Dutch Christians cancel naked service

ZEEWOLDE, Netherlands, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A group of Dutch Christian naturists said they were forced to cancel a planned nude church service after their previous naked worship led to threats.

The Gan Eden, or Garden of Eden, group said their first nude church service, presided over in June by a clothed priest in the town of Zeewolde, led to a flurry of threatening phone calls and e-mails from Christians who were outraged by their actions, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

"I don't understand what all the fuss is about," a Gan Eden spokesman said. "We are just a group of Christians and we want to hold a church service."

The group said the publicity generated by June's nude church service forced them to close down their Web site.

"Because of the negative publicity and the lurid curses in the guest book we have been obliged to close the site temporarily," a message on the Web site reads. "It is a problem that this proves be necessary in a country which calls itself tolerant."