South Lancaster Academy (again!)

[B/W Photodude]

The South Lancaster Academy skinny dipping event has been revisited by one of the parents. Two parts of a three part series have been posted, apparently with part three to come. Some things were disturbing in the articles. Supposedly because no criminal charges have been filed, the woman paster has been reinstated leading some to wonder if civil law is more important than church teachings. One of the non-participating students was reported to have been pressured (bullied?) to participate. It was known among the girls on the bus enroute to the campground that they were going to skinny dip. And the skinny dipping had been going on for several years. Quite the interesting read.

http://www.fulcrum7.com/blog/2018/3/1/lethargy-in-lancaster-an-alumnus-perspective-on-the-skinny-dipping-incident

http://www.fulcrum7.com/blog/2018/3/2/an-alumnus-perspective-on-the-skinny-dipping-incident-part-2

[Gregory Matthews]

Certainly it is appropriate to discuss this incident.    It should be recognized that people will not all agree   on the issues involved.  However, it is also appropriate to ask if that alligations and reasonable and/or valid.  The following quotation is a comment (quoted in the whole for context) that Fulcrum 7 had published in the 1st article that comments on this issue.  I will suggest, that the suggestion that skinny dipping is part of the spiritualism of TOP is neither reasonable nor valid.    Perhaps one might want to consider the extent to which this level of documentation is present in other critical statements.

 

Daisy Shelton • 6 days ago

Heather Cook's name is mentioned with T1P (The One Project). Seems the 'skinny dipping' is part of the spiritualism of T1P, as in spiritual Yoga. God clothed Adam and Eve and did not want them to run around naked.

"I was naked; and I hid myself.......Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:10, 21).

Wiki, "Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior.........It ranges from outright prohibition to prohibition of exposure of certain body parts, such as the genital area, buttocks or breasts."

"The One Project is a project that is spiritualistic in nature. The following is a list that attended the last gathering. It makes for interesting reading to see who is involved ............ Heather Cook" (Adventist Online Connecting Seventh-day Adventist Every day). http://www.adventistonline....

Wiki says, "Another person famous for the promotion of naked yoga in the West is Aaron Star, owner of Hot Nude Yoga. He began his version of nude yoga in April 2001 becoming an instant "underground sensation" as quoted by Time Out New York. The practiced yoga combined elements of Ashtanga, Kundalini, and Contact Yoga with elements of Tantra."

[B/W Photodude]

12 hours ago, Gregory Matthews said:

Certainly it is appropriate to discuss this incident.    It should be recognized that people will not all agree   on the issues involved.  However, it is also appropriate to ask if that alligations and reasonable and/or valid.  The following quotation is a comment (quoted in the whole for context) that Fulcrum 7 had published in the 1st article that comments on this issue.  I will suggest, that the suggestion that skinny dipping is part of the spiritualism of TOP is neither reasonable nor valid.    Perhaps one might want to consider the extent to which this level of documentation is present in other critical statements.

I think I have already posted that I think the skinny dipping thing was a lot of nothing about nothing. But some of the allegations in this article on Fulcrum7 concerned me for multiple reasons. 

I usually like to see accurate facts in an article. In this one due diligence was not done. True, the woman pastor may have been involved in The One Project and T1P may also find sources for belief in the mystical disciplines, but it was also not exactly an accurate connection. This is the first time I have heard someone connect skinny dipping to yoga! Group nakedness in a river is more in line with a very old American tradition of social nudism which was started by a Baptist pastor. In fact, nudity in a group for men in mixed company had been a long tradition. Even into the last century boys as old as ten swam naked in public settings with mixed company (girls of their own age). Until the sixties, nude PE classes (swimming) was common for many boys in public schools and lasted at the YMCA almost all the way thru the 70s. So, the author of the article did not help her cause.

However, the leaders of this event did not help either when they pressured unwilling girls to participate. And parents of the girls who were unconcerned about the activity didn't help when they were against the parents who felt that their daughters were pressured to engage in something they considered to be wrong. Some parents do not send their kids to Adventist schools to engage in what the parents consider to be immoral activity. It also seems that for several years, girls were keeping from their parents just what had been going on at this school. 

So, I await part 3 of this "trilogy".

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

here's an interesting history about the nude swimming tradition for males:

http://www.vocativ.com/culture/fun/fairly-recently-ymca-actually-required-swimmers-nude/ 

[B/W Photodude]

Part three of the series has been posted. It is disturbing. aToday did not fare well. One of the girls reported be requested to remove her swim suit bottoms before one of the "chaperones" would help her with conditioner for her hair! (Reminds me of this woman I knew of onetime who got a paper cut at work and went to the company doctor. He tried to get her to remove her top!) While we really shouldn't be "trying" this in social networks, the reports are disturbing. Interestingly enough, the author of the articles herself reports she is OK with private family "skinny dipping".

http://www.fulcrum7.com/blog/2018/3/8/senior-skinnydipping-survival-part-3

As mentioned before, nudity in swimming has historically been accepted, but that was primarily for boys & men only. I really haven't seen where it was ever an acceptable practice for girls in a public type setting such as schools and swimming places to be naked. One acceptation was in a nudist resort. Today, many young men do not even believe it ever occurred anywhere for anyone! However, the following website looks at the historical record of nudity for boys. You will see nudity (don't look if you suffer from hypertension, bad backs, or the usual health warnings!) including artwork of the 19th century, photographs from late 19th into 20th century swimmings areas, and some articles on the topic. Do read the disclaimers at the bottom of the page.

https://sites.google.com/site/historicarchives4maleswimming/home

[Bill Cork]

It's an anonymous source passing on other anonymous sources. There's a word for this: gossip.

