Christian nudists to build village in Florida

Okay - it's freezing outside in Central Texas; the roads are iced over; I can't get to work; my biochem class is cancelled for tonight; I have nothing better to do than read weird news stories. This one can be found in it's naked wholeness at azcentral.com.

Jonathan Palmiter was enjoying a recent Sunday morning stroll through a lush yard full of trees and Spanish moss--naked as was Adam in the Garden of Eden. A 59-year-old born-again Christian, Palmiter was visiting Natura, a development 40 miles north of Tampa, Fla., that, when it opens up next summer, will become the first nudist community for devout Christians in North America.

Natura is being developed over five years and will house as many as 200 people in 50 family houses on 100 acres of land, with room for up to 100 recreational vehicles, according to Daniel Bellows, chief executive of the development. He even envisions a self-contained village with home-schooling and a strip mall.

I'm afraid to ask what constitutes a "strip mall" in a nudist colony.

Christian nudism might sound like an oxymoron, but for thousands of devout followers, living and worshipping naked is at the core of their faith.No one knows how many Christian nudists there are in North America, but the advent of Natura will increase their visibility.

Given their avocation, I suspect they are plenty visible right now, thank you.

[…] Nathan Powers, a 50-year-old Texan, begins his day praying naked in his backyard. Nakedness intensifies his dialogue with God, he said. "I feel closer to God. It's an act of humility. It is absolutely spiritual." To reconcile being a good Christian with their need to be nude, many of the faithful turn to prayer and follow their own spiritual path. Some are led away from their particular denominations.Parker, who organizes the annual "Christian Nudist Convocation" in Virginia, a coming-out event for closeted nudists, was raised a Southern Baptist. He is now independent, turned off by Sunday sermons he said were "too hypocritical for one afternoon."

I can only hope his neighbors have fences and one-story houses.

[…] The lifestyle of these Christians doesn't necessarily make them lefties of the 1960s free-love, live-and-let-live mold. They tend to be deeply conservative on issues like homosexuality and premarital sex, and Republican, differing only from other Christians in their need and desire to be naked whenever possible.

And I differ from other Republicans only in that I like to wrap goats in Saran Wrap and use them for lawn ornaments. I love this country...