I'm on the nuns' side.

Move the blasted club.

At the town's expense. The nuns didn't get a chance to protest during the approval process because the town sent the notice to the wrong address. Even if it isn't required. This is not the club owner's error.

We are hurting small business owner here.

Well those were priests not nuns. The nuns are busy feeding the homeless, teaching children in the schools(for free) and providing health care in third world nations.

@ TEX

..add mud....or jello....or both....and I AM THERE!

The nuns were there first, and the club is too near the property line. Case closed: tear down the strip club at the town's expense.

The Quacked One

So, how is a strip club any worse than the Catholic Church? At least the strippers aren't going to be abusing and raping young children while telling them "it is God's will".

I disagree. The strippers will already be half naked anyways, but instead of it being God's will, it will be for cash. On a serious note though, I think the nuns have a case. It's obviously known to all a strip club would be against their religious beliefs, and putting one right next to the convent would be the same as putting it right next to a school. I don't think they could force the strip club to move solely because the nuns find it offensive, but I'm sure there's something written somewhere about it. Besides, being two feet from the property line? There's got to be a technicality somewhere. Even if they put it to a vote to anull the last vote, there has to be some kind of ordinance about decency or community concern, a local impact report, etc.

TheQuackedOne - You are quacked! It's priests molesting children, not nuns. This is a convent, meaning WOMEN ONLY. I'm on the nuns' side. They should be given a chance to stand up for themselves here. Besides that, if there's already one strip club down the street another one's really not needed 2 feet from a convent. My guess is the strippers they're hiring are pretty damn fugly and need the nuns in their habits to look hot by comparison.

Let us consider the cost to the taxpayers.

Men's Club: Pays Taxes

Nun's Club: No Taxes

Here's yet another example of abhorent behavior trying to undermine the decent. Dogmatic views? yeah, shame on the nuns...they pray for people, they feed the poor, they clothe the naked....what in the WORLD do they think they're doing????

SO, nasty old strip club, what do YOU do for society??? In all of Illinois, in all the U.S.....you mean to say you couldn't find somewhere that wouldn't be a direct affront and attack on Faith? SHAME ON YOU!

Another example of morality going down the drain. Do you want lawlessness? Prostitutes on every corner? Corruption of every kind? It all starts here. No one sees the big picture, too busy thinking about laying someone and getting the most for you %^$% money. How pathetic. Oh and lets not forget child abductions to add to the prostitute rings and fill your porno magazines with women who have no lives no hope and no will and no way of knowing theres a better life possible outside of prostitution and publicly degrading themselves just to get by. If thats the America you want, its not far. All it takes is for good people to say and do nothing and just "enjoy the show."

The men who don't get Nun can go to the strip club!

They should build several of them - call it a Strip Mall!

So, let me get this straight..

The women in Catholic Buquas take offense to nudity?

What say you, Christian right?

Two feet is too close a setback in most neighborhoods, except Central Business and Neighborhood Business Districts, or special new-fangled neighborhoods called things like "zero-lot-line" setback neighborhoods. If this new Commercial Building meets the setback standards for the neighborhood it's in, and appropriate light, air, and fire safety regulations are bing complied with, let 'em build.

Obviously the Land Use, in this case "Strip Club" use, meets the zoning standards of the area or the permit would not have been issued in the first place. Those zoning standards evolved over time and were perused by many people before being put in place.

The Nuns should not experience any hassles from their new neighbors the Strip Club.

The strip club owner followed all of the required processes and got permission to build the club. If there was a requirement to notify the nuns and that did not happen due to an error by the municipal government, then any move of the club should be paid for by the government. If there was no notification requirement, then there is no reason that the strip club should not be allowed to open as planned. Just because the nuns do not like it is no reason to prevent a legal business from opening. A lot of things can offend different people's moralities, that does not mean they get to dictate what kind of business can be opened where. I for one would not want a church next to me because of all the noise early on Sunday mornings and all the traffic. That does not mean I should be able to stop a church from being built if the zoning laws allow for it. There is no law that says that strip clubs can not be built within a certain distance of a convent. If there is a problem with the distance from the building to the property line under zoning laws, then that should be addressed. However, if the plans were approved by the town then any costs should be borne by the town. It sounds like the strip club owner did everything he was supposed to do and had all the proper approvals. The club owner should take a financial loss if the town government did not make a required notification properly. If the town did not violate any rules in approving the club, the nuns have no right to try and stop it from being built at this point.

Sounds like a golden opportunity for the nuns to make some extra cash on the side and they already have the costume for it!

Sorry nuns, too bad. You should be able to do whatever you want with your own property if it is properly zoned.

The town just happened to send notices to the wrong address. Did the town actually believe the nuns would agree with their decision? Hmm wonder if someone on town board has interest in club?

If the zoning and the building plan are found to be legal and the Nuns want it moved, let the Catholic Diocese pay the cost of relocation, purchase the destination property and recompense the Realtor for the loss of revenue due to the move from the current location or buy the property themselves.

I'm sick of religious preferences of a few being used ILLEGALLY (since the separation of church and state is a two way street) to force their will on a majority. This includes the STUPIDITY of many of the ACLU cases of late. In a Democracy the Will of the Many outweighs the plea of the Fewer (REGARDLESS of how loud or plaintive the pleas become).

Such places should be assigned within areas of like character and......... huh?.........Damn. It's being built next door to an existing one? The Nuns don't have a legitimate gripe here. Least they'll have a fertile place to proselytize.

Let us not forget the coming out of the dark ages to commencing of religion to fight all evils. Praise the ways to immortality, or be forgiven? By the way, our church doesn't agree with you, so we will just banish(insert) your ways and make better with you land.

