By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Well, for the moment, the Hooters controversy in Fayetteville is on the back burner. The management of the controversial restaurant has decided to withdraw plans to put the establishment in Fayetteville.

A number of pastors and churches gathered together to put pressure on city officials in an effort to deny the restaurant permission to operate in Fayetteville. A number of letters and articles were exchanged in local newspapers and, again, for the moment, the coalition seeking to deny Hooters the right to operate seems to have been victorious. But at what price is the victory?

Certainly, citizens have the right to be heard on a variety of issues. Citizens have the right to contact their elected representatives and make their wishes and desires known. Citizens have the right to petition elected officials for desired results. If someone wanted to put an establishment near my home that I felt would damage my property values or my environment, I have the right to say to my elected officials that I would rather not have that establishment there.

But the Hooters incident was something more than citizens exercising their individual and collective rights. The Hooters controversy took on the tone of a moral crusade with the charge being led by several influential and respected church leaders. And here is where I had the difficulty.

Certainly, where issues are clearly in the realm of the moral and ethical, the church, through its members and leaders, has a right and an obligation to speak and to act.

I believe that abortion is not a political issue. I believe that abortion is the legalized genocide of the nation's most powerless citizens. I believe that the scriptures and church history are both clear in condemning the destruction of innocent human life, regardless of the modern penchant to minimize this life by redefining the unborn as a "fetus." I believe the church is right and just to speak and act nonviolently on behalf of these innocents, of whom God said, "Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you."

I believe that in Christ there is no distinction of persons, therefore, I believe that civil rights is a moral issue, not a political one. I believe that the church is right to work for justice, opportunity, and dignity for all people. I believe that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., not be considered a black hero but an American hero.

I believe that homosexuality is not a political issue. I believe that the clear witness of scriptures and church history is that homosexuality is sin and the church has a right and an obligation to speak out on the dangers and consequences of all sin, including sexual sin. I believe that the church should also be open and caring to those struggling with the power and consequences of sin.

There are consequences, some potentially negative, when the church takes a public stand on moral issues. I believe that the church should count the cost, determine whether this "hill is worth dying for," and then proceed.

It is my opinion that when the church wades into battles that are trivial, it wastes its ammunition and damages its credibility. In my estimation, and I know that there are good people, many of them my friends, who disagree with me, the Hooters battle was a trivial one, not nearly attaining the significance of issues such as abortion, the oppression of segments of the population, or so-called "alternate sexual lifestyles."

At some point in time, Hooters will come to Fayetteville. To me, not only was the battle an eventual lost cause, it was too trivial an issue for the church to risk its energies and credibility.

I believe that the citizens, including Christians and pastors, who wished to speak out regarding the placement of a Hooters in their community had every right to do so. But to me, it was a preference or a zoning issue, not a moral one.

To me the church trivialized itself by organizing opposition and wading into this small fray. And, if those who have spoken to me on the issue represent the average citizen, then in the eyes of many, the church has lost credibility.

Would Jesus or the apostles have involved themselves in this issue had they been present in our day? Does anybody really think they would? And if not, does anybody really think their descendants should either?

They were about the business of the Kingdom of God. We should invest our energies and efforts in issues worth the time, the risk, and the rewards.

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Church in Peachtree City. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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