In our last broadcast we introduced the delicate subject of modern dress and undress, and how the principle of Christian modesty has been violated and destroyed. I'd like to introduce today's broadcast with a most revealing statement about feminine pride. The professional woman who made this statement had been in sales, and served as a newspaper fashion editor. Here's what she said: "More and more American women pursue fashion's far-out follies. Kooky clothes and mad make-up are no longer confined to a screwball few; they are being sold to millions. Women have gone crazy. The fantastic world of women's fashion has grown into one of the greatest con games ever devised.

"Take hair, for instance; if it isn't striped, it may be spotted with gold or silver flecks dusted on like visible fallouts. Or a woman's whole head may be dipped into the dye vat.

"Then there are green eyelids. No longer merely a stage make-up for a spooky thriller, this fungus-like look can be seen at any P.T.A. meeting. Eye-shadow kits in all colors of the rainbow sell at department stores, discount houses and dime stores.

"Fashion has turned into a relentless campaign to encompass every American female from the cradle to the grave. . . . The old are made to look infantile, and the young are high-pressured into the femme-fatale market before they are out of diapers.

"Women have been so bewitched, bewildered and brainwashed that they seem incapable of resisting the most arrant nonsense. Anything wacky can be sold in the name of fashion. . . . The tab for fuss and feathers is now close to $25 billion a year."

Some authorities have raised the question as to whether modern dress styles have anything to do with the rising tide of sexual assaults and immorality. We must all agree that there has been a tremendous moral decadence in society. The facts and figures concerning illegitimacy are simply staggering.

The FBI statistics for the United States reveal the fact that 224 rapes are reported to police every 24 hours. When I began this broadcast ministry in 1966 the figure was only 55 rapes per day.

Now listen, friends, I know that there are many, many factors involved in this lowering of moral standards, but I'd like to remind you of something here that could be very, very significant. During these same years in America,when things have almost reached rock bottom, there has been a radical departure from the dress fashions, customs, and taboos of a few years ago. Now, this will be granted by all who were adults when this period began. The present popular near-nude attire at the bathing beaches, of our streets and homes, and on parading drum-majorettes and festival queens has been arrived at garment by garment, inch by inch.

The voices of protest that were raised a few years ago have become well nigh inaudible. People just aren't saying anything about these things anymore, friends, not even the preachers or the religious institutions. Now I'm sure the reason for this is that it's such a prickly issue to deal with. If anybody says a word of criticism about these styles of near-nudity, someone is sure to accuse the person of being evil minded. The time has come when somebody should stand up and have the courage to tell the truth about this monstrous evil.

While men and women are equally blameworthy, it's a fact that women are in a greater degree displaying the body for the sake of display and being exploited at every possible opportunity. No popular festival occasion is complete without a half-naked queen chosen largely for her curvaceous figure from a number of equally unclothed contestants. We are living in a day when the virtue called "modesty'' is almost a memory of yesteryear. Modesty is no longer considered necessary to the protection of virtue. What place can it find in all the present freedom and sex appeal and the free mingling of the sexes in nearly all situations of life. Scanty clothing is considered a mere matter of choice, and sex appeal is regarded as legitimate for both Christian and non-Christian.

A minimum of clothing is deemed sufficient for both sinner and saint. Near-nude queens are encouraged by half-nude church members. Who would be so blind as to say that there is no relationship between the present styles of undress and the rapidly rising incidents of rape in the United States?

The warden of one of the most famous prisons in America worked personally with and interviewed 170,000 prisoners in the last 12 years. This is the statement he made after those interviews: "Crimes of passion are increasing alarmingly, they will continue to increase until the principle cause of their increase is eliminated, and that cause is our present styles of dress in America, which to say the least, is immodest. Immodest dress has a direct bearing on crime incitation."

Now that's the opinion of the man who interviewed 170,000 prisoners; but you don't have to take his word for it. Just read the daily newspaper. What is the reason for this skyrocketing of sexual assaults against women? Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to excuse the offenders in this case at all, but I am saying that a return to the modesty which once characterized this country would eliminate a large measure of crime today.

The 10% increase of sexual assaults is going to be reported again next year, and the next and the next, as long as the present trends of immodest dress and style are continued. Satan himself has devised many of these fashions to corrupt the imagination of the world. As we read a moment ago, the imagination of the hearts was only evil continually in the world before the flood. Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so it would be at the end of the age.

Today we see a world simply filled with evil imaginations. Ancient Rome had no more brazen infatuation with sex and vulgarity than we do. America has gone mad over the unholy attempt to glorify and glamorize sexual perversion. It assaults the eyes and ears on every side; television, radio, music, and advertising is so thoroughly saturated that even worldly people are complaining about it. This generation can truly be said to worship the cult of the female body.

Almost invariably, a new product introduced on the market is first advertized by some seductively clad woman. Physical impurity is the cursed sin of our day. The ungodly, unnatural obsession of our society with sex is the root of many of the social problems we are now having to meet. Satan has always worked through nakedness or suggestive dress. There is absolutely no question but what he has designed this gradual breaking down of inhibitions, especially on the part of women. Sights and sound which would have shocked the most carnal people a few years ago don't even cause any alarm now in the saints of God. The stage has been set, conditions have been created which mark this as the final moment before Jesus comes.