Slime, sleezy and toilet in the sewer remarks here are appalling. Where in the hell are your people from ?

Nuns are obviously marxist, socialists, lefty-liberals with their job-killing regulations on small businesses.

The town is at fault for having the wrong address on file. Two feet from the property line sounds a little too close. I think someone should check to see if anyone on the town board has an interest in the club.

All the christian faiths should be together not fighting each other. How many of the people posting are

supposed to be of some Christian faith. People takes every opportunity to insult the Catholic faith

but the truth is there is evil mingled every where and bad people finds its way in every place.

But we know the vast majority of Christians denominations including Catholics are really trying to

do God's will. We know strip malls don't make people or neighborhoods better. We wants a husband,

boyfriend or son going to those places. How hard it is for people to choose between good and evil.

The bane of women willing to sell their bodies to pay for school.

LOL! You believe that when they tell you it? That's hilarious.

"The owner of Get It told the Sun-Times he wants to be a good neighbor and will limit the light and noise from the club. He said the club will be a high-tech, high-class venue." Since it no where near me, I don't care if they build it but there is no such thing as a "high class" strip club! It is filled with sleazy people; from the ones who work there to the ones who frequent it. They are all low class trash.

Trying to do "God's will". As they interpret it. How many of the Nuns spoke up when child molestation was known about and rampant in the church? How can the Catholic church dare to talk moral values in any way? Who would listen? Why? It has shown to lack integrity and morals in a grand scale.

Freedom and free market. If people do not want to go to a strip club near the Nuns, the place will not be open long. Just because their religion does not like it, does not make it law.

A strip club that's "a high class venue." That's a good one.

Club Pud...Coming next to a convent in your town soon!

This is a crying shame.

This seems to me a violation of the constitution. The strip club should be able to operate wherever it pleases in my opinion.

I am not against strip clubs, but would the town allow this to be built next to a school or a church? Guess they figured the nuns wouldn't bitch much. Hope none of the drunks coming out of the club pass out in the convent lawn.

Agreed, the strip club might get built but it will not last. People will not be able to tolerate the contrast. The patrons will take their business elsewhere so they do not have to "go past the dang church" to get there. The owner of the strip club is stupid to pursue this course of business...he's going to "lose his shirt!"

This seems to me a violation of the constitution. The strip club should be able to operate wherever it pleases in my opinion.

Except that there are these things called zoning laws. Also how would it violated the constitution?

There are some really ridiculous posts up there that demonstrate that extreme liberalism is also a disease almost as vile as extreme conservatism.

There are things that should be just common sense and self evident to a normal decent human being.

That you don't allow a strip club near a church or a convent should be one of them.

Let them build the club. And then, the nuns and other people of faith should have legal picket lines all around it. They should bring their cameras and camcorders and record the coming and goings of patrons. Let's see how long the club stays in business. I would also like to see if any of the Town Council or members of the Zoning Board receive(d) campaign donations from the club owners or are affliated with the club.

The club and the town says it's all perfectly legal. Well, so is protesting and photography and filming on public streets.

As someone who detests all religion, I still say the strip club should go. One can differ sharply in opinion but show some sensitivity, at the same time, to other's religious beliefs, or lack thereof. Having the strip club so close to such a place seems disrespectful and hostile. I can imagine the walls of the convent vibrating from the stripper music. Come on, people, move the club a few doors down at the very least.

Have you ever seen women watching male strippers? They are ten times nastier than men watching female strippers. Guys respect the rules and the majority know not too even look like you are going to touch a dancer - women on the other hand play Hoover when they see male strippers...even my good Catholic mother-in-law.

Double standards are just another way to show force (power trips), why are some women, control freaks? Horny old women= Cougar, horny old man = perv....whatever, grow up.

Sadly Mark, the building is almost complete. I watched the actual news footage. The owner must have rocks in his or her head. Did they really think this was going to be okay? That no one would take umbrage? Especially when there is already a strip club down the road. I suspect that it will be closed in under 6 months. Because here's the thing, I cannot be the only person who has thought of protesting after it is open.

I'm on the Nuns side with this one. I'm not a church goer and I do not agree with any religion I've seen or read about but I do think it is very distasteful and very ignorant of the city to allow this to happen. They should have nipped it in the bud to begin with.

Mikela, it's not just the town. What were the owners thinking? Did they really think this would go unnoticed? Did they think the town people and the news would ignore this? They might want to just go ahead and sell the building now, they will be broke within 6 months of it opening.

Too all the people questioning whether a town council member was paid off or invested - did you miss the part of the article where it said the property owners had to litigate in order to start building?

People and their pre-disposed thinking....hello, come out of the bubble, there are no boogie men out here.

The convent, which includes a home for elderly and sick nuns and a place for young women to join the sisterhood, would sit adjacent to the club. The venue is less than two feet from the nuns’ property, which sits partially in Stone Park and partially in Melrose Park, according to the publication

Sounds like the Convent might be in the jurisdiction of Melrose Park - you know those little towns; somebody drew up boundaries that the other town didn't like - so now they are sticking it too the other town. To make it look good the town of Stone Part took it too court....but, don't you have to have a business plan and/or obey ordinances before you buy the land. I know I passed on several parcels of land because either the county rejected my plans or I didn't want to meet their requirements. So Stone Park already knew what was up.

Good old Snohomish County told me some water front property on Puget Sound was in a slide zone and homes could not be built there - now a multi million dollar house sits there...some times you win, some times the State/County/City wins...oh well.

