We need to be careful of our adjectives. I never used the word scandal and such would be an overstatement. I used the word appropriate and to have to do anything with the breast in a room full of people, covered or otherwise, is inappropriate.
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Nursing Mothers
- Thread starter freeatlast
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We need to be careful of our adjectives. I never used the word scandal and such would be an overstatement. I used the word appropriate and to have to do anything with the breast in a room full of people, covered or otherwise, is inappropriate.
I wasn't necessarily trying to pin that on you, I was thinking of the broader discussion, but looking back on my post it sure looks that way.
I apologize for unintentionally misrepresenting your position.
This still mystifies me.
We are all naked under our clothes, and if we remain covered in the process, I don't see the issue.
From your wording, "...to have to do anything with the breast..." seems to indicate that you have concerns with the existence and function of breasts being acknowledged in public settings.
Is that a fair assessment?
Do you know that it's actually a more recent thing that women have had to be completely covered or leave the room to breastfeed? Back before bottles, it was just a fact of life and while women would not dare uncover their ankle, uncovering a breast to feed a child was normal - and there were no nursing clothing available. It was "unbutton the front of your dress, unbutton your chemise and start nursing". I just find that fascinating. Now when we see women in bathing suits or tops barely covering their breasts, we get upset when we see breasts being used for what they were created for. Why is that?
More like functioning in a public setting.
less - so you are admitting there is still some concern
Who determines you have to have a separate room for relievement? A paper cup will do just fine
It comes down to a simple matter of respect for others.
Then why do they give gowns out to patients when they are being examined?
That is another reason to have a L.I.S.A. class
And that is what the nursery is for
Didn't have to think about that one long - "Lets see I have a package to deliver today (Tuesday) but tomorrow is Wed - Well Baby Days - Hmm, I'll just wait and deliver these tomorrow" Na - that would never happen
Maybe not to you - but some men it is a very big problem to deal with.
Paul tells the Corinthians (I Cor) 8:13 not to eat meat "if meat make my brother to offend,"
So a wife finally gets her unsaved husband to attend church, but he keeps looking at a breast feeding mom out of the corner of his eye. So she never brings him back. Extreme - possibly - but is it worth it to loose one precious soul so you can demand your rights?
Ann said she does it very discretely - but a mans' immingation....
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Ah....The BaptistBoard.
Always much ado about women's bodies. :flower:
Always much ado about women's bodies. :flower:
There are various parts of the body that get used for what they were created for. But does that mean they all should be done in a public setting?
I am not “admitting” anything (in the sense of being evasive). I am simply making allowances for the modesty some might feel in a semi-public setting. I have no idea how someone might truly feel, so I make allowances for a range of opinions and levels of comfort.
The simple fact that the situation I commented on takes place in a medical clinic is very significant. A medical clinic is a place where the human body is exposed to relative strangers for purposes of health and healing.
You’re really reaching here…
I’m not even going to go into the mechanics of things, but there are sounds and odors associated with relieving oneself that have no parallel with the process of nursing.
I have no idea whether or not the women in question would consider what they were doing respectful or disrespectful. Personally, I wouldn’t be offended or think that they were being disrespectful to me. I would ignore it and read a magazine.
For the modesty of the patient.
I have no idea what a L.I.S.A. class is. But why should a nursing mother be separated from her usual peer group simply for a very minor part of caring for their child? My Sunday School class is practically a baby factory (we have about 4-6 babies born each year over the past 4-5 years) and a number of the mothers breast-feed in the class. I have yet to see a bare breast or anything inappropriate or distracting in all that time. I haven’t heard anyone even mention it, much less complain.
So then it’s NOT about keeping the female breast away from the prying eyes of men?
Then WHAT is the issue?
Seriously?
I doubt you ever ship anything, or at least anything important. I ship documents and proposals which have tens of thousands of dollars (and often millions of dollars) worth of consequences if they don’t arrive by the clients’ deadlines.
People use FedEx and UPS mostly for time-sensitive stuff. When you ship, you pay for a certain delivery date and time. If it doesn’t happen, especially if the driver has the package available to deliver, there are severe repercussions.
If the woman reveals nothing and remains covered and discreet, then there’s really nothing she can do about someone else’s imagination. They are going to fantasize anyway.
A woman who is discreet and remains covered will not provide a “show.” If he’s watching other women that carefully, he is probably mentally undressing them anyway.
Yes, it is very extreme. If this is really the issue, then we ought to segregate men and women and have them in entirely different rooms for worship so that men or women who not be lusting at those nearby. Of course, since lusting takes place in the mind, that wouldn’t even work.
… is the real issue. Not the act of seeing and knowing. (Matthew 15:18-19)
We need to deal with the real issue.
If it is a problem, you need to pluck your eyes from your head and cast them away from your instead of blaming others. (see Matthew 5:27-30)
That’s biblical, and not only that, it’s the explicit teaching of Jesus.
