The UK’s Daily Mail reports on Pastor Mike Scuggs of White Oak, Ohio, who has some controversial ideas when it comes to preaching, like installing a stripper pole at the altar.
Religious people from all times and places have used theatrical approaches to get people into service and that’s what this preacher seems to be trying.
He’s not asking anyone to come up and try out the pole, rather he’s making a statement about what some men’s fantasies look like and what some women’s look like, too (hence the bed with roses and romantic thingies sprinkled across on the other side of the stage).
Of course, there are some people who have problems with Scruggs approach, but he did have a packed room last Friday night.
Oh, and he’s asking his flock to have sex every night for a week, too.
I like his direct approach about real life:
“We push the envelope, that's true,” he told WLWT.com. “Don't take it out of context. Some people say, "He's going to hell. He's wrong." We want to talk about it. We don't want them to guess at it, assume it's wrong. It's right. We want to talk about it.”
“We talk about sex. We talk about drugs. We talk about faith. We talk about relationships… things that people are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.”
It seems like bringing real life problems into the context of one’s religion makes sense.
What do you think about Scruggs’ controversial theatrics?
The subliminal messages this xian pastor is sending out are obvious: he has a guilt problem with sex. I wonder if he and his wife are swingers. Or if he patronizes local strip clubs. He can't keep the guilt out of his sermonizing.
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