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.
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. |
That would be my guess.
I sure hope ..."forgetting to take off her uniform on the way" is a pun.
People complain about liars and hypocrites in the Church, and this woman is a prime example. She is the one who has continuously sought the "career enhancing" notoriety and publicity, not the pastor or the Church. If it were not a sin to bet, I would bet that she is lying to the public about members of the church frequenting the sex club, just as she lies to the public and herself about her Christianity.
Cordially,
You would take the church to task for not being gracious enough to allow the girl to finish school. What do you think about the mom not being "gracious" enough to wait 3 weeks before doing the playboy shoot?
have you not read 1Corinthians 5?? t is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature[1] may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. 9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you.
The church in corinth was (like you are) in gridlock about how to handle smiliar situations. Paul wasn't in gridlock about it.
He turned me into a newt!
Then after recognizing her image one of the congregation downloaded her nude dancing pictures from the internet to show to the church body and have her removed from teaching Sunday School.
One more time for good measure.
CS: Absolutely.
Maybe, maybe not. Should one uncritically believe someone who already *lied* to their daughter's school?
Lots of "Brothers" Doing lots of Slandering...right here....
Look, only an idiot can defend her actions, But that is also true for the defense of the way the incident was handled especially considering the prior poorly handled incident by the same headmaster....Terminal Stupidity is not a graceful attribute.
She can't even honor the intent of the new deal.
Stripper Mom should replace Dick Cheney in 2004's GOP ticket.
Stripper Mom in a Sunday School teachers outfit, definitely a million seller-unless you beat em to it Registered...LOL!
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