Post by Jim Newman

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Kylie Bisutti quit Victoria’s Secrets because it clashes with her Christian beliefs. And surprise, surprise, she is so surprised to be in the news. As if she were the first Californian model to splash the news for claiming to be Christian. Doesn’t every Californian Christian beauty or talent parade their faith loudly or scream unfair when someone calls them on it?

 “I just became so convicted of honoring the Lord and my body and wanting to be a role model for other women out there who look up to me.”

Ok, I’m hoping this will be a learning moment. Which Christian tenant is she following? I don’t see where it says you can’t be a model. She never posed nude so?

Let’s see, hmmm, honoring the lord. What could she mean? Objectifying women? No, the bible is misogynist as is much common Christian belief. No, the money, the fame, the power, the ruthless back biting in the guise of friendliness? Hmm, no. Lots of good lessons here but not hers. Let’s read further:

 “I was growing in my relationship with the Lord and my faith.  I’m a strong believing Christian,” Bisutti told “GMA” of how her thoughts on the job she has described as her “absolutely biggest goal in life” began to change.

“It was more of just a heart issue for me,” she said.

First, what the hell is a heart issue? The heart has no brain; it doesn’t think; it just beats. It has a little separate electrical control center for regulating the heart beat but that’s it. Does she mean she needs more blood flow to her brain? Does it mean she wants to shut off her brain and think emotionally?

I know, I know it’s common to say think with your heart but really what the hell does that mean other than “I can’t verbalize it so I’ll just mystify it?” Does she mean compassion as if that were found anywhere but in the brain? Does it mean some inner moral belief she can’t formulate?

Does it mean she’s just too stupid to say:

“I think it’s immoral to parade my near naked ass in front of people?”

or:

“I no longer wish to be lusted after in public and wish to reserve that for my husband. I don’t believe Victoria’s Secrets is just about wearing beautiful clothes.

or:

“I am disgusted at the thought of men and boys leering at my images and jerking off to them.”

or:

“I think sex is a sacred act between a married man and woman and shouldn’t be discussed or shared outside that circle.”

She could have, as Jimmy Carter did in his infamous Playboy interview, discussed Mathew 5:28.

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

That would have been a pithy and enlightening discussion. Is it true that thinking a crime, thinking a sin, or thinking a wrong is as bad as doing the act itself “in his heart.” Is the heart really reality? Is god really Santa Claus who knows what you have been thinking and is willing to punish you for bad thoughts? That would certainly remove the prudence in jurisprudence. Or compassion.

If I can’t think of something evil then how do I have the necessary free will to choose goodness? Or is that the point? Blind submission and obedience, devoid of free will? That sounds positively fundamentally Islamic.

For me, I philosophically hated Santa Claus just because it meant I had no freedom in my thoughts; that I was being judged constantly by some supernatural, fascist dictator, always in my head?

Biblically, this gets complicated as well. A person who cannot do the right thing but wishes they could or intends that they do so has still some goodness about them? Say you wish to do some act of kindness but cannot perform the act then you still gets some kind of credit?

Now the bible actually flip flops on this issue, and being that Bisutti presents herself simply, I will avoid a long look at these passages, many of them old testament. They say don’t look on other women, thinking a good act gives you a credit but thinking a bad act isn’t a discredit. And vice versa, where you get punished for bad thoughts but no credit for good thoughts. It is also handled differently if you’re a gentile or not; you get more slack if you’re a Jew in the Old Testament. It’s hard not to think bad thoughts if you’re being oppressed. Oh wait, wer’re talking about sex.

The people who wrote the bible were clearly struggling with how to handle lusty thoughts for other people, and how an all-knowing god would handle this moral judging dilemma. Wouldn’t an all-knowing god know when you were just having a bad day but didn’t mean it? Just as he would know when you were making an insincere bet. Or when you’re drooling but you’re just horny.

Does every man who gets a hard-on in public and every woman who gest wet reading a book go to hell or has sinned?

To be fair, monogamy, polyandry, polyamory, and polygamy are all hard issues for many societies. Lest you think this is a just Christian issue consider within a relationship how most women feel about men looking at cute chicks crossing the street and how most men feel about handsome healthy hunks prancing around.

Luckily, judiciously, all law in this country requires action. It matters not one whit what you think as long as you physically follow the law. You can’t even get arrested for a threat unless it’s to someone really important.

