Sins Of The Flesh

I confess that I have never been much of a fan of strip clubs. I would like to say that this is because I am a steadfast and adamant supporter of women's rights, but this isn't entirely the truth, since I know that there are plenty of women who choose to take their clothes off for money and it would then be their rights that would be infringed by calling for a ban on such business opportunities. I suppose it might be better to say that I am morally opposed to such activities, and that strip clubs are havens for animal lust of the most salacious kind. To me, that's an argument for their existence: providing a place where such behavior could be confined, acknowledged, and channeled into an eventual return to that "normal" place where women walk around fully clothed without the incessant pounding of ZZ Top.
At least that's what I tell myself. It helps explain moments like this: Police in Ohio say they found a missing pastor from Niagara County in a place where many people would not expect to find a man of the cloth. If you guessed a strip club, then you must have been reading the previous paragraph. The embarrassment and pain that his family and congregation are about to endure will be on a par with the local version of former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer. The pastor, whose wife and son were on vacation in Disney World at the time, claimed not to know how and why he was at the KC Lounge in the first place. While the pastor may not remember how he got to the club, at least one dancer there claims to remember what he did while he was there. According to the police report, the dancer says the pastor was there for about two hours, had three or four drinks and an equal number of private dances.
Police talked with his wife about her husband's state of mind. Sergeant Frank Previte said, "She stated there was nothing unusual. He was under some stress because of the Lenten season and Easter." I had never considered the potential stresses of the Lenten season, but I am glad that Pastor Rhodenizer found a way to deal with them. Now his big problem will be the hypocrisy challenge. He has to be able to appear contrite and remorseful and hope that he will be allowed to continue to lead his flock as they attempt to forgive him. He has to go back to that place where he was just a man, caught up in the vices of adult males. Won't this Sunday's sermon be interesting?
I know that a fourth grade teacher with a wife and kid would be doing himself a favor by staying away from strip clubs. If nothing else, it's a good career move. But the real reason why I've never been that big a fan of strip clubs? I'm just way too shy to wander around a bar, handing out money to women who take their clothes off - though I am a big fan of ZZ Top.