4thought.tv

An excellent piece and congratulatipns to 4thought for not censoring it. But why was the opening was graffittied with a warning? Why not just simply say that it contains nudity? A small point perhaps but it illustrates the way in which body-shame breeds more body-shame.

Bob Horrocks
Maybe George and Bob should get together, one with hang ups and the other with hangouts.

This all goes to show how different Christians cherry-pick what they want from the Bible to support their particular proclivity.

If there was a god, and thankfully there is no evidence to suggest there is, I would have thought it would have made sure its 'holy text' was unambiguous. Singing from the same hymn sheet is evidently not one of the strengths of religiosity! Gotta love the irony!

Baffled.

What I do not understand is that Mrs Al-Alawis video gets alot of comments and everyone jumps to attack when shes covered up and here we have a man naked and no one says anything. That is disgusting and this man is lower than an animal. Even a animal may have more respect then him.
Why does everyone seem to be borthered when Zahra Al-Alawi says cover up and everyone seems to congratulate a man who is naked. What a sad and twisted world we live in.

I think this is really interesting, and I agree. Bodies should be treasured, not hidden way. Very good. I am a naturist also

Fantasticly well thought out and thought provoking piece. Well done Bob

yeah treasure your body, eat well, work out etc dont expose your wobbly hairy bits all over the place. Its just not very nice for everyone else to see. I am sure your wife like you naked but I dont! also clothing is really clever, it keeps you warm, protects you from burning, stops chaffing, stops people having to sit on a seat that has had someone else's naked butt on it, gross! get some common sense!

Bob Horrocks

It's probably more likely our distant relatives started wearing clothes to keep warm, or protect against nettles rather than to stop scaring others with their genitals.

Certainly by the Time of the Flintstones you can see the appearance of modern clothing.

Congratulations to both Bob and the TV company. I am pleased it is not pixelated. I see nothing gross or unpleasant about the human body as some do. I would like there to be more programmes like this. Look at all the fuss about the naked pictures of Prince Harry. Perhaps 4thought could interview him - naked of course. The more pictures of naked bodies appear in a non-sexual environment the more accepted nakedness will become. In some countries the normal attire on the beach is naked. It is accepted and normal. No one is bothered. Bob has highlighted that the same attitude should apply in Christian circles. My study of the Bible, the Word of God, showing His revealed purpose indicates no objection to non-sexual social nakedness because it was common in the hot dusty environment of the Middle East.

Its a question of what's considered currently appropriate. There's a time and place for nudity. This just made me laugh, to see a vicar parading naked, it confirms some people's beliefs about a certain element of the church. As an ex carer I have seen very many nude bodies and it doesn't shock, but as I said, there's a time and place. Lets be honest, most people look pretty awful with no clothes on!

Chris: 'Care to provide the evidence of this extraordinary claim?'
No, I'd be wasting my time- you believe what you like. Our consciousness has very many levels. The 'building blocks' of the universe are mind, not matter as in the Newtonian paradigm. That can be proven but its quite a lengthy process.
I can assure you there's nothing extraordinary about it at all- for most, unexpected yes.

Reason why it is a sin to bare our flesh:http://tinyurl.com/whyitissintogobare

Here's a 4 thought. Put it away, I'm trying to have my dinner!

Just watched this at 7.30 PM before the watershed a time at which children could be watching ! What next for this so called vicar, nude services, love ins ? He is obviously happy for his own children and children of his congregation to see this, no church that i would care to join.

Disgraceful that this was allowed on tv at 19:30, couldnt care either way on the issue however there is a watershed for a reason. People have children and shouldn't have to worry about full frontal nudity at that sort of time of day. really annoyed at the blatant disregard for other peoples social principles.

Are you kidding me. I was sitting watching TV with my 4 year old girl at 7:28pm...I AM NOT IMPRESSED THAT THERE IS A NAKED MAN ON THE TV IT IS UNACCEPTABLE AT THIS TIME OF THE NIGHT. I dont care what he has to say, my daughter wanted to know why he has no clothes on. I am very very angry....She should not have to see this at such a young age.

Urghhhhh why. Really don't want to see this. If you want to get naked do it in private.

Christianity is a creationist conspiracy against Yahweh and this is well illustrated by Bob's appealing to the Bible for legitimacy.
We have a bronze age God that no Gentile can appeal to because Gentiles are of no interest to him. Yet, Bob would have us think the God of the Old Testament is his friend who would vouch for his idiosyncrasy.
This is not pick and choose. It is a proper hi-jacking of the OT and its bronze age God.

It's a mistake to Christianize the idea of naturism. There is no biblical hermeneutic that justifies this approach. Original sin had a devastating effect on humans leading to a real sense of shame and Satan made the most of this, making people focus unwarranted attention on their sexuality as though this was the central element in original sin. At the time God asked "Who told you you were naked?"(Genesis 3v11). It was not God who identified sexuality or the human body with the original sin of disobedience to God but Satan has deceived people into thinking this ever since. But if you look closely at the Bible text it was God who clothed the first humans to relieve their discomfort (Genesis 3v21). Clothes are not a bad thing and modesty is something that is praised in the Bible for very good reasons. On the other hand naturism, as a public demonstration of 'freedom' to show one's body to everyone, may be at the cost of another person's good conscience but also the argument for it put forward in this programme actually perpetuates the false identification of sexuality with the idea of original sin. Jesus' nakedness on the Cross was not a plea for naturism it was an identification with the experience of shame that came from the original turning away from God... Jesus took our shame on himself so we could be free of it but nowhere in the NT is it suggested that that freedom should lead to naturism as result

People say that 'you feel free' when you are naked and you do. However, it is also the absolute best way to de-stress and others seem to also de-stressed. Which is great! Naked has nothing to do with sex. True you tend to end up naked for sex but that's irrelevant.