Don't blame the rude, uncaring, constitution waving, anti zoning comments on Liberals....there are crude people on both sides of the aisle, but it's often the Right that doesn't want government interference or restrictions on much of anything, including zoning and use of personal property. Regardless of WHO is inhabiting the convent, it is a residence above all. That it houses the ailing and elderly makes it also a health care facility. No such facility should have to put up with any business setting up shop practically on their doorstep, particularly a business with loud music, noise, commercial traffic and late hours. Would any of the board members want such a business next to their home? If a board member has a financial interest in the club s/he should be sued out the wazoo by all parties involved. And no, I'm not Catholic. I'm a severely lapsed Presbyterian.

I'd say the town is at fault for this problem. Who in there right mind would think no problems would arise with a strip club near a church. The town should of had a town ordinance and laws on the subject and should not to pitting any type of people against each other. I think this town could come up with some laws of distance in which a church or a strip club can be built or operate between eachother. This problem happens more then once a year and is a waste of money and time for all people affected by the circumstance. I'd say there could be a federal law on distancing of these types of places of each other because of the recurrence of the problem. Why do I have to see nuns and strippers protesting and picketing each year over the same controversy. Its obviously a problem and is hurtful to watch people suffer and be treated like pawns by the town they love to work in and maybe live at.

Jacqui,

Just as likely the convent did not update the city as to their address. The nuns probably do NOT hold title to the land, but rather their order, or their diocese. The mail is sent to the TITLE-HOLDER, or the REGISTEREED AGENT. This might represent over 1500 properties in a single order or diocese. That's a lot od addresses to update. In either case, the local nuns would have known only by reading the agenda of either the Zoning Board (Commision) or the Zoning Board (Comission) of Adjustment(s). The first (Zoning Commission) would establish general land use philosophy and the use of a area. This includes set-backs and business types. The ZBA could grant, within defined limits, usage and set-back variances and deviations, and special usage permits.

Most municipal codes now require a special permit for "adult" businesses. These permits place the burden on the business owner to qualify initially. Once a permit is granted however, the proposed opening of schools or churches within any exclusion zone becomes problematic to both sides. (The "adult" business would have equal standing.)

There was NO requirement to send notices or letters so that argument is out the window.

I looked up the actual location, The Convent is located on the other end of the block, the very back of their property, not close to any of their buildings is adjacent to the property line of the club, the building built near that line is a rear storage/warehouse building and not the actual club. The Club fronts on Lake Street, you have to turn the corner and go past FIVE other properties to get to the Convent, the area where the storage building is is past their vegetable garden on a Small "L" in the property...my estimate is is is well over 200 feet from their building to the club over a normal block apart (This is a double length block stretching from 37-39th Ave. The previous building was in the same exact location. THis is an industrial area filled with shipping wear houses, truck depots (What used to be on the clubs property) and Truck Service Companies. Lake Road is one trucking/warehouse/shipping building after another in this area.

I feel sorry for the Nuns, but this is not some nice quiet neighborhood. It is an industrial area with a number of bars in-between the trucking buildings. The convent was probably located here because land was so cheap. Houses in the area are built extremely close to each other, you cannot see anything between them.

Sometimes you have to dig to get the whole story. The Club is not really "next door at all" See the mapm th "Truck Alignment Specialist" is the location of the club. The long Black building is the new green building location, the Convent is behind the black "J" shaped building with the 4 garden patches and then turns back where the long vegetable garden is back to 37th Ave just past the house with the Blue Pool

http://maps.google.com/maps?jsid=1&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Missionary+Sisters+of+St+Charles&fb=1&cid=0,0,16568138300761109159&near=Melrose+Park,+IL&sa=X&ei=HngzT62DAa6F0QHpnYHEAg&ved=0CAMQkwMwAQ

Better to stuff a g-string, than a collection plate.

Heh.

The nuns were there first.

Move the club, at the club owner's expense.

Any city government approving a travesty such as this should be recalled, tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. Has this country lost every last shred of decency? The tired old mantra of Church and state isn't the point here. I suppose some pagans think it cute to have this joint next to a convent. I don't. Sad!!

It would look good next to a prison, or a daycare center. How about a school? You are so right in pointing out where the real problem lies. The city government.

Hey "commonsense....", the "INDIANS" were there first. Move the whole freaking city.

I don't know about that place, but here, something that is two feet away from an existing building on another property is too close to the property line. I had to move a pre-fab shed over 2 feet because it was over the 10 foot exclusionary limit on the property line. Without it being a religious statement, they do have the right to complain on the basis that they are probably too close to the property line. This would make both buildings more susceptable to fire. It will also affect the property value and insurance value.

commonsense... The article says there is another club down the street from the one being built. Sounds like the city has already set a precedent to me.

What surprises me is a strip club at all in that locality. I guess all those farmers need something to confess about on Sunday morning.

You miss the point, completely!!! This is a RESIDENCE, for elderly Nuns, and those who are ill. How would YOU like a Strip Club opening 2 feet away from YOUR home? These Nuns are not protesting for Religious reasons only. These Nuns are protesting having their HOMES, turned into a larger "parking lot" for drunks, and those immoral enough to support the exploitation of women.

I am not a Nun, but I can empathize with how they feel about their right to quiet, peace and safety. What happens if some drunk staggers across their property line, and invades their "home"? Think the club is willing to pay for additional Police protection, for their neighbors, from the "element" they will invite to that neighborhood with their quest for money? Perhaps the Nuns should ask for permission to have the club owners erect a cement wall, at their own expense, behind their establishment, since they are in the building stages, to keep noise and traffic off the Nun's property? THAT, the City Council should insist on. It would be a start toward being a better neighbor. I'm sure that, if the Nuns had a chance to negotiate during the permission period, they could have come to a peaceful solution, and put that requirement in place.

But the club owners are "job creators" we cant let that go. we need the jobs. BOOBIES BOOBIES BOOBIES!!! TEE HEE

I thought the Sisters would look at this as an opportunity to lead wayward people.

