By REV JOHN HATCHER
Religion Columnist

So we hear that Hooters will not be coming to Fayetteville in the near future. It seems problems related to road improvements were too great to surmount. Well, I do not give a hoot what kept Hooters from settling in Fayetteville. I am just glad it is not coming.

There is a serious issue, however, that I want to address and I hope that folks who wanted Hooters in Fayetteville will hear me out. Still, seriously, I am glad the Hooters officials decided to give up or at least wait until the Christian community is asleep. Nevertheless, I do not think we will sleep with the likes of Woody Harrison, a Christian businessman, at the lookout.

Now, the issue. The thing that truly grieves the heart of many members of the clergy is that we have been cast in the role of witch-hunters or members of the local morality squad. They have portrayed many of us as prudes.

One of my fellow ministers, for whom I have no reason to dislike, but with whom I can disagree, said he looked forward to ministering the love, acceptance, and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to anyone who entered or worked at Hooters. He communicated through letters to the editor that he wanted to embrace Hooters as a mission prospect. That is good and commendable. Nevertheless, it made the rest of us look like we were above caring and ministering to the people who work in and dine in Hooters. Far from the truth. Jesus would go into a Hooters on a mission from God and none of us is better than he.

But the question is not, "Will the Christian community love and care for Hooter folks," but, "Do we want that kind of restaurant in Fayetteville?" The answer is "no." If Hooters is a choice, it is not the choice of Godfearing people. Just the plain, vanilla facts, Jack!

Then, another of Fayette's prolific writer/ministers writes in his column that he hoped to be one of the first to take a seat in the new Fayetteville Hooters (you will wait, but there is no line). I understand his heart and motivation. Knowing this member of the clergy, he has a heart as big as Atlanta and seeks to communicate soulfully that he loves people no matter where they gather and no matter what they are doing. Truly, he demonstrates the love of our Lord Jesus. But, in taking the stand in the way he did, he kinda' made the rest of us who opposed Hooters to look prejudicial in whom we loved. No so! Not one of the vocal opponents of Hooters would dare pass up an opportunity to meet with and listen to and love up on anyone who worked at Hooters or who would patronize Hooters.

But, we still do not want that kind of restaurant in our fair city. And Fayetteville is a fair city. Just ask the hundreds who are trying to move in among us. I say, "come on," but you must settle for a community whose values are rock-solid Judeo-Christian.

Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge

Community Church in Fayetteville.

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