Fig Leaf Morality

The latest fodder for comedians, yet another moralistic politician caught with his pants down, is a reminder of the fateful role played in Western Civilization by the fig leaf. The sequence of events in Genesis is, Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then having their eyes opened, then seeing their nakedness, then feeling ashamed, and then covering up their 'nakedness' with fig leaves. Given that this sequence was based in an act of disobedience to God, it would imply that God was not offended by their nakedness. So, why the very first consequence of this newly-gained knowledge is shame at this nakedness is perplexing: what do they 'know' that they did not know before? Certainly not something that God knew. And, then, there is the fig leaf cover-up, which could only draw attention to a part of the body that previously must have been indistinguishable from the rest. So, insofar as 'literalist' Biblical Morality equates nudity with obscenity, it is plainly at odds with Divine will. Furthermore, it is not so much the case that the cover-up is worse than the crime, as is popularly thought, but that it draws attention to it.