Pastor Mike Scruggs of White Oak, Ohio, told his local news affiliate that he put a stripper pole on his pulpit to help preach his message at his Light of Word Ministries church.
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"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," he said.
This particular series of sermons is called the Battle of the Sexes and includes plenty of props. "On one side [we'll have] what men want or desire: your stripper pole, your video games, your sports," Scruggs said. "The woman's side [is] orderly, neat. It's all about love, candy, teddy bears, roses and being wined and dined and cherished."
This is no doubt raising some eyebrows among more conservative churchgoers, but others without a stake in the biblical angle have also taken issue with the approach. At Clutch magazine, Thembi Ford, dreading the emergence of another self-proclaimed "relationship expert," writes:
But what I find unnerving is the stereotypical gender construction behind it all that sets women up as romance-craving, sexually traditional, teddy bear squeezers because we “like being wined and dined and cherished,” and men as sports and video game-driven beings bent on drooling over strippers and high heels. We all know that sexual desire is never that cut-and-dry, and it’s disturbing that the message once again becomes “throwing bills on strippers…yes, that is what men like … this is normal and healthy…hooray for traditional gender roles!”
Scruggs would want critics to know that, as he told WLWT News 5, his mother is a member of the congregation and approves of his message.
Read more at WLWT News 5 and Clutch magazine.
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