A church in the US state of Virginia, White Tail Chapel, has taken the bizarre decision to allow its congregation attend church services náked. Because according to their leader, Pastor Allen Parker, the clothing requirements of other churches were overly 'pretentious'. So he decided his own flock should be free to forgo such materialism if they desire. Pastor Allen claims that many of the most important moments in the Bible happened while the protagonists were nude, including Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Speaking to CNN, Mr Parker said: 'When he [Jesus] was born he was náked, when he was crucified he was náked and when he arose he left his clothes in the tomb and he was náked. If God made us that way, how can that be wrong?' Mr Parker is believed to have drawn at least some of his opinions on nudity from the book of Genesis, in which Adam and Eve were originally described as 'both náked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed'. It was only after sinfully eating forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Even are said to have seen their nudity as shameful, at which point they sowed fig leaves into loincloths. Although the church allows worshipers to attend services fully náked, many members decided they would rather continue to attend fully clothed, particularly when in mid-winter, while others opt to just reveal their breásts or genitáls. The idea is that núdity is 'the great equaliser', reminding all those gathered in the church that they are simple human beings and that, beneath any personal wealth or glamorous outward appearance, they are all more of less the same beneath the clothing. 'There's not a feeling that you have to be better than one another, physically. We're humans, we have scars, we have what we have. It's learning to love and accept that,' Mr Parker says. -
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