My friends, we don't have to look far to know exactly how God looks upon these conditions. If some of the complacent, compromising Christians of today would take a look in the Bible, they would know how God considers this matter of immodest dress. I want you to notice from the Word of God that one of the first things He did after sin came into the world was to clothe the nakedness of Adam and Eve. Oh yes, they tried to clothe themselves first of all, because they were ashamed and realized that they were naked. But let's read the account as it is in Genesis 3:7: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons."

Notice what the margin of the Bible says concerning those aprons; "Things to gird about." Now friends, if you wanted to come right down to it, I suppose we could say that this was the first example of topless dress, because this is apparently what it was. It was a kind of apron that wrapped around and covered only a part of the body.

But this was not sufficient, and God did not approve it, because in verses 20 and 21 we find God coming to them and saying, "Unto Adam and also unto his wife, the Lord made coats of skin and clothed them." Now we have found in the same chapter two descriptions of the original dress that was made for Adam and Eve after they sinned. They designed for themselves certain clothes that were mere aprons, but God came along later and made coats for them so they were completely covered.

There, friends, you have a perfect example of what pleases the Lord. If you want to know what Satan's program is, as far as clothes are concerned, go into some of the heathen lands of the world. The farther back you go into the bush country and jungles, you find people who are wearing nothing. After he gets control of an individual, one of the first things Satan does is to try to get him to take his clothes off. The proof for this is found in Luke 8:27 concerning the poor man who had been possessed of a devil. Jesus had come to the land of the Gadarenes to visit, and the text says: "When he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.'' The devil had full possession of this man's faculties and he had taken off all his clothes.

Now go down to the 35th verse and read about this man after Jesus cast out the devils. "Then they went out to see what was done: and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid." Just as soon as this poor man had been delivered from the influence of evil spirits, immediately he put on his clothes again. What a tremendous example of what God would have us do in seeking to live for Him and serve Him! When the Holy Spirit dwells in an individual, he is going to be possessed of the high principles of true modesty. Now it is true that we were created male and female, but God expects us, having become conscious of the fact, to clothe our bodies as inconspicuously as possible. If we want men to see the image of God in our faces, we will have to keep our bodies clothed.

Some voices have been bold enough to speak up from certain quarters about the disgraceful situation, but actually very, very few Christian voices are speaking very loudly about it. Here is a statement from the American Quarterly of Papal Documents: "The current mode of dress constitutes a serious offense against decency and decency as a companion of modesty and in whose company chastity herself is safer."

Greek Orthodoxy has spoken indirectly through its organized youth. The secular press states that an attempt was made to stage a popular bathing beauty contest in Athens. Cries of "Shame, shame!" from the Orthodox youth actually caused the contest to be called off. It's too bad we don't have enough strong Christian young people in this country to exercise such bold influence for good.

The feeble, low voice of Protestantism has scarcely been heard, but there are some exceptions. The WATCHMAN EXAMINER has spoken emphatically upon the immodesty of bathing beauty contests. According to that magazine, one Baptist state assembly for years has enforced rules against the wearing of shorts and also against mixed bathing. Well, that's the way it is, friends. With a few, very few, exceptions, the issue is entirely untouched in religious circles. Criticism of the existing order is not wanted, and the existing order is that of the world.

I say it's about time for somebody to speak up. The WATCHMAN EXAMINER minces no words. Listen to this statement: "Let professing Christians drop the naive assumption that the bare body no longer rouses a response in the minds of the opposite sex, or the equally naive assumption that if the body does arouse such response, it is the legitimate and harmless thing to do." Having admitted that here is an issue, every Christian now can have a part in striving to rectify the wrong. Knowing that our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, we can keep from wantonly exposing them to public view. Let those who have seen this insidious change take place help our young people to formulate standards that are consistent with their Christian profession.

I say that it's time for our pulpits to break the unholy silence that has allowed modern undress to be adopted by a large part of the constituency of our church. Let us hear some sermons from Revelation 16:15, "Blessed is he that keepeth his garment lest he walk naked and they see his shame." Let the religious press help to stem the tide that is now flowing against the restraints of proper dress standards. The history of moral movement shows that public opinion in its tolerance of evil has swung like a pendulum and that an awakened conscience in the church can start the swing toward the right in any issue. Let's no longer leave this issue untouched.

Friends, the problem for the Christian becomes very simple when one spiritual principle is kept in mind. We find that principle in Ephesians 5:10 (20th Century Translation); "Always be trying to find out what best pleases the Lord." When we search the Bible constantly to discover the way He would have us go, there will be modesty and circumspection in the way we walk. God wants us to be neat, clean, and well appearing. There is nothing wrong with being in style as long as the styles are in harmony with the principles of modesty laid down in God's Word. But when the current fashions of the world depart from the principles of true modesty as revealed by God, then the true Christian must stand firmly and independently for that which is true and right.

May God help you to do that as you seek to find from His Holy Word what pleases the Lord.