Americans sit and wait as our local government leaders determine what is and is not deemed worthy to stay open for business on any given day due to the coronavirus pandemic. Religious institutions have been fighting the battle to remain open since March. Finally, one California Pastor found a way to outsmart the government’s hypocritical demands and open his church; he turned it into something that was allowed to stay open: a strip club.
California, known for its backward liberal policies, has been sued by both religious institutions and strip clubs, on the grounds of curtailing freedom of speech. A surprise to no one, California ruled in favor of strip clubs, but not religious congregations. San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil determined the state couldn’t stop strip clubs from “being allowed to provide live adult entertainment,” saying the “harm to plaintiffs if the application is denied is greater than the harm to defendants if the application is granted.”
Godspeak Calvary Chapel pastor Rob McCoy came up with the conclusion to avoid the state’s backward thinking by turning his church into a “strip club” so they could stay open and hold services. McCoy has faced a filing of contempt after having continued in-person services despite a court injunction.
McCoy attributed the idea to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee during his sermon last Sunday. McCoy played a Fox News clip before his sermon of Huckabee saying, “I don’t have a lot of experience with the strip clubs. I do have quite a bit of experience with churches…and I would think it’s ridiculous to say that people are safer in a strip club than they are at church.” Huckabee then quipped churches should “announce their pastor will remove his tie during the sermon, and therefore he will take off an article of clothing making it a temporary strip club so that people will be able to go to church.”
McCoy teasingly engaged “in a clean version of a striptease before taking off the tie” while congregants held up $1 bills. McCoy continued his sermon addressing the persecution of the church under COVID-19.