Paul was a disciple of Jesus and preached the same message, so we know we need to interpret Paul’s writing by what Jesus said.
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This is a straw man argument. No one is advocating every bodily activity in a public setting.
NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
I guess I need to step out of this debate - I have never given discreet breast feeding in public a second thought. It is just a part of life. I don't understand the need to leave a room just because a baby is hungry. I have sat at dinner with a nursing mother, preached with nursing mothers in the crowd, taught Sunday School and led Bible studies with nursing mothers and not seen anything inappropriate. I have seen a couple of occasions in public where a mother was careless, but even then it is just a mother feeding her baby. How can that be wrong?
I just can't grasp how this could possibly cause an offence.
I just can't grasp how this could possibly cause an offence.
As long as it's done discreetly and the woman is properly covered, there isn't a problem, at least not on the woman's part. She's not doing anything sinful. If there's a problem, it's in the mind or heart of the man dealing with lust.
I can see a problem if a mom is letting it all hang out and not caring how anyone else feels, but we cannot lay sin at the feet of a mother who considerately covers up and quietly nurses her baby.
I didn't say they were. But it makes a point. Where do you draw the line with natural bodily functions? What is that standard? And why is breast feeding any better in public that any other function that we would do in private. I do not see any.
Well as any woman knows, it's always the mother's fault. We've probably been blamed for global warming. There's nothing new under the sun.
Genesis 3:11-12 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you that you should not eat? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
It's always been the woman's fault. :sleep:
Genesis 3:11-12 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you that you should not eat? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
It's always been the woman's fault. :sleep:
Oh, now you've gotten me started!
First off, there is nothing new under the sun and its certainly been heard of why God gave women breasts! My grandmother thought nothing of feeding her babies (all 14 of them!) whenever and wherever they needed it. She did NOT go to another room and most times didn't stop what she was doing. Baby and feeding source worked right along, side by side.
It was only with the advent of baby formula that breastfeeding fell out of favor. Why? Let me answer that question the way my mother answered it: "Only poor people breastfeed their babies. Better people buy formula."
That says it all. It was a class thing. Not even a "what's best for baby" thing, but a "rich person" thing. Afterall, you never heard of Jackie O breastfeeding her babies! It was all about class.
But guess what? It should be all about how God created humans. He gave women breasts that provide milk because He know that human babies do best with human milk. Cow milk is for cow babies!
That's not to say that there isn't a place for formula. There is. There are a number of women, myself included, who can't nurse at all or can only provide part of the nutrition a baby requires. Formula in this case is a good thing.
Can breastfeeding be done discreetly? Absolutely. When I had nurslings I fed wherever I was. Rarely did someone even know what I was doing and when someone did, it was usually a little old lady who had breastfed her own babies.
People say, go to the ladies room to do that! Well you don't eat YOUR meals in a restroom, why should my baby????? You don't eat YOUR meals in seclusion, why should my baby???? Just because you have ideas about the what breasts are for, doesn't mean my baby has to suffer because you can't control your thoughts.
Hamel said, "well baby days were an explosion of uncovered breasts". Well why were you there if you knew you had problems with the sight? A waiting room full of new mothers is naturally going to be full of nursing babies and folks discussing their issues. Avert your eyes and flee from temptation!
Nor does a tatoo contaminate breastmilk. If it wasn't on your wife you had no business complaining or even looking. Find somewhere else to put your eyes.
It isn't the place of the medical community to teach modesty. If you want a breastless waiting area, then get together some women to go volunteer on well baby day to go help out.
OF course WBD's had more deliveries and it wasn't cause the fedex guys wanted to gogle the women, it was because those days the women were given this sample and that sample because the companies that make baby supplies give to clinics in order to be seen as charitable as well as for marketing purposes. I didn't go to a clinic that had WBDs and I got all sorts of stuff handed to me when we went in.
There is nothing dirty or sexual about nursing a baby that should cause a woman to run hide in shame during the act. I'm not going to take the time to set up a tent when I have a squalling baby either. A recieving blanket and clothing made for nursing does well enough.
I love your answer.
...Bob
NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
Honestly?
No difference between showering and discrete breast feeding in public?
No difference between bodily excretion and discrete breast feeding in public?
No difference between s3x and discrete breast feeding in public?
Honestly?
BTW, I am not sure how waiting rooms came into the discussion - the OP dealt with women feeding their babies in a church service.
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When feeding a child, and it's only in recent years that there's even been an issue (since the advent of formula), yes, THIS should be done in a public setting.
You know what's sad? Being on a board with a lot of young ladies who have never been exposed to a nursing mom/baby and who think breastfeeding is disgusting and there's no way they would ever do it. Even with the research pointing to it being the best for baby in every area of the baby's life from their intelligence to their health, they have no desire to do it yet these are the same young girls who wear tops that expose more breast than I ever did when breastfeeding. :BangHead:
No. And here are some random words to fulfil the ten word minimum on all posts.
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