I'm going through the Bible (which I rarely do because it simply annoys the hell out of me to read the ignorance of men before my time writing their version of "hearsay" from a higher power) and I come across this little diddy in Leviticus chapter 18:
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Ok...some of these, completely understandable. 19: Don't get down and dirty with a nasty lady...yea we've all experienced that one, we know not to do that again. But as for the rest...WTF Mate?! I'm sure there is some deeper meaning to your context of "uncovering nakedness," but as far as I recall didn't the big guy in the sky put us on the Earth in the Garden of Eden completely nude in the first place? And if it was due to our follies as man that we even realized we were nude in the first place, then wouldn't it follow that to be more "Godly" would be to wipe away all reservations with nudity itself? Leaving it as "just another thing" in our lives.
As a people we put too much reverence in certain aspects of our lives or give too much meaning to something that should be otherwise meaningless. We all have nude bodies! Surprise!
What brings me to this point is a few conversations I've had with fellow Actors my age. If your daughter wants to participate in a production where her nude body is used to represent liberation from the requirements of an inhumane government, don't call her worthless! Embrace her ability to make her own decisions. If your school has a body of students that want to produce shows that happen to have nudity, LET THEM! If there is any place where trying something new and expanding the intellectual capacities of those involved is ever appropriate, it is in the University setting. I am sick of hearing about schools that would "Never do that show, there's too much fowl language" or "Not do that show, we can't let our students see nudity." By doing this, by forcing your Theatre students to only experience your idea of "kitchen-sink" theatre you are completely stunting their artistic growth and giving them no understanding of the true principles of theatre in itself. How can you create art when you haven't experienced it?
So I say: do something you've never done. Try something you've never tried. Experience your life for everything it can possibly hold and enjoy as much of it as possible.
Will you get hurt, probably.
Will you come out stronger and better for it in the end?
...Absolutely.
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8 comments:
Adi dear, I'm pretty sure #19 is referring to menstruation. In orthodox Judaism, women on their periods were not supposed even touch their husbands.... there's a whole bunch of crazy rules, it's pretty interesting, look it up. Anyway, Biblical rules about sex were all about keeping sex strictly for reproduction, because that was important when there weren't a lot of humans. Look at it from an anthropological point of view.
Wow. I definitely didn't read between the lines in that one. It's good to know that. And although it may be referring to menstruation, my focus is on the literal text here. We can take anything from the Bible and make it refer to whatever we want (Not saying that's what you're doing of course, generally speaking). My point is simply that if we look at it as written, then we're reading some really Fed up shiz. And who is there really to say that what was literally written wasn't exactly what was meant. What we need is an update...might I recommend a musical? We'll call it "Bible-The Revival"
Oh lord- a musical bible sounds terrifying. Maybe fantastic.
I'm still confused about what you think is fucked up though- this whole passage is literally saying don't sleep with your immediate family (except for 17, which may be saying no 3-ways, but still with family members). Most people today, except for west virginians, would agree that it's gross to fuck family members, no?
This excerpt, not particularly Fed up, but you can certainly find some things that are simply ridiculous. And this passage doesn't "say" no incest. It "says" don't "uncover nakedness." If we define uncovering nakedness as simply seeing someone naked, then this chapter is just beating a dead horse. I'm trying to make the point that nudity doesn't matter. It's not a big deal. I'm guessing that maybe this particular biblical example wasn't the best to prove my point. :-)
you think leviticus is bad!
wait till you read the Hindu Manusmirit. I have never read anything which made women as objects of punishment as that did.
If a man was impotent, often the sin could be rectified by making the woman sleep with a horse. beat that!
Oh, nice blog, btw :-)
Thanks for that astraeus! That is simply ridiculous. These fantastical religious beliefs are simply beyond me. Why can't we just believe in our own god in our own way without these dire consequences to deal with as a result of not following the rules exactly? It's just ridiculous. My heart goes out to the women who have suffered at the hands of a man's illegitimate religious tactics. :-(
Sorry Love, I have to say something about this one. Don't hate.
...
So, starting with the Garden of Eden. We were naked and we knew no sin. we could look at each other without any lustful or selfish thoughts.
We were naked and we knew no sin, we also had choice. Choice in itself is neither evil nor good, it simply is. God has choice, the angels had choice, and so fairly, he made us with that power.
Satan tempted us with evil, and we chose it instead of God. So then we were fallen. In that fallen state we suddenly saw our naked bodies in a different light.
You can't tell me that by putting a naked body in front of a mass of people that they WONT think lustful or selfish thoughts. Its our nature. We lust. We want. We can say "I'm making a statement against government, or society, or religion" or whatever but you can't stop a mind from wandering where it will.
I can understand your annoyance with those who refuse to play certain parts to produce certain plays for their nudity, but please don't discredit the reason to just mere prudishness.
Its ok if people are uncomfortable with nakedness.
Maybe you think society would be better if nakedness were just accepted as it was in the Garden of Eden.
I agree with you.
Ideally, naked would be the most pure form for us to take. God created us in the likeness of Him, then what beautiful beings we are!
Bur out minds just aren't in the right place for that.
Anyway, that's how I feel about it.
I love you all the same.
That's basically what i was getting at, the fact that We're no longer in that place mentally where nudity is commonplace. we made pretty much the same argument only you used the bible as your examples whereas i used theatre. Different perspectives arriving at the same conclusion.
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