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. |
No. The man in the ditch accepted the help offered to him and got out of the dirty ditch where the robbers had flung him.
This gal went to the press, publicly criticized those who wanted to help her, and refused to get up out of the slime,
preferring the company of the robbers who are exploiting her for a mere pittance.
So the paid nude models in my university art department are prostitutes?
That is pure unfounded speculation on your part.
Or fantacizing.
It's neither. It's years of observation.
A stricture-bound, approval-starved legalist is a lot more apt to fall for flirting, for attention, and more apt to fall for the fantasy that he's special, finally appreciated, in a special relationship, when he's actually swimming in the public pool.
There is a way that seems right to men... but it leads to destruction.
The local insurance company offered her a job to pay for private school and quit stripping, but instead she spurned the offer and became a 'radio Howard Stern shock jock' in Sacremento.
And now Playboy in her lingerie with a stained glass window backdrop..this is not a woman looking to lead a stable life for her daughter.
Same ol', same ol', or, as Solomon said...there is nothing new under the sun.
So the paid nude models in my university art department are prostitutes?Ye
So, you wouldn't even look at the Venus de Milo, because it was the rendering of a prostitute? Have nothing but disdain for great, classical works of sculpture?
Amazing.
Even if she did, how does that make it right?
What if it ends up costing her far more than the trifling she was paid?
What will it cost her little girl - who will likely be the one to pick up the tab for her mother's indiscretions?
How about ex-husband or ex-boyfriend? There's probably a few of those around.
Even if you believe her contradictory statement that she felt pressured by financial reasons to take a job as a stripper--and her wholly implausible assertion that she had NO other choice--the pastor of the church offered to help her with finances until she COULD find another job. Temporally, he offered to help her just as did the Good Samaritan, and for reasons far, far less compelling.
The more serious problem here isn't temporal but spiritual. The pastor's job ends not at filling temporal needs but extends to the spiritual welfare of the woman as well. Spiritually, he found this woman languishing in a ditch bleeding her spiritual life away. He sought to pull her out of the ditch, and she refused the help.
Meanwhile the hobbes1 and Le-Roys of the province seem determined to pass by and rail at and curse the pastor for daring to suggest that a ditch isn't a good place to die.
And what about Hemingway's Ghost? Well, he sees a bit of exposed skin through the gaps in the bushes in the ditch and, like an pimple-faced cracked-voice 15-year old boy, is hooting, leering, calling for his pals to come and enjoy the view with him.
Those would be other reasonable possibilities. Sure.
I homeschool to keep my kids away from Heather's two mommies, and Mikey's two dads, and, yes, stripper mom. I happen to like INNOCENT five year olds. And, yes, it is possible to raise innocent five year olds.
Most here would not condemn me for protecting my children, but, gee, are they willing to throw stones at these parents for wanting to protect their children. THAT is why the school has contracts. It is a Christian school for Christian parents who want to raise Christian children. It is not there as a dumping ground for parents who don't like the academics at the local public school, but care not one wit for the religious upbringing of their children.
Some schools are missionary in nature. Others are not. Besides this woman was subject to church discipline as outlined in the New Testament....ummmm.....there is more to the NT than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
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