You want to tax the church or tell the nuns to shut up? After all the community service those nuns have done in their lives, now you want to levy more tax on them... when you probably don't even recycle?

Shame on any man who enters that place; may his testicles fall off.

The Catholic Church owns more land in more countries than any other organization in the world. They could move these Sisters to a more rural location if they wished.

If the Vatican can spend millions defending and hiding pedophile priests, they can certainally afford to move this small convent.

Hey, Cardinal George!!

Send the Sisters to a better climate for their health. Florida might be nice for them.

Where's decency and common courtesy? These are elderly and ill old ladies that have devoted their lives to public service. The strip club is rude and disgraceful to move their venue right next door. And apparently overstepping property lines. How would you like it if such a thing, with drunks, fights and other disturbances of the peace moving right next door to your sick and elderly grandmother? No respect whatsoever.

Elizabeth - D!ck threats, ... really? That's classy.

You know whats funny? Our political system was based off of religious beliefs (deistic, judaistic, puritanic). Not the other way around. What happens to a building when its foundation is destroyed? It falls down. What happens to a political system based off of religious beliefs and religious tolerance when the same religious beliefs are repressed and undermined? The entire political system falls apart. When you make cheating, dishonesty, and corruption the acceptable norm when the system is supposed to be honest and fair, you get A-M-E-R-I-C-A. Ring a bell? Thats right! We did just that and now we have been cursed with bad leadership for years. I.E Our education system, our political system, our job system, you name it we nuked it. It used to be a handshake was like a written document written up by a lawyer. Now its practically worthless, you can hardly trust anyone. And whos fault is that? Why not only the people whom we elected but also those who did the electing who are too short sighted to see past a nice flashy smile, physical appearance and nice sounding words and promises.

Separation of church and state?? I defy you to find that verbiage anywhere in the constitution, declaration of independence, or even the federalist papers. I know where that verbiage comes from, but I'm guessing you do not. Use of cliche's that do not exist in our government's founding documents as a support for your argument merely invalidates your argument. Reasoned and intelligent people (or even merely literate people) will ensure that they know what they are speaking of rather than regurgitate pleasing but deceitful rhetoric from progressive/communist demogagues.

Alright. Forget about the strip club...

How 'bout a Gay club? Woohoo!

@IndieParty, LOFL!!!!

Thanks. Thats a great idea. I think I may get some bracelets made up. Where do I send a few? I need to move to a city with strippers...

they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights........ that among these are..... pursuit of Happiness.

NUNS have never been known to endorse this type of the Pursuit of Happiness by MEN, that's why they have become NONES. I rest my case.

they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights........ that among these are.....

Are you talking about the nuns or the strippers? Nuns have Creators and Alien rights. Uh-merricans don't like them no Alien types.

Strippers have creators that give them bigger endowments. Endowments are for The Arts. That makes stripping and art form. I will spend money on art. Giving to an endowment is a charitable contribution and a tax write-off!!!

I think I just justified this beyond argument!!!

@ New Thomas Payne.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...."

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Roadkill, you're chastising Elizabeth for her dick threats (it was actually balls) but HarryBalsaki gets to tell us about his fantasy escapades in great detail?

So what happened to the ex-finacee Harry? She hit age 25 and realized what a pathetic scumbag you were?

This is disgusting, shameful and outrageous. By endorsing such a shameful business you are destroying the morality of your children, your future grandchildren and the society in its entirety. Sisters should sue for Nuisance!!!! Those who make money of the destruction of the morality of the society should realize the harm they cause and bear in their minds that they themselves will be affected by their shameful acts sooner or later.

What "destroys morality" is forcing your childish superstitions on other people.

But the exploitation of women is OK...is that the way it goes???

It's the women exploiting men in a strip club.

What "exploitation?" They signed their contracts. Next you'll be telling me that I was exploited when I waited tables, and that every time I tip the pizza guy I'm exploiting him...

Lame deflection, Toasty but contracts??? Really??? I had no idea. You seem to know something about about this industry...Please enlighten us.

My daughter once made note of a strip club in our city with the name "Platinum Gentlemen's Club." She asked, "Why do they call it a gentlemen's club? Shouldn't it be called "Bums and Drunkards?" From the mouth of babes...

As I said above, if people of faith will only stand on the sidewalks protesting with cameras and camcorders, the club will quickly cease to exist and it will all be legal. Let them build it and then the city and the owner can regret at their leisure.

Well you see Chef, when you get a job at a place of business, be it a restaurant or a law firm, they have you sign a contract. This contract gives the terms of your employment at the business (wages, conditions, workplace rules, etc.), and shows that you in turn agree to them.

In other words, it shows that a person isn't being exploited. This isn't rocket surgery...

REALly, toast??? And rocket SURGery??? Typo or did you come up with that all by yourself???

when you get a job at a place of business, be it a restaurant or a law firm, they have you sign a contract.

And you signed a contract to work tables and women sign contracts to remove their clothes??? Toast, you are unbelievable. In more ways than one, that's fershur.

So by your definition, I was exploited. You know, you don't have to have an average intellect to understand this, Chef, but it helps.

If the exploitation of women is not a concern to you but rather something of a joke as you are making it out to be here, I feel sorry for you.

Gail,

Overstepping their property lines? Since the building is under construction and being inspected, a two foot set-back is probably legal. What ANYONE THINKS is right is not as legal as what the LAW SAYS IS RIGHT. Priest, nun, rabbi, imam or yogi not withstanding, the law determines what is right.

