Sunday, July 9, 2023

A Season To Admire The Body

At all times of the year, the human body can be seen and admired, if not in person, then at least through artistic representations of the human body or imagery accessed through media and the internet.  None of this gazing is sexual unless there is sexual intention behind it, as opposed to platonic fixation.  In either case, the human body in its various degrees of exposure is an objectively nonsexual thing.  Perception is not the thing being perceived, and the body is not used or even perceived in a sexual way simply by existing or being bared to any degree.  This is true of every human physical form, male and female, no matter its beauty.

At any time of year, a person also has their own body to care for and admire.  No matter the season, there is always the possibility of seeing other people and appreciating their bodies in one way or another, but we all have bodies that can also receive appreciation from our own mind without ever descending into arrogance.  Underneath clothing with all of its protection from temperature or its societal normalcy (in some cultures), there is a body, and there can be great psychological and physical comfort alike in forgoing this covering.  Indeed, many non-rationalists already seem to at least passively experience this in certain contexts.

Times of year like the summer season and locations associated with swimming, like beaches and pools, are often times and places where people will remove more clothing than usual to maximize comfort or in hopes of being perceived as sexy--again, this is not because nudity or beauty or swimwear is sexual (not even lingerie is sexual, although it can be enjoyed sexually).  Legalistic Christians, in their boundless emotionalism, attachment to assumptions and tradition (Deuteronomy 4:2, Matthew 15:3-9), and philosophical ignorance, both confuse sensuality for sexuality and mistake sexuality for something Biblically sinful, when neither is the case.  Only very specific sexual motivations or acts actually deviate from Yahweh's nature.

The summer is a time when the human body might be displayed more often and more freely, in part because of swimwear like bikinis, and even as all seasons are times to appreciate and celebrate philosophical truths and nonsinful experiences, it is in some ways an especially ideal time to focus on the pleasures of sensuality (sensuality is not contrary to Yahweh's will, not when it is pursued in its many permissible expressions and without hedonism.  Sensual irrespective of the context, the body is openly displayed with or without sexual intentions at this time.  It is a fitting season to dwell on and find joy in the Christian deity's greatest physical creation.

A lifetime of assumptions, errors, and prudery can be replaced with rationalistic awareness of logical truths, familiarity with the actual teachings of Biblical ethics, and excitement of sensual or sexual kinds at the body.  The body is, after all, something to be grateful to God for.  There is nothing Yahweh condemns about being privately or outwardly grateful for our own bodies and for the consciousnesses they house and for beauty in the bodies of others.  What deity whose nature dictates what is good (James 1:13-17) could create something that is evil merely to have or see or delight in?


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