If true, there is disturbing information here. But it's not journalism to say, "I heard," "it's said," "I understand."

[B/W Photodude]

11 hours ago, Bill Cork said:

It's an anonymous source passing on other anonymous sources. There's a word for this: gossip.
If true, there is disturbing information here. But it's not journalism to say, "I heard," "it's said," "I understand."

Typical of many who don't like a post, don't want to discuss it, and just leave with some sort of putdown to demonstrate their "superiority." Certainly you can do better than that.

[B/W Photodude]

59 minutes ago, B/W Photodude said:

Typical of many who don't like a post, don't want to discuss it, and just leave with some sort of putdown to demonstrate their "superiority." Certainly you can do better than that.

For those "confused" and "saddened", this is a forum where things get discussed. And many of those making comments and statements are anonymous, so we are just gossiping! This is not a news source and no one is claiming that any of it is journalism. But too frequently people who don't like what someone says here just attempt to dismiss them with one-liners with no intention of actually discussing the topic. That is harmful to the health of a forum. It seems that if you don't like it you can do the same as in many other situations in life - change the channel, look the other way, or …. whatever! I suspect if the article was from Spectrum or aToday, it would all be hunky-dory. And I bet they would not be called it gossiping either. We can't all be Democrats or Progressive Adventists. I have also noticed that some forums (even Adventist ones) who try to push a certain agenda end up dying due to lack of interest. Your call.

[B/W Photodude]

One person, whose blog I follow, is a pastor, a maternity nurse, and who also dabbles in art. And he writes on the subject of nudity especially in the Christian church. He also is involved in a ministry for those addicted to porn. In this link he discusses the early churches practices in baptism:

http://pastordavidrn.blogspot.com/2018/03/two-means-of-grace-for-healing.html

However, with this incident being discussed, these young girls were taken out, according to some (I thought we were supposed to believe the victims!) and were bullied in attempt to comply with removing their clothing. And by a "pastor" at that. Even in the world of naturism, it is known that you do not do that to young people. You cannot expect older children or young people to just jump into that kind of activity. While I have thought that nudity was a lot of nothing about nothing, to these girls it was a traumatic experience. And then they reinstate the pastor. Guarenteed, if it had been a male pastor, the clamor and outrage would have been much much worse. 

[CoAspen]

Some posters doth protest too much...eh. Quick in the condemnation of others, but rather sensitive when feeling others may not agree with their posts.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I feel sorry for the girls who were forced to even be involved with the skinny dipping — including those that didn't actively participate, as well as the ones who felt coerced to participate.

If I was in charge, given what I've read from various sources, I'd give the pastor her walking papers, and tell her not to let the door hit her on the way out.

[Gregory Matthews]

Photodude has mentioned David Hattan.  The following is a writing at he authored:

I had a Seventh-day Adventist friend who was similarly adamant in her belief about the soul’s unconsciousness in death. When she died, I envisioned her immediately regretting her insistence on that doctrine. I even wrote a poem to be read at her graveside service, believing that someday in the afterlife she will thank me for doing so.

That poem is probably the best conclusion I can make for this article.

 

SOUL SLEEP

 

For eighteen hundred years was taught

That only corpses went to graves,

That souls went on, awake in thought,

While bodies slept ’neath dust or waves.

 

I choose to keep the older creed

That says our flesh must rest from toil,

Awaiting, like the planted seed,

That Day of Rising from the soil.

 

If later teachers’ words are right—

That souls must sleep before they rise—

Then when I hear that Trumpet bright,

I’ll wake up and apologize.

 

But if they’re wrong, then their mistake

Was known the moment that they died,

For even now they’re wide awake

Repenting for what they denied.

 

I’d rather be aroused from sleep

To find that I was duped by lies

Than be awake in death to weep

Till God decides to dry my eyes.

 

— David L. Hatton, 3/12/2013

(to be in Poems Between Here and Beyond)

[bonnie]

22 hours ago, B/W Photodude said:

Typical of many who don't like a post, don't want to discuss it, and just leave with some sort of putdown to demonstrate their "superiority." Certainly you can do better than that.

Why?  With the frequency of sexual abuse or inappropriate sexual conduct accusations in our schools why would any teacher or pastor, male or female think this a good idea.?Just harmless fun.  What makes skinny dipping a must do activity on a senior trip? At the least it is sheer stupidity and sounds like a lot more. On this forum and elsewhere the accusers are to be believed.  Shouldnt the students in this fun little activity be believed? My kids would be yanked fast if the adults in charge were not at least dismissed.