BTW, the "What are we teaching our children?" line is a ruse. This is a rest/retirement home for the order, not a school. The nuns that I have known all had thorough knowledge of the birds and the bees.

wowicantbelievehejustsaidthat,

OK, What if a MOSQUE wanted to locate on the same site? Or a medical clinic that might perform abortions or provide contraception? Or maybe a gun store and shooting range? If there is already a strip-club two blocks away, the sisters and their order have not been keeping up with the progression of the neighborhood. This again belies the sister's comment on "teaching the children", since the sisters apparently have been ignorant or passive regarding their neighbors until now.

Oh shut up you idiot.

Disturbed librarian actually the area is not a farm area, it is a Trucking/Warehouse Area with a number of bars (I guess for the truckers to hit while waiting) THis is not some bucolic suburb at all...it is 18-Wheeler world. From the looks of it the Nuns bought up some old houses and combined them into a complex, and they prob bought cheap because it is an ugly area

http://maps.google.com/maps?jsid=1&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Missionary+Sisters+of+St+Charles&fb=1&cid=0,0,16568138300761109159&near=Melrose+Park,+IL&sa=X&ei=HngzT62DAa6F0QHpnYHEAg&ved=0CAMQkwMwAQ

Disturbed librarian actually the area is not a farm area, it is a Trucking/Warehouse Area with a number of bars (I guess for the truckers to hit while waiting) THis is not some bucolic suburb at all...it is 18-Wheeler world. From the looks of it the Nuns bought up some old houses and combined them into a complex, and they prob bought cheap because it is an ugly area

http://maps.google.com/maps?jsid=1&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Missionary+Sisters+of+St+Charles&fb=1&cid=0,0,16568138300761109159&near=Melrose+Park,+IL&sa=X&ei=HngzT62DAa6F0QHpnYHEAg&ved=0CAMQkwMwAQ

Frankly, I think they have been watching too many Whoopie Goldberg movies of late... and missing the point of the movie that, 'to clean up the neighborhood you need involvement and hands-on elbow-grease and not just lip-service'.

Difernet: ..."Shouldn't it be called "Bums and Drunkards?"....

Check any Catholic Church. Full of bums and drunkards. They even drink during the service! The parish is filled with people trying to cover up for all the misdeeds they did on Friday and Saturday night. Their leaders are carelessly and callously advocating for the hatred of people who don't share their faith. They're walking around with their fake, condescending smiles, telling everyone else that they're not "Doing it right." They, typically, preach about self-reliance and against "socialism," yet call on their god to do everything for them and expect their parishoners to foot the bill on a sliding scale.

Genuflecting and praying to the Magic Sky King doesn't make up for all the crap you do during the week.

.."Out of the mouth of babes"....

Perhaps you should have used this instead: "Chip off the ol' block."

Seems you've taught your daughter to be just like YOU. Don't worry, though. She'll probably grow to reject your shallow morals. There's time.

Have a nice day.

Toasty: thanks for the laugh! If someone doesn't get that one they must be brain dead.

And Frankly: ; thanks for the info. Nice to see someone actually researching an issue instead of just bagging off.

A new strip club opened near me recently (And no, I don't attend: I'll waste my money on other ventures). It replaced a slaughterhouse. One meat market replacing another one!

A nun can just take so much. Shame on the city for allowing a strip club next door to a convent.

Give me a break, half of the strippers are nuns!

I have read a lot of comments in regards to the strip club being 2 feet from the convent. That is not what the article states. It says that the strip club will be 2 feet from the property. That is a big difference.

Bill-318747 (post # 2.2) -- this has nothing to do with Pagans. You need to educate yourself before trying to smear someone else's religion.

And to everyone who thinks that a strip club is a travesty .... by whose standards ??? We as Americans pay more for entertainment than practically any other country in the world. How is it that two men in a boxing ring can bash each other in the head until one is knocked out and that is okay ... but looking at a pair of breasts from a consenting adult is evil ?

Churches, convents and all included buildings thereof, may be part of a religion, but they are ran like any other business. When they start being held to the same standards as other business', i.e. taxes, then they can gripe about what is next door.

" As of 2005, the size of the global strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion.^[2] In 2002, the size of the U.S. strip club industry was estimated to be US$3.1 billion, generating 19% of the total gross revenue in legal adult entertainment.^[3] SEC filings and state liquor control records available at that time indicated that there were at least 2,500 strip clubs in the United States,^[3] and since that time, the number of clubs in the U.S. has grown" ---- copied from Wikipedia

As you can see, strip clubs bring in a lot of jobs, taxes, and entertainment.

"Get thee to an nunnery." LOL.

Though strip clubs are immoral, they are legal, they serve a market, and they don't really hurt those not participating in that market. If the nuns cared about spreading their faith, they should welcome a bussines that will bring so many non-believers within their reach.

Pat, strip clubs are "Immoral" only to those who lend an ear to religious leaders and feel shame at the sight of a nude individual dancing.

If Adam was created in God's own image then God must be a Nudist because Adam was shamed and caused to wear clothing only AFTER he broke God's Command. So much for the value of your modesty and its immorality.

I don't know about Illinois, but in my state it is against the law to open up a business selling liquor (or is the strip club dry?) close to a school or a church. I realize that people don't generally think of a convent as a church. But, consider! If taken to court, I believe it might well pass muster. There is a high probability that Mass is celebrated in the convent frequently and on a regular basis, probably daily. Also, The Sacrament of Reconcilation (Confession) is probably administered there often and regularly. Also, in the convent, there may be other functions usually practiced only in Church. Does Illinois have a similar law?

Matilda, in Ill they let the individual counties decide whether they want to be dry or not, open a strip club or not, and things of that nature. I'm not from that part of the state, so I'm not much of a help. But, what rings funny to me is that the people who seem to have a morale outrage from a religious standpoint sound like they forgot that Jesus hung out with prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, adulterers, and people of a questionable morale back ground. So common day religious zealots, please don't forget what your religion holds dear. WWJD (and for the record, not a Christian, not against Christians, i believe in live and let live)

Building a strip club two feet from a Convent's retirement home is unjust.

