Suzy Says

My good friend Kathleen in good old Motown brought this column to my attention. I should say right here and now that Kathleen has enlightened me considerably over the years, and especially on two topics:

1. Sports
2. Religion

Now, anyone who reads this blog knows I cannot abide sports, especially when they pre-empt the TV shows I want to watch. But Kathleen dared to introduce me to Mitch Albom’s column in the Detroit Free Press, which I enjoy so much that it is actually in my – insert gasp here – favorites list. So she did manage to make a little crack in my hermetically sealed mind.

Kathleen is also one of the few people I know who follows an organized religion who is open-minded, tolerant, and loving. Religion for her is, as it should be, about love, not hate. Which brings us to the subject of the column.

If you haven’t checked it out already, the gist is that a stripper’s child got booted out of her Christian kindergarten solely due to her mother’s profession. This blows my mind on so many levels that I barely know where to begin.

First of all, how far do you go on checking the backgrounds of the parents before accepting their fees (in this case, a pretty hefty $400 a month, and remember, this is kindergarten)? Do you accept lawyers who represent corporations who destroy the environment or treat their workers badly? Do you accept people who are having extra-marital affairs or consuming porn or have a gambling problem or deal drugs? And why are they even investigating the parents’ background? Shouldn’t they be doing something better with their time, such as, oh, I don’t know…teaching? It seems to me that if the parents wish their children to go to this school and can pay the fees, the school should take the fees and in return, educate the children.

Certainly strippers give value for the money they get, and what they do with it after they get it should be their own business. I would think it would be considered admirable that this single mother is willing to spend such a considerable sum of money — which she has earned herself — on educating her child, and a religion-based school at that. I hope the kid’s mother finds a good school that is willing to take the tuition and give the kid a good education. And I hope the Capital Christian School has the grace to be embarrassed by its actions, though I’m not holding my breath.