Rael supports teen girl tweeting her own nude photos
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 11 - Upon learning that child porn felony charges had been filed recently after a 16-year-old Virginia girl tweeted nude pictures of herself, Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement, expressed concern for “the religious bias associated with accusations of facilitating child pornography."
“Nude photos are not pornography, they are art just as nude statues in the museums are,” Rael said in a statement released today by the International Raelian Movement (IRM). “The people who are prosecuting this young girl would probably ask also to censor the famous Manneken Pis, the famous naked statue [in Brussels, Belgium] of a little boy whose penis is a little fountain. It's time to end this Judeo-Christian guilt about nudity!”
Rael has long supported the practice of nudity.
“The sight of a nude body doesn’t cause the slightest trauma to children,” he pointed out. Only violence does that. In fact, those who claim that seeing a naked body traumatizes children were traumatized themselves, but not by nudity. They were traumatized by an ultra-orthodox Christian education that comes from the Middle Ages.”
Lara Terstenjak, leader of the Raelian Movement in the United States, concurs.
“Laws against child pornography were put in place to help protect children, not prevent them from expressing themselves," she said, adding that Rael and the members of the Raelian Movement have consistently worked to counter repressive measures and attitudes relating to full or partial nudity.
“As another example, Rael launched an event called Gotopless Day 6 years ago,” Terstenjak said. "On Gotopless Day, thousands of women across the country protest the stupid and unjust laws that make it illegal for women to go topless in public while men are allowed to. Our society suffers from excessive puritanism, and it’s part of our Raelian mission to help remove the primitive taboos concerning nudity, which many people mistakenly associate with pornography. This 16-year-old girl is entitled to send nude pictures of herself to her friends if she pleases. It shouldn't be the concern of any part of our administration.”
“Nude photos are not pornography, they are art just as nude statues in the museums are,” Rael said in a statement released today by the International Raelian Movement (IRM). “The people who are prosecuting this young girl would probably ask also to censor the famous Manneken Pis, the famous naked statue [in Brussels, Belgium] of a little boy whose penis is a little fountain. It's time to end this Judeo-Christian guilt about nudity!”
Rael has long supported the practice of nudity.
“The sight of a nude body doesn’t cause the slightest trauma to children,” he pointed out. Only violence does that. In fact, those who claim that seeing a naked body traumatizes children were traumatized themselves, but not by nudity. They were traumatized by an ultra-orthodox Christian education that comes from the Middle Ages.”
Lara Terstenjak, leader of the Raelian Movement in the United States, concurs.
“Laws against child pornography were put in place to help protect children, not prevent them from expressing themselves," she said, adding that Rael and the members of the Raelian Movement have consistently worked to counter repressive measures and attitudes relating to full or partial nudity.
“As another example, Rael launched an event called Gotopless Day 6 years ago,” Terstenjak said. "On Gotopless Day, thousands of women across the country protest the stupid and unjust laws that make it illegal for women to go topless in public while men are allowed to. Our society suffers from excessive puritanism, and it’s part of our Raelian mission to help remove the primitive taboos concerning nudity, which many people mistakenly associate with pornography. This 16-year-old girl is entitled to send nude pictures of herself to her friends if she pleases. It shouldn't be the concern of any part of our administration.”