For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever.
There has been a lot of debate about modesty sparked by a presentation made by former actress turned swimsuit designer, Jessica Rey. The purpose of this article is not to address the logical fallacies or my issues with the presentation, but rather to discuss one of the major arguments supporting Rey’s speech.
“I guarantee any man will look at a woman in very little attire and will have something sexual come. That is only natural.”
“Bikinis cause natural reactions men and women have and that I do not want to elicit in anybody except for my husband.”
“Men are naturally inclined to be more sexual than women. So as women we need to support men and not cause temptation to them.”
All of these comments were made on a variety of rebuttals to Rey’s comments. As far as I can tell, these comments were also made by members of the LDS church. That is what makes me the most sad about them. They all seem to dismiss an ejaculatory response of a man as something that cannot be stopped because it is “natural”.
That word natural is a unique word. It implies that something can come easy to us (She’s a natural at the piano) or that something is pure (This cleaner is all natural) or even that something is original (This animal is in its natural habitat). Put all of the definitions together and natural is something that can be pure and that originates from a good place.
Deadly Nightshade
However, not everything that is natural is wholesome. Deadly Nightshade is a naturally poisonous berry. Just a few of these purple berry will be enough to kill even a large man. After much processing and artificial manipulation of this berry the basic nature changes into something different. Doctors and scientists extract the active ingredient in the berry, Atropine, and use it to create a medicine that is common in eye treatments. This process is the same for many herbs, Castor Beans, Wolfsbane, Digitalis, and a host of other posions.
The same is true for any negative natural inclinations for humans.
Lust is one of the 7 Deadly Sins and the majority of the population would agree that it is something we should avoid. It is a poison in our souls. Just like any poison it needs to be removed.
That’s why the argument that women are responsible to dressed modestly because men are naturally inclined to impure thoughts when around women who have different modesty standards is surprising to me. It dismisses the idea that the “natural man is an enemy to God”.
Are we not to overcome our nature state in order to be healed?
Related articles
- Women are the root of all evil (feministmormonhousewives.org)
- addressing “the evolution of the swimsuit” (youngmormonfeminists.org)
- Whoso Looketh Upon a Womam (http://toeveryonethatbelieveth.blogspot.com)
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via experimental criticism http://www.experimentalcriticism.com/2013/06/21/the-natural-man/
