Erring on the Side of Caution

Let's face it. If we all approached life with a strictly cautionary eye, we would never leave the house. It's simply too dangerous in the real world.

Erring on the side of caution is symptomatic of a society which creates rules and laws based on the belief that everyone is bad.

The recent case of PayPal revoking its services to the Federation of Canadian Naturists is a prime example of exercising too much caution.

"PayPal prohibits all account holders from buying or selling any sexually oriented goods or services involving minors or made to appear to involve minors," says PayPal spokesperson Jamie Patrichio.

"While we generally do allow nudist websites to accept payments with PayPal, when those sites feature children, we will typically take a stricter approach."

This is looking at innocence through the eyes of a child predator.

Imagine if we regulated all aspects of life with such a myopic vision. Since 40,000 people die each year in auto accidents, certainly we would have to ban automobiles from the roads.

PayPal perpetuates the myth that nudism and naturism peddles "sexually oriented services", like a strip club, or an adult bookstore.

Has the pornification of society become so embedded into our psyche that even the sight of a nude child at play is somehow sexual in nature, an object of lust? PayPal makes no distinction between innocence and obscenity in it's wrongheaded decision.

So why isn't PayPal making that distinction, wonders Ryan, 23, a born-and-raised nudist.

He says he wouldn't trade his childhood days of skin-bare freedom at the Helios nudist club for anything.

"It was just a place to hang out and meet other kids my age, play games and swim," he says. "We just happened to be naked a lot of the time."

You can't compare their brand of nakedness to porn at all, he adds.

"It's not related. We're just people who don't like tan lines. It's about comfort, and being comfortable in your own skin," says Ryan.

"As kids, nudism taught us to be ourselves and not pass judgment on others. It was a great way to grow up."

Passing judgement begets more passing of judgement - it's a downward spiral. Teaching our children to be ashamed of their natural nudity instills in them a predisposition to pass along that shame to their children. It's a pattern that needs to be stopped.

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