Neil Hudson from LICC comments on the publishing of naked pictures on social media

Neil Hudson
Neil Hudson

It only happened to me once. I was six months old. It involved a Kodak Instamatic, and the result has lain pasted in a photo album for nearly fifty years. It has been unseen by all except closest family members. That's normal practice in dealing with any picture of a naked baby isn't it?

What's not so normal is having naked pictures of adults floating round the social media ether without their permission. Is it? Well, apparently, it is. It happens to film stars, it happens to teenagers at school, it seems to happen to more individuals than we might imagine. People are sharing the most intimate pictures with those closest to them, only to find that they are leaked to a wider, prurient, scandal-seeking public.

What is interesting is what it may say about us as a society.

One who has explored this is the insightful, zeitgeist-aware writer Dave Eggers. In his novel, The Circle, he introduces us to a fictionalised San Francisco monolithic internet company that resembles a mash-up of Google, PayPal, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat and every other such company many of us now use. His dystopian projection portrays a world where 'Secrets are Lies', 'Sharing is Caring', and 'Privacy is Theft'. The grand project is coming to fruition - the Circle will be complete when a person's every move, active thought, and subconscious dream is made accessible to all. Everything is public, there is no private. Everyone knows you. Nakedness is the norm.

Is Eggers right? Are we careening down a path that might leave us so naked, so desperate, so longing to be 'liked', that we over-expose ourselves? The Bible seems to suggest that when we try to keep the creator at arm's length, this is our inevitable destination. We are designed to be known in committed, exclusive relationships where nakedness carries no hint of shame (Genesis 2:21-25). We are created to be known by the one who made us, from whom nothing can be hidden (Psalm 139:1-4, 23).

The leaking of pictures may be where we are led when the tools of our culture facilitate the deepest needs of our humanity, but where those needs are tragically disconnected from the God who knows us as we truly are.

And just in case you're wondering, my photograph is staying in the album. And the album is closed. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.