignity, we also wouldn't ensnare ourselves by looking at pornography or other immoral media messages.

2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.

This is a very good point.  Modesty can vary from culture to culture.  In some cultures women cover their faces.  In others they cover their hair.  Each culture must be judged by how it applies this modesty as it applies to the spiritual dignity of mankind.  It is important to teach modesty to children.  This is for their own sake, because evil people might seek to exploit them.  It is likewise important not to teach them that their own bodies - which are made in the Image of God and possess their own inherent human dignity - are shameful or evil.  

2525 Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of the communications media that their presentations show concern for respect and restraint. Purity of heart brings freedom from widespread eroticism and avoids entertainment inclined to voyeurism and illusion.

2526 So called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated in the moral law. Those in charge of education can reasonably be expected to give young people instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.

This is perfectly in line with our context.  Moral dignity and spiritual dignity are closely intertwined, and are virtues of the spirit and of the heart.  The state of dress or undress does not change these virtues.  

2527 "The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-present attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of peoples. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were, from within; it fortifies, completes, and restores them in Christ."

IN BRIEF

2528 "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28).

2529 The ninth commandment warns against lust or carnal concupiscence.

2530 The struggle against carnal lust involves purifying the heart and practicing temperance.

2531 Purity of heart will enable us to see God: it enables us even now to see things according to God.

2532 Purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision.

2533 Purity of heart requires the modesty which is patience, decency, and discretion. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person.


So, from the Catechism we can see that a state of undress is not automatically indecent, immoral, undignified, unchaste, or immodest.  

Of course, some persons are going to say that I have twisted the Catechism in a way to suit my own ends.  You do not have to believe me, however, because the Holy Father has penned his own ideas on the subject.  In two of his excellent books, he writes about our very subject.  

For reference, please see Covenant of Love: Pope John Paul II on Sexuality, Marriage, and Family in the Modern World (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985) and Love and Responsibility (Rev. ed. Trans. H.T. Willetts. New York: Farrar, 1981).  I have included the relevant quotes below.

Pope John Paul II agrees that nudity, in and of itself, is not sinful. "The human body in itself always has its own inalienable human dignity," he says. It is only obscene when it is reduced to "an object of 'enjoyment,' meant for the gratification of concupiscence itself."

Pope John Paul II writes: "There are circumstances in which nakedness is not immodest. If someone takes advantage of such an occasion to treat the person as an object of enjoyment (even if his action is purely internal) it is only he who is guilty of shamelessness . . . not the other."

Pope John Paul II writes: "Sexual modesty cannot then in any simple way be identified with the use of clothing, nor shamelessness with the absence of clothing and total or partial nakedness. . . . Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person, when its aim is to arouse concupiscence, as a result of which the person is put in the position of an object for enjoyment. . . . There are certain objective situations in which even total nudity of the body is not immodest."

I hope that this will help the Catholic brothers and sisters see that their bodies - and indeed the bodies of others - are not evil or shameful in and of themselves, despite what has been wrongly taught for so long.  

This was not written as an encouragement for persons who's conscience dictates otherwise to appear naked in public, or indeed to encourage any behavior whatsoever.  By this article, however, I hope that the Catholic brothers and sisters will see that those who choose to remove their clothing at times when it seems appropriate to them - such as designated beaches - are not committing any sin or indecency.

For a more esoteric presentation of the above, I invite you to read "This is My Body" a work about the naked body and its relationship to the Earth.

If you finally decide to walk with God in the manner of Adam, I invite you to read "On Being Human" an article on nude or naked hiking.  

*** 

Shane Steinkamp - April 21, 2004

"Adam and Eve entered the world naked and unashamed - naked and pure-minded. And no descendant of theirs has ever entered it otherwise. All have entered it naked, unashamed, and clean in mind. They entered it modest. They had to acquire immodesty in the soiled mind, there was no other way to get it. ... The convention mis-called "modesty" has no standard, and cannot have one, because it is opposed to nature and reason and is therefore an artificiality and subject to anyone's whim - anyone's diseased caprice." - Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth

 

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