Pure and simple.

Hey, if you want to put a strip club next to my house... I'm game...

strip club should be build next to church, convent and everything else holy.

What better place for the sinner to at least see a way out?

Hey, all you idjits, IT'S ABOUT JOBS!

Quacky

What kind of job will these nuns give, hand job, blow job, steve job

Jobs? You call shaking boobies a job? What about when those boobies start falling a little at age 25? Will these women have a job then? Compare that to the nuns, who served their communities for many years. Which kind of woman has more respect, a nun or a stripper?

Where would Jesus hang out?

I hear he likes ladies of the evening and even tax collectors. It was the overly-pious religious leaders who he objected to, that and the "money-changers."

I guess that means he dosent like bankers and priests as much as he likes the common people.

Jobs? You call shaking boobies a job? What about when those boobies start falling a little at age 25? Will these women have a job then? Compare that to the nuns, who served their communities for many years. Which kind of woman has more respect, a nun or a stripper?

A stripper has more respect from me. At least she is honest about herself and what she does and who she does it for. And, at 25 when the sagging starts, a stripper will go get an augmentation with the tidy profit she reaps from the work she does. More money back into the community. More taxes paid. Once for her earning it and then for the plastic surgeon earning it. What does the nun contribute? She tells me how to live. Well its "nun" of her business. Plus, the now aging 25 year old stripper can come live with me. i know how to treat a woman with a plan and a head for business.

The goodly sisters should see this as an opportunity to "witness" to the strippers. A big bunch of lost lambs are being plopped right into their laps. The strippers might even find it habit-forming.

Ah, yes. Great jobs. Nothing like the exploitation of women to make barrels of bucks.

Excellent plan.

hhhmmmm...where's the sarcasm button on the keyboard???

Favorite bumper sticker:

Jesus loves you.

Everyone else thinks you're an @$$hole.

Have a nice day.

Collapse this!

Should we collaps this??

(. .)

So the religious viewpoint starts with calling people retards: great role model.

Your assumptions are wrong; I am not an atheist, I am Catholic. However, as a tax payer, I do not see why any religion should get 'special' treatment. Within their church, they can do what they want. When they built the convent, they should have looked at zoning laws. The story says there has been a similar business just down the street; sounds like they are in 'that' part of town. This is like people buying a house next to the airport, getting a great price because of the noise, and then complaining about the noise.

If they don't want a business next door, they can buy that property. Jesus never pushed his morality on others. Jesus never asked for special treatment. Jesus welcomed sinners. If the church can not follow Jesus example, then they need to re-assess their mission.

TCS: your arrogance is an insult to your faith, at least in your mind

Amen

This would give the nuns an opportunity to try and convert the dancers.

I find it laughable that a religious person is calling someone's mentality "larger than the sun." First of all, your mentality is that a gigantic all-powerful genie created itself and then the universe, that virgins can have children, and that dead jews can pop back to life after three days. Second of all, our mentality is the one that actually measured the sun, whereas your mentality is the one that sacrificed virgins to it. Screw off.

So, according to your logic... if i am a satanist... i can come to your house, knock on your door, and preach satanism to you? All organized religions are hypocrites!

@Steve: I think you were just "born Catholic"; not Catholic by choice. Am I right?

Please do not think that liberals are not religious. I am liberal, religious, and find it horrible that this strip club is being built next to a convent.

And I ask folks: if it is so easy and quick to build a strip club, why is it so hard to build schools, libraries, and other much more useful community services? These nuns probably were teachers; why is it so easy for towns and states to cut teachers' pay, while allowing these lewd strip businesses? These strippers will only have jobs for a few years, until their chests lose muscle tone; these are not real jobs. Never think that it is liberals that frequent such clubs either; liberals respect women, and want women to have respectable jobs.

Steve2352647: Keeping any sort of mindset one wants is what this country is all about. However, if you attach the name of a specific religious entity and then place it into the fray of politics it would be opening a crack in the door of a very risky tax exempt status. PS: I am offended I must say and I am most certain that any capable mentally challenged citizen who is equally capable of reading and digesting your first sentence with the word starting in r coming from a man of God such as yourself might find a bit of hypocricy in your entire statement.

Steve: the nuns were probably there first; in many communities, probably a long time ago, long before a neighborhood went downhill (because an ethnic group moved to another suburb), long before any strip club. That is the fact all over America. My grandson goes to an Italian Catholic school in a neighborhood that is now African-American, and most of the students in that school are African-American. It is a good school, affordable, and there is also a church and convent there. The church and school are also attended by people a few towns away, because the nuns are very good, and help the community greatly. A town that does not recognize the contributions of its elderly nuns is truly sick.

@Elizabeth Hey, liberals are just as human in their animal passions as anyone else. The fact about human nature is its pretty universal.

Isn't it better to be openly lewd and not spend our lives full of guilt and shame? I remind all of you, if you believe in a divine creation, then who created our lust? If not God, then who? And if God made us lusty, who are we to question His wisdom?

I think God would rather we were joyous and happy, rather than repressed and sad.

