I'm Mormon, Is Naturism/nudism ok for me?

- by MormonDad

While many have discussed the pros and cons of nudity and many here advocate for a more open society where nudity is accepted or how they wished they could be nude more often. Many have reluctant spouses who they wish were more accepting. We have even had some who have explored and even ultimately for one reason or other backed off from naturism/nudism. In this discussion, I will make no attempt to convince or disprove anyone from endorsing, accepting, adopting or rejecting the concept or practice of naturism/nudism. I only wish to discuss the process of coming to one's own decision and course. I will use my own experience to illustrate this, not saying in any manner that I did it right or am an example to follow.

In my personal journey into the world of naturism, I come from a background completely at odds with the notion of being nude outside of one’s own bedroom, bathroom or locker room. Even the concept of skinny dipping single-gender had negative connotations. I came face to face with the concept of naturism when making some changes in my personal and family life, which I won't go into here. Suffice it to say I had to evaluate whether nudity was acceptable before God or not.

In the process, I read from various sources and websites. Whether I was guided to specific sites or otherwise I will leave to the reader's interpretation. I will say that many sites were easily found on web searches which in more recent searches have brought up primarily pornographic sites. I found several helpful sites and considering I hadn't even heard the term Naturist prior I never searched under that term. Most helpful was the now-defunct site, LDSSD Connections and the earlier version of this site.

With the information in hand, I was still perplexed with the idea of nudity in mixed-gender situations. It went totally against all that I had been taught growing up. I did search through scriptural references and prophetic and apostolic utterances for some kind of guidance, but only found silence on the matter. The only scriptural citations on nudity seemed to imply a neutral or tolerance of nudity. The only thing even close to denunciation was when talking of activities done when nude and in all honesty, only denounced the action and not the nudity.

Left with this, I decided to follow James’ admonition (James 1:5) to ask Heavenly Father. I did so and what came to me was this:

“Why are you asking me this, I don't care what you wear or don’t wear as long as your heart is right with me. If you want to be nude that is fine with me.”

Now in my studying this out, I was talking it through with my wife. I will admit because I was deployed with the Army I had more time and so I was studying and working through it much faster than she was. However, I was discussing everything with her as I went. We were also working through some family and personal issues too. In the end, I did not make the decision for my wife, I did not ask [her] to accept my answer or to join me. What I did do was to ask her to study and pray for herself, which she did. She received an answer of her own and to my relief was the same as mine. I was glad to have her independently confirm I hadn't gone off on some perverted path. We then decided to bring it up with our children. That was an interesting experience. The older ones who were of a mind to do so were asked to study and pray for themselves. Two did and also got the same confirmation, again much to my relief. The younger ones just accepted the change at home.

This is my experience and answer. I only suggest the process as an example for others to follow. That being to study it out, ponder and pray about it. A couple of crucial points here that can be forgotten or not completely applied. First, you must come to a decision. I have found that Heavenly Father can be quite literal in his answers. Ask Him a general question and you will get a general answer, ask him specifics and He will give you specifics. Thus you need to make some kind of choice and ask specifically about it. Asking what should I do will not get any real guidance. Second, keep an open mind. Many have already made up Heavenly Father’s mind up before even asking Him. If you just know it is evil before you ask but agree to go through the process because that is what you are supposed to do, why should anyone be surprised to hear your answer of it is evil? Keeping an open mind does not imply accepting or rejecting any course of action. You may not at the moment agree or disagree with the particular point but you can still be open to Heavenly guidance.

I also believe it is important to accept that we do not “know all things” or have all the answers, nor do we always have a good understanding of what the prophets and apostles have said. In spite of what we think.

Prophets and Apostles from the beginning have encouraged all to use this pattern when seeking knowledge, understanding, and guidance. There are those who have used it in some aspects but not others. There are no limitations as to when and for what we are to use this pattern but rather told to do so for all things. By this pattern, we can find out the truth of all things and not what man says they are.

Now I can assure you from my own experiences that this pattern works and you will get an answer if follow correctly. I will also caution you to not apply your answer to anyone but yourself. Because you do not have stewardship over anyone else but yourself, you cannot say what they should or should not do. Granted a Bishop can get guidance for his ward in topics appropriate to his stewardship as can a Stake President. But only the Prophet can speak to the church as a whole. Considering that to date no prophet has spoken out one way or another about naturism you cannot imply it is either good or bad. So the principle here is to only apply your answer to yourself. Just as I had my wife and then my kids follow the pattern for themselves and I did not dictate to them what they should or should not do, we must not answer for others or make our answers apply to others. Granted as a father I can ask and get confirmation as to whether I should allow nudity in my home, but it is still up to each individual as to whether they individually will live nude or not.

I encourage all to apply this pattern to find out about nudity (or any topic in which you desire to learn the truth.) if they haven't yet done so. For those who are married, I encourage an open discussion with your spouse on the matter and then both jointly and individually study, ponder and pray for your own answer. While there still can be obstacles of culture, upbringing and such, I have found this process in a loving and trusting relationship to be the best approach. Should your spouse come up with a different answer than you do, don't despair or argue the differences. While it may be ok for you it may not be right for your spouse, or your spouse may not be ready for it right now, perhaps never will.