The fashion industry has long had the dilemma of how to model clothes people can use to look attractive and yet not say it means sexual attraction. Well actually many didn’t care. They looked to sexual freedom.

It is the same dilemma of whether a girl should be able to walk the street naked and not get raped or assaulted. The unwanted attention, but wanting to be attractive.

In any case, after all of this, we will assume she means and wishes to avoid:

“everyone that looks upon a woman with intention, it is all one as if he lay with her.”

She had been married for two months when modeling for Victoria Secrets. Bisutti claims he did not interfere.

 “He was so, so supportive of me and I’m so thankful that he let me grow and let me come to this decision on my own.”

Ok, it’s hard to imagine this. Most men, unless they have fantasies of group or lesbian sex, don’t want their mates in situations where they are not in control of the sex. This may be pathetic but is common. It turns out, from the video, he prayed for her but Bisutti never states what he prayed for.

The implication is that he prayed for her to quit. We won’t even address the issue of power differentials in relationships. Are we really to believe he let her alone or was she just too stupid or too newlywedded to not know exactly what he was thinking.

Maybe at first it was exciting that she was a model, and that led to more or better sex. Then habituation set in and he realized she would be gone and others would be ogling her, and that was no longer exciting. Maybe, when she was away, watching her in videos did it for awhile, and then he got to thinking of other guys talking to her, flirting with her, hitting on her, while he was back at home. Maybe living apart was really the problem?

Bisutti really puzzles me when she says:

“I was doing my makeup in the mirror one day and she was watching me,” Bisutti said.  “She looked at me and was like, ‘You know, I think I want to stop eating so I can look like you.’”

“It just broke my heart because she looks up to me and I didn’t want to be that type of person that she thought she had to do that to be beautiful,” she said.  “Thousands of girls that think that being beautiful is an outer issue and really it’s a heart issue.”

Wow, this could have been the world’s greatest moment to talk about anorexia, bulimia, and the bullshit predation of the fashion industry on both men and women. She started to when she said “outer issue” but then she dropped back into the facile heart thing again. Beauty is a heart thing. Bullshit. Beauty by definition is about skin, bones, and appearance.

If you wish to emphasize the goodness, kindness, and compassion of a person don’t conflate the terms. A beautiful heart is free of fatty tissue, has good valves, and has a strong and regular beat. If you mean kind, say it. If you mean justice, say it.

Besides she doesn’t mean it all. She is still going to stay in modeling:

“I’m definitely going to pursue modeling,” she said on “GMA.”  “I just want to be more wholesome about it and the jobs that I am going to choose are always going to be honoring the Lord.”

So, she’s going to model robes for priestesses and tuxedoes for weddings? Wait, no, that is still about appearances. Is she going to get fat and model big clothes? That’s still about appearances; just a different definition of what’s beautiful. Is she going to model work clothes, Carhart farm and work clothes, practical and durable? What about lingerie for couples in love who are married? Is that possibility gone or will she model flannel pajamas? How do you know the difference? Ummm, love those flannels…

Is she going to be Kim Alexis, the born again Christian who went into health magazine modeling, pretending that men want women to look good for their health?

Bisutti twitted when she didn’t appear:

 “For all of you that were looking for me in the Victorias Secret runway show this year, I wasn’t in it. I have decided not to model lingerie. Because I personally feel that I am not honoring God or my husband by doing it. My marriage is very important & with divorce rates rising I want to do everything I can to protect my marriage and be respectful to my husband. God graciously gave me this marriage and this life and my desire is to live a Godly faithful life, I don’t however judge others for what they do. Everyone is convicted on different levels.”

Aaah, it’s just the lingerie. She’s not going to model lingerie anymore. So if she stays in the business she will threaten her marriage. But I thought he was supportive of her; maybe even drooling for all we know? Aaaah, lingerie encourages infidelity because it enrages lust beyond control in men. Sluts can put on a teddy and boys come running?

Is it the lingerie fashion industry promoting infidelity? Is it an internal problem in spite of the sanctity and safety of gay males and women doing your hair, makeup, tailoring, and other work?

But she doesn’t judge. You can all do what you want. She just won’t participate or play with you anymore.

This girl needs help and it’s not about her career choices! Sad to say she’s probably so sweet and sincere she doesn’t get it.

Jim Newman, bright and well

www.brightpride.com and www.frontiersofreason.com