If the Catholic Chruch has failed in any way, it is in its insistence that we all be ashamed of our nakedness and consider ourselves to be sinners. If we truely trusted God, we would realize He wants us to be open, sexual, sensual and free. There is nothing sadder than a Priest or Nun who is denied worldly pleasures for the ego of St. Augustine

If you truly understood God's nature , Sic, you wouldnt have said he wants us to be sexually immoral. Physical attraction and sexual desires are natural, we are supposed to reproduce. If those natural, God-given desires weren't there, the human race would be long gone by now. However, the media and the corruption it brings has turned something God designed into something lewd, disgusting and unwholesome for anyone. As for why priests and nuns deny themselves of worldly pleasure, it is to keep there focus on God rather than their physical desires such as sex. Its so that they can better help others, not that you would know anything about that because youre too busy being sexual, sensual and "free" while at the same time a slave to your physical and sexual desires. Also they derive their joy from serving God and others, not themselves and guess what? It lasts a lot longer.

TCS.

You and your Magic Sky King can stay the hell away from me with your "Morals."

Nothing stupider than the Santa Claus for Adults mentality.

Have a nice day.

@sic. Typical kindergarden level of knowledge. You clearly lack understanding in the most basic fundemental biblical theology and doctrine. No, God did not create lust. If you read the bible (which you clearly have not) Then you would know satan brought sin and lust into the world.

That said, The bible does not teach you to be a depressed atominton, quiet the opposite. If maybe you would open the bible, instead of parroting whatyou'v heard from the equally unintellegent bill mahrm you kguth be able to confirm your arguments into something useful.

Sean, God did create Satan. But he wasn't created as Satan, he was Lucifer, a powerful angel who decided to turn against God because he wanted to be equal with God, not below him.

Also, he was in the Garden of Eden. He was hidden in the form of the snake who tempted Eve to commit the first sin and ruin God's perfect creation.

Maybe don't insult others about not having their facts straight without checking your own?

Oh Sunny......I absolutely love how Christians can spout OUTRAGEOUS fairy tales completely unsupported by ANY evidence, complete with devil-snakes and creationist nonsense, then tell someone to get their 'facts' straight!! Hilarious! Sorry darling, but the story of Christianity is not only ridiculous, it's not even original.

TCS,

Buying an old house or old hotel, under existing zoning laws, for the use of nuns does not change the way society views the property. You remind me of those who would retroactively zone all places of "sin" (your definition of course) out of existence. I believe that place used to be called Cincinnatti.

Sean-336944, you should follow your own advise. There is still open controversy as to whom the serpent is supposed to be. Some say Lilth and others say Satan. Read Genesis, it's the first book in the bible.

To all of you nitwits, morons and just plain stupid people, I was never commenting on the strip club's placement of their business. What I was commenting on is the insistence of people to start whining and moaning when the nuns take issue with it and try to take the proper legal actions to prevent the club from opening.

What I was commenting on are all of the 'stay in YOUR place' mentality that atheists have taken whenever any religious person/s speak their mind.

Also, while I am a 'cradle Catholic' it does not mean that I take my religion lightly. Warm and fuzzy is the way to go about things, but it doesn't mean that you have to gloss over the truth. The truth is that a lot of people are deplorable, sick, dumb, self-absorbed, voyeuristic, no-nothings that want to drag any and everyone down to their sinful level.

Now I'm no saint, I try to do what is right and just, but sometimes people need a harsh tone and a smack upside the head more than, 'Well, to each his own, I suppose.'

The nuns have a valid complaint, as you so articulately point out.

the Sisters are concerned about the women who live at the convent being accosted by drunk patrons

Good point.

Opening night, they need to have the girls dressed in nun outfits. Woot!

Proof that the concerns are valid.

The real problem is that far too many people keep telling everyone else what to do. Here's a hint for ya: THE KIDS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO INTO THE CLUB.

As for "women who live at the convent being accosted by drunk patrons", there's a "mission" (no, it isn't necessarily Catholic) in the "warehouse district" of Minneapolis, where nuns and "women who live at the mission" ARE NOT accosted by drunk patrons of the many BARS in that area.

Again, how about the Catholic churches, full of pedophile priests, that are next to/near schools?

@ Quacked One (good name!) ENOUGH ALREADY with the comments about pedophile priests!!!!!! Are you trying to overcompensate about some SELF-GUILT?!

The Quacked One.. shut up with the pedophile priest BS. Your name says it all!

Nuns probably created more sexual deviants, alcoholics and psychopaths than strippers did.

Nuns shielded pedophile priests.

Heck, I would venture to say that more than a couple of those strippers were once Catholic school kids.

I do thank them for the nice stripper garments, though.

Have a nice day.

This may come as a shock to you Betty, but believe it or not, children aren't actually allowed into strip clubs.

Betty,

High-end, high-tech club versus vacant lot or vacant building? Gee, which is a higher magnet for crime in Chicago, or any city?

Seems the Catholic guilt contigency is livid about the QuackedOne reminding them about the pedophile priests. What about the pedophile priests, QuackedOne?

Maybe he'll stop with the "pedophile priest" thingy as soon as you guys stop with the "Drunks accosting Nuns" and "Morals" thingy.

Have a nice day:)

How much community service have you ever done? Multiply minimum wage (which is often much more than nuns ever got) times the hours of community service, and these nuns have paid much more than YOUR share of taxes.

I would protest that strip club moving next to my home too. I look forward to some brilliant attorney to take up this case for these nuns. Even better if the owner of the strip club since he feels it going to be a "classy-strip-club" (oxymoron) How about he show some "class" and get of take his business elswhere. the convent was there first. But chances are he already knew that. and "oh well". I like the idea some here had saying let him open take pictures of the patrons and the employees and make it public.But sisters get some else to do it. we dont want you getting beat up. call me I'll take the pictures for you I protest with you. if you dont stand up for something you will fall for anything.

If they can't get a liquor license then they just go all nude (yay!).

They can be barred from both the liquor license and total nudity, because of the proximity to schools, churches, residential dwellings, etc. And they must move their building further than 2 feet away from the property line.

