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Just as She Was” She Gave Her Gospel
Some churches have hell fire and brimstone. Others have raffles, bazaars, and bingo. The First Unitarian Church of Richardson has a stripper. “But I can’t promise that every Sunday,” said the Rev. Bill Nichols, pastor of the suburban Dallas church.
Exotic dancer, Diana King, danced for the congregation last Sunday. When she was through, there was nothing left but her G-string and the congregation’s imagination. Diana, who has been stripping for seven years and whose parents are psychologists doing research in England, said she plans to conduct classes for woman church members. “I would like to do a sermon using the exotic dance, and the members of the congregation could join me if they liked,” she said.
According to the Rev. Mr. Nichols, the church’s 200 adult embers and their children watched in fascinated silence as Diana removed her clothing and did the same dance she performs nightly at a Dallas night spot. “I haven’t had one complaint,” he said. “I feel like exotic dancing is a part of life. It fit very well into our service. We are inheritors of the Victorian ethic which I don’t accept. She was expressing herself and I think she got that over to the congregation.”
Asked if she thought her nude dance sparked any feelings other than spiritual, Diana said: ”I don’t know what you mean by spiritual. I don’t dance to frustrate people. I create a fantasy. I like to turn people on. I really felt good It’s hard to articulate how you’re expressing things in church this way…It’s affirming nature and love. But you can’t separate body from mind.”
It is a fair assumption that most people will not be amused by the event described in this article from Fort Worth Star Telegram, (4/29/75, Morning Edition). However, perhaps it needs to be pointed out that any system of religion and morals that is geared to an “if-it-feels-good-do-it” philosophy, must sooner or later, resort to unabashed hedonism and amorality.
One of the Devil’s favorite deceptions has always been, “It makes no difference what you believe, as long as you are sincere.” Those who truly believe this dictum and have been loudly preaching it have no right to complain about a stripper in a church assembly, assuming she was “sincere” in doing her act. In fact, they should encourage her.
Why does it take such a blasphemous act as this to awaken us? Can’t we see that Christ would never have come, “If it makes no difference…”? How long will it be before temple prostitutes are again offered to religious devotees?
[Note: I wrote this article for, and it was published in a 1975 edition of the Granbury Gospel, weekly bulletin of the Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor. Exact date of publication is unknown]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
