Posted on 05/30/2002 11:52:00 PM PDT by Sabertooth
"Jesus loves the little children," the classic Christian ditty goes, "all the children of the world." All of them except the one whose mom works as a stripper.
That seems to be the moral of the story of nude dancer Christina Silvas, whose 5-year-old daughter was recently expelled from kindergarten when the school found out about her mother's stripping. A single mom, Christina danced at a gentlemen's club in Rancho Cordova, California to pay the $400 monthly tuition at Capital Christian School, operated by one of America's biggest Assemblies of God churches. School officials declared stripping violated the "Christian Commitment/Philosophy" Christina signed when she enrolled her daughter, and they gave the 24-year-old an ultimatum -- stop stripping or we'll stop teaching your daughter.
Christina and the private religious school eventually reached an accord. She consented to stop dancing for the last three weeks of her daughter's school year, and Capital Christian will allow the girl to finish kindergarten. Christina did not, however, say she wouldn't pose for Playboy.
When we learned about this tale of lack of Christian charity, we tracked Christina down. She had no qualms about our offer to pose, and she was soon on a plane to Playboy headquarters in Chicago. During a break in her shooting, we chatted with Christina and asked her to strip down the controversy for us.
Playboy.com: Once your daughter is finished with kindergarten, will you return to dancing?
Christina Silvas: That's not my intention, but I have not closed that door.
PB: Does the club want you back?
CS: The club can't wait for me to come back. They said that if I decide to return they'll throw me the biggest welcome back party the city has ever seen.
PB: When you were dancing there, did you ever see anyone from the church or the school at the club as a patron?
CS: Absolutely.
PB: How many?
CS: What goes on at the club stays at the club, so I can't comment about that.
PB: Rick Cole, the church's senior pastor, said God thinks stripping is demeaning. Do you agree?
CS: I think it's demeaning to have a day care raise your child while you're working.
PB: So he is off the mark?
CS: I don't feel that anything I did brought anything negative to my daughter.
PB: Cole is implying that stripping is a sin. Do you see it that way?
CS: It's definitely a difficult job, but the reason I was doing it was to provide the best life for my daughter that I possibly could, and I don't believe that is a sin.
PB: As a Christian, has this whole episode tested your faith?
CS: Life is a test. I believe that in that line of work you definitely have to be a strong individual. You use that occupation or it uses you.
PB: And you used it?
CS: Yes I did, and I think my strength of character to do that came from God.
PB: Your dancing was a sacrifice for your daughter. Do you think God was pleased with your sacrifice?
CS: I believe God sees our heart and looks at why we are doing what we are doing as opposed to solely our actions, and I believe that my actions were absolutely honorable. I was trying to provide for my daughter. I didn't have the luxury of looking for something else to do. It was very sudden that the financial responsibility of providing for my daughter fell onto my shoulders, and this was the first opportunity that seemed like it would help me accomplish my goals.
PB: How shocked were you when you found out about the expulsion?
CS: I was absolutely, totally, completely shocked. When I received the phone call that they were expelling my daughter based on my occupation, I did not believe it.
PB: Has this traumatized your daughter or has she been shielded from all of this?
CS: I have shielded her as much as I could. She caught a glimpse of the news and asked why her school doesn't want her to come back. I immediately reassured her that everybody loved her and that everything was going to be OK.
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CS: She is an extremely intelligent child. I've sacrificed almost six years to be the best parent I can be and I fully believe she has the foundation to overcome any obstacle. PB: Will your daughter return to Capital Christian for first grade? CS: No. I was deeply disappointed with their actions throughout this entire situation. PB: Did you enjoy dancing at the club? CS: It was an extremely positive experience. It helped me accomplish the goals that I think are important, which is spending time with my daughter and providing the best that I can for her. PB: Was it fun, though? Did you enjoy doing it? CS: I enjoyed the challenge of it, of doing the best job I could. PB: Did you have a certain style or a signature move? CS: I was good with the pole. Everyone asked if I was a gymnast. PB: When this story broke, it was reported that people were coming forward to offer you other jobs so that you would not be violating church policy. Has anything panned out? CS: I want to take the next three weeks to find myself and my daughter a new church to attend, a new school for her to go to next year and hopefully a new occupation. PB: What would you like to do? CS: I have many interests. I got straight As in high school and great grades in college, so I have unlimited possibilities and opportunities. PB: Why pose for Playboy? CS: Before all of this happened, I was extremely interested in posing. I have the utmost respect for the entire company, and I believe posing for Playboy is the American dream for a woman. PB: What do you think the church's reaction will be to your posing? CS: I think they will believe that my intentions throughout this entire process were for self gain and that I had evil intentions. But I can't help what other people believe. I can't change other people's thoughts. PB: Are you prepared for the fallout? CS: I am. I have to live my life for me. I can't live my life for the public or the church. |
STRIPPER MOM FOR PRESIDENT.
That having been said, I will file that remark (do you walk...) away for use....it was kinda funny. But he is correct.
There is a difference between judging sin and executing judgment of sin. The difference relates not only to quality and kind, but also to appointed time. Do you know the difference? Study--carefully and prayerfully study-- the parable of the woman taken in adultery. The answer is there if you have eyes to see it.
Christians are also promised they will have the Holy Spirit in this life to enable them to judge all things. Do you contend God empowers His children to judge all things and then forbids them to use that power?
Be careful in your answers.
I assume nothing.
Fact: the pic was found on the strip club website
Possibility 1. Someone playing detective found it.
Possibility 2. Someone surfing for porn found it and was shocked that it was someone they knew.
Possibility 3. Someone saw her at the club, then went to the website to print off proof.
I don't see why any of these are impossibile or absurd.
Ya'd think with all her intellectual firepower she'd be unfulfilled showin' her t!ts and @ss to a bunch of drunks.
That is pure unfounded speculation on your part.
Beautiful. Ultimately, this is about faith in God versus faith in self.
Someone could have seen her entering the club.
Someone could have seen her leaving the club.
Someone could have seen her on the club's web site.
Someone in the church or school could have been told by a non-church going third-party about her activities.
She could have told another mommy at the school who then told the school.
I'm sure with a little imagination would could think of other ways the school could have found out without implicating members of the church, but with her track record for truthfulness and the school's not fessing up, we are left with conjecture. I am sure that the non-Christians on this forum just love the possibility that there are some hypocritical Christians in the world. We all know that non-Christians are the most honest, trustworthy, straight-forward, law-abiding people in the world. /sarcasm
And before you Christian bashers even have a chance to type it, let me answer it now: Christian's don't claim to be perfect, only forgiven.
Minor point: Those clubs don't serve alcohol.
She did something that she knew that neither the church or the school would condone, she hid it, she refused to change, refused the offered help, and refused to cooperate with the church or the school, accepting money to rail against them.
Did you then, and do you now support the actions of Eschior?
People condemned Bakker, Swaggart and Oral Roberts for just that. But when it comes to stripper mommy and Bill Clinton, "the ends justifies the means" is OK.
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