Six bare-breasted women protested outside the New Beginnings Ministries Church in Ohio earlier this month because members of the congregation have been protesting against the women’s place of employment, a strip club named The Fox Hole, for nine years.
The demonstrations were quite loud and even though church members and strippers exchanged fiery words with one another, no arrests were made, thanks to a law in Ohio that allows men and women to walk around topless in public.
According to local media, 30 strippers gathered at the venue along with family and friends to wave placards and express their feelings to churchgoers. Reportedly, some women from the church got into a heated confrontation with the strippers while other church members held placards condemning the strippers’ protest.
Thomas George, owner of The Fox Hole, said that he organized the protest to expose the double standards of the local administration and give the church a taste of its own medicine.
“We want to let [church members] know how it feels to be under scrutiny. They come up every weekend. They're very abusive and certainly not Christian-like, not what I read in my Bible. I have to point out the hypocrisy I see and not stand by and let this go on week in and week out. The [church members are] calling the girls [expletive] and [expletive].
They're abusive to the customers. They sit out with video cameras, they take pictures of license plates, tell them they're posting them to the web,” he said.
George went on to apologize to residents and other churches in the neighbourhood for his bold protest.
To ensure that they were doing the right thing, New Beginnings Ministries Church hung tarps around the back entrance of the building so church members and children would not have to view the topless women. The church also requested an off-duty deputy to oversee the protests and this drew some unwanted attention from passing motorists.
Pastor Bill Dunfee, the church’s leader, said that he would continue to protest against the strip club even if the strippers do not stop protesting outside his church.
“I take very seriously the responsibility as a pastor to see to it that the gospel of Christ is lifted up, that Christ himself is lifted up, and that evil is confronted,” said Dunfee.
While one of the strippers yelled, “Love is the answer, and you don't have it baby. God is love,” a churchgoer responded with, “Ma'am, you know nothing about love. You know plenty about lust. You know plenty about sex, but you know nothing about love.”
Photo Credits: FOX News
