As a Christian, I truly do believe in my faith. However, I also feel an overwhelming desire to apologize on it’s behalf when I read crap like this, from KCRA.com in Sacramento:
“Customers heading into Secrets Lingerie Boutique in Vacaville are sometimes met by protesters and a sign saying, “Smile, you’re on YouTube.” Youth pastor Jim White said the protesters gather to film shoppers entering the store because they think Secrets “is a shop that is profiting from pornography and other materials that we feel are degrading to people and exploitative.”"
You can read the whole article here if you’re interested.
And coincidentally, while I was writing this, my good friend Kate James sent me a link to an online petition (which I also now remember reading on Adele Haze’s blog) to the Borough of West Chester (Pennsylvania) that reads:
“Feminique Boutique is a shop in West Chester, PA that offers lingerie, lotions, lubricants, and vibrators in a back room. The female-friendly pink and chocolate brown boutique is owned and operated by Jill McDevitt, a sexologist with a B.A. in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family and a Masters of Education in Human Sexuality in progress. The boutique also offers workshops on healthy sexuality, relationships, and female empowerment.
Recently, a local Catholic church has filed an appeal of the building permit issued to Feminique Boutique by the borough of West Chester, saying the shop “perverts sexuality” and “corrupts morals”. Feminique Boutique is a legal and legitimate business and has been given all necessary permits and follows all laws to operate. The deadline to file an appeal has also passed.
We, the undersigned, want to protect the rights of Feminique Boutique to remain open for business in West Chester, PA.”
I’d suspect both these communities have rather more important issues these respective churches could be focusing their time and energy on. Sadly, instead of taking on difficult issues, they’ve chosen to take on easy targets, and ones more likely to garner media attention.
Hopefully someday they’ll realize that there are more important things in life than where people choose to shop.