It makes me laugh all these prudes spitting feathers because there is a naked man on the TV before the so called watershed - especially when they make a big fuss about their children seeing it. Why on earth do they think it is so damaging for children to see? The naked human body does not necessarily always have to be associated with sex and that is one of the points that Bob is making... Good for you Bob!

This video was put on to early, no other mainstream channels shows naked people at this time and why offend people and children. The human body is wonderfully made, if people believe in creation or evolution this is a fact, however I feel a vicar is better served preaching the word of God is that not his role? Matthew 24:14 "The Good News of the Kingdom will be preached" etc, and if the Bible require women to be Modestly dressed 1 Timothy 1:9 then so should men. This shows that sometimes religious people are distracted debating issues other that getting people to know about God word and this should be their main purpose...
People completely naked can be a distraction for obvious reasons, sweat, bodily fluids etc.. Thankfully we have got clothes and if people want to be naturist then carry on these are organised events and when people go they know what to expect, but should we all start walking around naked no thanks I love my different range of clothes.

Zahra Al-Alawi gets close to a thousand thumbs for wanting to cover up, Bob Horrocks a christian vicar who wants us to walk about naked barely gets 100.
And not one person tells him to go back to his own country, cloud cuckoo land.
Nothing Christians do surprises us anymore.

What Bob is saying about God, the bible and nakedness does not ring true. For example:
Because Adam and Eve listened to a talking snake and ate fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they discovered they were naked. When they heard God walking towards them they hid in shame of their nudity. Then this omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent god discovered he couldn’t find them and shouted, “Where art thou?”
When A & E confessed to eating the forbidden fruit they blamed the talking serpent. Then this god apparently became extremely miffed at this turn of events and took away the serpents legs so it would have to crawl around on its belly for all time and this punishment was to be inflicted on its descendants too. A bit of an overreaction don’t you think? Not very tolerant is he? Then this god had to stop treasuring their bodies and make coats for them and dressed them to hide this shameful sight. Genesis, CH. 3 verse 21.
These events in Genesis are what led to the biblical doctrine of “Original Sin.”
On the subject of nudity and even sexual matters, these are a matter of personal private preference. Bob is a naturalist and that is fine but it doesn't follow that people of his ilk should impose their views by way of unilateral exposure to others that might be offended.
Bob is typical of all religionists in that they always seem to tailor their gods to suit their own personal preferences.

You know Bob I laughed when the warning of full frontal came on! Typical! You are right about sexualization - this is what is wrong with Zahra's view - her normal existence is sexually repressed. I agree with your psychology but not it's origins - they are not a gift from God - as there is no such being.
But your frankness and openness are refreshing - similar to the naturist I spoke to on Yahoo answers - someone asked in Zahra's strand why we are born naked and apt to die so and yet wear clothes in life - I figure they are meant to be practical to gain warmth on a mammal with little hair.

God has not granted us (all) the body hair we need - I think their maybe an evolutionary explanation for why humans are largely hairless when it would make eminent sense to have it all over as many other mammal's do.
I am glad you are trying to open the mind of Christians on this - as I said in the other strand - the bible is the source of much sexual guilt and therefore if you ARE going to believe in a (non-existent) deity,you are doing all you can to cure that.

I would rather have a society of naturists than a society of those victims of the Koran.

This short programme was exceptional in the best possible way. Bob was very brave to do this 4thought, given that it would be going out prior to the watershed.
Clearly some people would not wish to see nudity in this circumstance, but that is no excuse to use the offensive comments exercised in one of the earlier posts.
Surely 4thought is about encouraging and challenging viewers to consider the topic presented in a new light: that does give a right to disagree but with rights come responsibilities, so if you don't agree with Bob's premis, think carefully how you express your view.

My partner is not particularly religious and has no real views either way on God: but what he and I do think is that Bob has a warmth and genuine caring nature. I know that if either of us ever needed spiritual help and Bob turned up, we would be over the moon.

Well done, Rev Bob

I am impressed by both your message and your bravery.

Thank you

Gary

Whats the betting that if instead of Bob the vicar prancing around in all his sanctimonious nakedness it was Ali the Imam from Iran doing this, I think he would have as many thumbs down as Zahra.

This is a excellent video. I am a christian and since I have been working in a hospital, I am around naked bodies all the time. I believe God open the opportunity for me to desensitize me from the way I previous reacted when every I saw a naked body. This has been life transforming for me. I plan on taking it a step further in joining a christian naturist group. Thanks for the courage to put this video out. Paul

Another inane question from 4thought: How can it be a sin to expose flesh when there is no such thing as Sin and we are born naked?

Stop being stupid Ch4 - I am with the pro-naturalists - it is only religious fruits who get upset about nakedness.

Why do I need to be warned about a naked man? That is how we all are -it is only religious prudes with their backward morality from their non-existent being that it upsets.