NothingToDread.com

If you give people an inch, they'll want a foot. If you give them a foot, they'll ask for a yard. When they get the yard, they're going to want to put in a pool. I don't know who said that originally, but it was probably a lounge comedian from the 60s or 70s. Moderation is often incompatible with human nature. Last year we spent a lot of time writing about a bunch of teenagers who decided to explore social nudity in a downtown parking lot in Brattleboro, Vermont. Nudity is legal in Vermont, but local governments can pass ordinances banning or curtailing the practice as they see fit. That was the case in Brattleboro. The township considered passing an ordinance banning public nudity, but ultimately decided to table the topic when impending cold weather promised to settle the issue for the season.

Spring is in the air, and Nudiarist has brought it to our attention that things are again heating up in Brattleboro.

But now the backlash is starting early in the warm weather season, and the moralists are fine-tuning their arguments. Jerry Falwell might be dead but his political machine still thrives. Watch out, Vermont, the right to be nude at the old swimming hole is about to go the way of the Dodo bird.

When Nudists Attack
Diary of a Nudist
May 16, 2007

I agreed with Nudiarist last year when he wrote that nothing good could come out of the events unfolding in downtown Brattleboro, and I continue to stand behind that sentiment today. However, I'm less inclined to pin this on the right wing moralists than I am to blame those who are repeatedly unwilling to exercise restraint and practice moderation. I've never been to Brattleboro, but as far as I know nudity did not become an issue in that township until it wandered away from the old swimming hole and found its way to the town square.