I'm waiting for MS NBC to condemn the strippers for violating the First Amendment by criticizing Christianity. Oh wait, that only applies to Muslims....
E On Aug 27, 2010, at 10:27 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Bikini-clad strippers protest church in rural Ohio > Jeannie Nuss (AP, August 27, 2010) > > Warsaw, USA - Strippers dressed in bikinis sunbathe in lawn chairs, their > backs turned toward the gray clapboard church where men in ties and women in > full-length skirts flock to Sunday morning services. > > The strippers, fueled by Cheetos and nicotine, are protesting a > fundamentalist Christian church whose Bible-brandishing congregants have > picketed the club where they work. The dancers roll up with signs carrying > messages adapted from Scripture, such as "Do unto others as you would have > done unto you," to counter church members who for four years have > photographed license plates of patrons and asked them if their mothers and > wives know their whereabouts. > > The dueling demonstrations play out in central Ohio, where nine miles of > cornfields and Amish-buggy crossing signs separate The Fox Hole strip club > from New Beginnings Ministries. > > Club owner Tommy George met with the preacher and offered to call off his > not-quite-nude crew from their three-month-long protest if the church > responds in kind. But pastor Bill Dunfee believes that a higher power has > tasked him with shutting down the strip club. > > "As a Christian community, we cannot share territory with the devil," Dunfee > said. "Light and darkness cannot exist together, so The Fox Hole has got to > go." > > New Beginnings is one of four churches in this one-traffic-light village of > 900 people, 60 miles outside Columbus. There's one gas station and a sit-down > restaurant that serves country staples like mashed potatoes with gravy and > Salisbury steak. > > On Sunday, four of The Fox Hole's seven strippers and more than a dozen > supporters garnered both scorn and compassion from churchgoers - and quite a > few honks from pickup trucks and other passing vehicles. > > One woman offered her skills as a hair dresser to the dancers: "If you or > your kids ever need a haircut, give me a holler." Another woman from the > church waited on the protesters with plates of noodles and chocolate cake. > > Laura Meske - known as Lola, stage age 36 but really 42 - hid behind a sign > proclaiming, "Jesus loves the children of the world!" as the preacher > extended his hand for a shake. > > Two nights earlier, Dunfee and more than a dozen churchgoers stood outside > the club, one of them calling out Meske's stripper name. > > "He who casts the first stone ... ," Meske said Sunday. > > The pastor cut her off and repeated, "Lola, Lord bless you." > > "Everybody has sinned, and that doesn't mean I'm not gonna get into heaven," > she said, the stud piercing in her chin shimmering in the sunlight. "I > believe in Jesus. I don't believe what they preach. They preach hate." > > Debi Durr, who attends the church, disagreed. "You don't stand up there for > four years for hate. That's not hate. That's love," she said. Durr left Meske > with a copy of Jeremiah 3:13 - a Bible passage that urges sinners to > acknowledge their guilt. > > Inside the church, voices from the 121 congregants seemed to float to the > cedar rafters as they sang lyrics projected on a screen. Outside, a man > strummed a guitar and sang, "God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her > shoes." > > Dunfee has offered to help the strippers pay for food, rent, utilities and > gas if they leave The Fox Hole. But many of the women say their jobs are only > a stopover on the way to work in cosmetology or the medical field - a meal > ticket that shelters them from another stigma: welfare. > > "No little girl is growing up like, `I wanna do a pole trick,'" said Anny > Donewald, a former stripper who lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., and ministers > to dancers, prostitutes and porn stars. > > She and other Christian groups that work with women in the adult > entertainment industry have criticized Dunfee's methods of ministry as a > means of putting the strippers on the defensive instead of showing support. > > "I never saw Jesus with a picket sign," Donewald said. > > Community advocacy groups, including Citizens for Community Values in > Cincinnati, support Dunfee's protests. But the group's president, Phil > Burress, said the strip club has a right to be there. > > "It's a legal business whether he likes it or I like it or not," Burress said. > > The club operates in a white plywood box of a building. Beer cans and a > dollar bill peaked out from the grass like Easter eggs last Sunday. > > The Fox Hole encourages customers to check out its $30 private dance special, > promoting it on the kind of sign convenience stores use to advertise cheap > milk and cigarettes. Out back, letters on a bulletin board have faded away so > that "No touching" now reads "ouch." > > It's here where dancers strip down to panties and pasties for cash. Meske - a > tattooed mother of four - said she made $30 instead of a couple hundred > dollars last Friday with the protesters outside. > > "I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world," she said. "I go out there > and I try to make my money." > > A few houses and a ribs joint called Peggy Sue's separate the club from > another white building, a church where some of the strippers donate blood > during drives for the American Red Cross. > > "I got a church 900 feet down the street that causes me no problems," club > owner George said. "And I got this moron nine miles down the street that > causes me more headaches." > > Rae Anderson, who heads New Castle Ministries with her husband, says her > church believes Dunfee is doing what the Lord called him to do, but her > parish takes a different approach. > > "You can share the truth, but you can't make anyone believe what you believe." > > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
