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. |
Who is more admirable: a pornographer or a lay-about?
I choose neither.
There are many such dunderheads posting at FR. They are sick and lost beyond hope.
One is consecrated by marriage.
One is defiled by prostitution.
But then, these are just scriptural distinctions, eh?
So why bother?
Who cares, right?
Tell your daughter that either is a noble pursuit - if you believe so.
Oh, so it's the headmaster who is at fault here, not the stripper mother who enrolled her child in a Christian school ,agreed with the rules and standards and then turned around and violated them....and then complained to the media when she was held responsible for her actions.
Right.
My religiously devout stay-at-home wife is the most important part of the reason our children have turned out smart, ambitious, hard-working, well-adjusted, and law-abiding. The value they will give to the communities in which they will live, work, and rear their own families will be incalculable. Praise be to God, I say.
The stripper's child will run a high risk of growing up confused, cynical, sexually precocious, and addicted to alcohol or drugs of some kind. That's the hard reality of it. If the child avoids these traps (and I pray that happens) it will despite the stripper-mother's example--not because of it.
I wouldn't care about it at all if it hadn't become yet another reason for most of the major media to all get together and smear, spit on, pile on, misinterpret, misunderstand, and sneer at people whose religious principles are more important to them then keeping up with ever-backsliding social mores. At the same time, the media raised the (ahem) interest of non-readers/viewers by dangling the possibility there might be pictures of a beautiful near-naked woman. It's a win-win for them.
People like yourself, who only were in possession of the facts allowed by people biased in favor of Silvas, were quick to just take her side. As a person who considers himself a serious Christian and who can't stand Christian-bashing in the media when the bash-ees are guilty of nothing but maintaining their integrity, I can't let stuff like this go by unanswered. If you are going to forward inaccurate ideas -- like that she was above board with her profession -- I am going to give you the facts. When people suggest that nude dancing is something that is permissible for authentic followers of Christ, I am going to cite the words of Jesus and his apostles to set the record straight.
Whether or not yours or anyone else's impression changes accordingly is not up to me.
I don't think he was defending them. I believe you know what I was getting at. Don't you?
I thought I did. Maybe I didn't.
FRmail for more. BTW, this is for education purposes only. I am not condoning nekked playboy posing............ ;-)
What are you implying here?
You sound like you are a touch defensive about being a parasite on your husband. Now who is more admirable, the Stripper Mom who is doing something for her child or the stay-at-home mom Peggy Bundy?
**
You obviously have major issues...and a complete hatred for women. Seek help.
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