Posted on 05/21/2002 12:07:48 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
She presses her nude body against the pole and slides down slowly and seductively to the loud, throbbing music. A middle-aged father slouches in his chair, his eyes filled with desire. Young men hoot and holler as her body arches and falls to the beat. An older man in the back allows his mind to succumb to fantasies of what it would be like to have her.
This is the stripper mom, and she just doesn't understand why she can't partner with a local Christian school.
Last week, the nation took notice as the mother of a kindergartner enrolled in Capital Christian School in Sacramento, Calif., complained to the press that her daughter had been expelled because of the mother's job. "How unfair," she cried. "How un-Christian."
Somehow, somewhere, there is a disconnect. Although the mother announced Monday that she would temporarily quit her stripper job so her daughter could remain in school for the remaining three weeks, she has made no commitment to stop stripping permanently. When explaining why she won't send her daughter back to the school next year, she said, "I want to find a school less concerned with image and more concerned with the welfare of children."
Unfortunately, it's not just the thought processes of the dancing-naked mother that have blown a fuse, but also those of political pundits, talk-show hosts and even a lot of Christians who were quick to criticize the school.
If the school administrators were concerned about PR, they certainly would not have taken the politically incorrect action of sticking to their principles. They took a lot of heat from folks that didn't think through the various issues of religious freedom, the rights of private institutions, parental responsibility and the Christian principle that families are the bedrock of society.
Let's focus, for a moment, on any one of the thousands of private schools that require uniforms. Imagine that a mother absolutely refuses to dress her child in the appropriate clothing, and sends her child to school, day-after-day, wearing whatever she chooses. Would there be a public judgment that the school is at fault if they no longer let the child attend?
Of course not. American society at large, and the parents who choose private schools in particular, understand that private schools get to set their own standards regarding uniforms.
Don't they also get to set their own standards regarding behavior? Shouldn't we be supportive of a Christian school that has the courage to say the behavior described above is immoral and unacceptable for partners of the school?
It's important not to confuse the mission of Capital Christian Church with that of its Christian school. It is quite clear the church is a place for the "saint" and "sinner" alike – it is an institution that opens its doors wide for all seeking truth or comfort. But as with most religious schools, the educational branch of the church is designed for the children of families who have already accepted and embraced the core religious beliefs.
In the stripper mom's mind, the government should order the Christian school and the 1,200 other families to change their standards to accommodate her personal immoral and behavioral choices.
Five-year-old girls look to their mommies with adoring, trusting eyes for guidance in how to live their lives. Why are so many Americans unwilling to flatly tell the mom that she – not the school – holds the responsibility for how her daughter is raised?
This mom doesn't believe she should be accountable to a contract she previously signed to partner with the school in support of its moral values. This mom is in denial that her decision to make easy, quick money playing on the lusts and desire of men who view women as nothing more than raw meat, will impact her daughter's life.
Although her case is extreme, we shouldn't be surprised by the mother's blindness.
How many parents have abdicated their responsibility of instilling moral values in their children? How many times have moms and dads decided that the school, or the church, or a grandmother, or the government must be required to take care of America's sons and daughters while the parents pursue the almighty dollar?
While we are all grateful for those institutions and individuals that step in and rescue children who are neglected by their own moms and dads, not every institution is structured to support such a calling. Some develop a mission to strengthen children through forming a partnership with parents. America and the Christian faith need both approaches.
Capital Christian School offered to waive tuition so the little girl could remain a student. They offered to walk "hand-in-hand" with the mother and help her leave a job that preys on the lusts of rabid men and requires mom to strip herself of both her clothes and her dignity. They offered to assist her in finding a new job and to support her efforts to build a better life.
But this mother refused. She chose to fulfill her desire to dance naked in front of men over the well-being of her own daughter. Let's hope her new decision to leave the strip-joint becomes a permanent one. Let's pray that she comes to realize that in offering mercy and demanding accountability, the school really did do what was best not just for the daughter, but for the mother too.
I also think the school needs to come up with a concrete and difinitive list of employment that is not acceptable. The current contract as written is very vague and could be construed to include almost any employment.
And they do need a policy. Rules can not and should not be made up as we go or on the fly.
How about we play poker and I get to make up the rules as we go?
Exactly! Not all schools operate as a mission field to serve the children of unbelievers or backsliders (for lack of a better word). Some schools operate to aid Christian PARENTS in providing a Christian education and environment for their children.
Not a difficult concept once we put the responsibility for rearing children back on the parents where it belongs.
Drunks? Not in my state, where the law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages in strip joints. Not that I've ever been to one, but from what I've read and from what I've been told, the law is strickly enforced.
They should clarify their guidelines on employment though. As you want it, on Monday Job A is ok, but come next Tuesday it is not ok, but then the following week it is OK again. Set clear guidelines and stick to em.
And video poker sucks. I much prefer multi-action blackjack in Vegas or AC.
Not every Christian school's mission is to take kids in because their parents don't like the local public school.
I homeschool to keep my kids innocent. If I wanted them to attend school with Heather, who has two mommies, Billy who has two daddies, and the local abortion provider's daughter, not to mention stripper's kids I would send them to public school. That sounds really ugly, but in fact, I want my chilren to remain innocent, with friends who share the same core values as our family. Why is it that when a bunch of families decide to operate a school, they are considered cruel for wanting the same things I want. Kids are NOT missionaries, contrary to what some think!
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