The human body is a glorious and wonderful thing.  It is a masterpiece of creation.  Every single thing in and on the human body was designed to fulfill a specific purpose.  Nothing was added just for looks, and nothing in or on the human body is unnecessary.  Those who believe in God must realize that when human beings were created, God "saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).  Even if you don't believe in God, you then must believe that our bodies evolved in such a way that everything in and on our bodies serves a purpose, or else it would not have been passed on to the next generation.

My policy, then, is "If it's on your body, don't take it off."  Here are some things that people commonly remove from their bodies, thinking they are unnecessary.

Head and facial hair was provided for those who live in cold climates so that they would have something to protect them from the cold.  Even in warm climates, there are sometimes cold nights, in which cold air blowing on your head might not be advantageous to your health.

Underarm, leg, and pubic hair was originally designed to protect us from the cold.  However, it serves a much more important function.  Every hair follicle is surrounded by sensory nerves so that any pressure on the area can be felt through the nerves.  By cutting off the hair, you are decreasing the sensory experience you would have had if the hair were still intact.  On the one hand this reminds me of animals whose antennae or long whiskers help them to detect predators or movement near them.  On the other hand, I can't help but feel that its purpose is to enhance the sexual experience.  We tend to focus our sexual attention upon certain areas of the body.  However, this would help to make virtually the whole body alive to the experience of touch.  There is also a certain sensory experience that also goes along with running your fingers through that hair (wherever it may be).

The penil foreskin was originally removed as part of a spiritual dedication or rite of passage (depending upon your culture).  However, removing the foreskin severely restricts the amount of sexual pleasure enjoyed by the individual.  The bottoms of the feet are understandably more rough than the skin on the rest of the body because the skin on the feet regularly comes in contact with the ground or rubs inside the shoes.  The same thing happens to the penis....the soft, supple, and sensory skin of the penis becomes toughened when the foreskin is removed, so that sensory experience is lost.  There is nothing unclean about the foreskin....medical studies confirm that you have no more chance of getting an infection with a foreskin than without.  If circumsizing as in the Old Testament was a good thing, then God would not have done away with it in the New Testament.  The New Testament acknowledges that the Old Testament laws were not able to make anyone acceptable to God.

The tonsils are frequently removed when they become inflamed.  Tonsils are composed of the same materials as the lymph nodes and other glands in the neck and other parts of the body.  Any time you remove glandular tissues, you are removing tissue that provides a necessary function in the body.  The tonsils are thought to help the immune system fight against bacteria and viruses by helping to form antibodies.  When they become enlarged, they often obstruct the ear canal so that fluid builds up in the ears.  This is often the reason for their removal.  However, in 1999 the Journal of the American Medical Association (282:945-953, 987-989) stated that children with recurrent ear infections gain little if any benefit from having them removed.  The best course of action is to eliminate conditions which allow the infection to grow rather than cutting out a piece of your body.  This does not eliminate the problem.

Then there is female circumcision....YUCK! If you are one of the people that did not know this was going on in the world, get an education.  In many countries around the world, women are forced to have their clitoris removed and their labia sown together.  It is thought to keep them sexually pure, and these women are led to believe that they will never be accepted for marriage if they do not submit to this barbaric practice, which is performed without anesthesia.  Most of the women who have this done to them get horrendous infections, and live with pain all their lives.  This is the ultimate violation.

Anyway, I don't plan on removing anything from my body.  I don't believe surgery is the answer to our health problems, and I don't plan on being a conformist and shaving off all my body hair.  Personally, even when I let my body hair grow, it does not get that long or bushy.  I have, however, seen women whose hair does get quite thick, and I found it very attractive on them.  If the rest of the world doesn't.....oh well.

In keeping with our theme of Unhindered Living, we would have to conclude that it is a hindrance to always have to worrry about removing hair, and feel pressured by society to look a certain way.

Women, don't let the vain ideas of the world force you into spending time and money to remove a part of you that is naturally attractive, and performs an important sensory function.  Besides, it is so much trouble to shave, and so painful to use that wax stuff....and then there are those stinky lotions which have all those cancer-causing chemicals in them.  No, it's not for me.  And not just because I'm lazy and don't want to shave....what's the point?  I am 43 years old, and at the point in my life where I don't have time to waste on stuff that's not important.  And this doesn't rate at all.

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