Where is the righteous anger about the town inspector, council, mayor, etc. who were all paid bribes! We can tell these were bribed, because the building is closer than 2 feet from the property line!

The previous building on the site was in the exact same location, this is a warehouse area and most buildings are right on the property line (And the building that is close to their property is simply a storage building and not part of the club--it is behind the parking area--if anything it will provide a buffer for light and noise)

You will enter the club from the equivalent of 3 blocks from the entrance to the Convent--it is just the very rear of an L in the Convents property that the they are adjacent. This is a double block it is made up of 2 typical blocks and it is a very deep one--the club used to be a truck service company

Done! I would pay to see that! but think about it, it would take too long a wait to get the frocks off! Boring!

The other case I would make for them is how much money they could make to help all those unfunded public systems that have suffered the republican cuts. Maybe the rebuilding of the roads and bridges in that area or paying the school teachers. This could just be the solution.

Mr. Binkie,

65 to 80 yo. nuns. Not being agist here, but at 61 no one wants to see my wife or me naked.

Exactly!

Can't they just pray to their god that the strip club be rendered invisible, or something?

Probably fewer than regular folks ignoring the signs of teachers in public schools sexually abusing children with your tax dollars. that are now being exposed everyday. Just sayin......

something to ponder...

You are probably right about that Ciber, but then, public schools don't moralize about people's sex lives and hold themselves up as being all good and pure when it comes to sex like the catholic church does. Just sayin...

I can't believe that you would even use something as horrible as child abuse as an attack point on a club next to a convent. Just sayin'

And the all-Catholics-support-pedophilia routine is as stale as your mentality, Leroy. You probably only came to this story with the sole intention of making another cookie cutter comment.

I guess I just don't like hypocrisy Sheri. The catholic church has been raping children and covering it up for CENTURIES. How DARE this evil, child raping cult even BEGIN to moralize about sex? The hypocrisy is incredible!

Can't you stay on point? This article is about a Strip Club, not about Priests. Seems as if you have such a weak point to make, that you have to throw every shred of nastiness you can remember, into the mix. Again, this article, is about a Strip Club, and a Convent. Not Priests

Leroy, I don't know what kind of school you went to, but it sure wasn't public if you think that the public schools don't moralize about sex lives. Health class sure moralized. The school rules sure moralized. Rules regarding girl students sure moralized.

Everybody that screams hypocrisy is not paying attention to the fact that this is a residence for elderly that was there first. You are really sick if you want to see a group of elderly people put up with the noise and behavior of such neighbors.

Have they, Leroy? Or do you just wish they were, so that you can continue to fuel your baseless hatred?

You do realize that the Church shared the mentality that problems like sexually abusing children could be cured via counseling, the one that most legal establishments also agreed with back during the 80's when this started to come up?

Apparently people forget that the Catholic Church is made up of human beings. People make mistakes. Was their handling of the problem bad? Yes. Did they really know how to handle it? No. They protected their own, like most PEOPLE do. Today, they are more committed to being open and stopping this.

Don't you dare think, even for a minute, that because I'm Catholic I accept what these priests have done. It enrages me. The difference between me and you is I don't generalize, and I won't damn the Church for what a relatively small minority of priests do, especially with all the other good it does in the world.

I'm going to be Leroy's devil's advocate. Maybe he is in the business of pimping, selling drugs, child prostitution, trades quite common in Chicago and if I'm to pay attention to what republicans, tea partiers advocate with their hypocrisy, Leroy strikes me as a pimp, drug pusher and even a pedophile. When a tea partier says something, the detail, the truth is in the pudding, just like Leroy. He is just launching a pre-emptive strike to make sure his place of business, the club, stays open for decades and years to come for his business to prosper. Did I get it right, Leroy?

Yes Adam, they have. Church documents detailing the coverup of child rape from the 3 and 4 hundreds have been uncovered. What the "relatively small" number is here, my friend, is the number of cases of child rape and the number of rapist priests over the centuries which are known about compared to the number which have never and will never see the light of day. It is only since the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies that pedophilia was even talked about. When I was a kid, none of us would ever even think about accusing an adult of ANYTHING improper. Child rape is something that society only recently has been able to face. For most of its history, catholic priests have been raping children with impunity and NONE of these cases will EVER be known. Think about whole "celibacy" thing. What normal man would agree to such a lifestyle? The catholic church is nothing but a club for pedophiles, always has been.

Ya know I bet if everyone did a quick google ( I just did.) search on any institution that works with kids both religious or private I think maybe we would be surprised to find out it's not just the Catholic church and I bet that many get off like that. I'm thinking that as long as it's any institution that's large it gets a get outta jail card. My question is why??? Why do some get more publicity than others? Again just sayin..........

I'm sure child abuse is rather prevalent among other institutions that work with kids, but at least the members who work with the kids are allowed to have normal sexual outlets. Only a fool would think that the problem would not be magnified among priests who are expected to adhere to the unnatural "celibacy" rule. Just sayin' again too!

Ya but what does that have to do with a problem prevalent everywhere else also? Can I ask what do you mean by normal sexual outlets being allowed that obviously doesn't seem to help those monsters either. They are still mentally or sexually abnormal or whatever obviously. So pedophile preists are also that abnormal. So how does either one make the other any worse?

Documents from the 3 and 4 hundreds? Now I know you're full of @!$%#. The Church didn't even come about UNTIL the 5th century (Or the four hundreds, as you call them), or the very late fourth century; not in an organized manner, at least. Add to that that celibacy didn't become mandated by the entire church until around the 12th century (individual sects had it in place), and your argument completely falls apart.

I don't know why you feel the need to flail about and make these grand, all-encompassing (false) statements, but you really should avoid it in the future. All it does is make you look bad.

Excuse me, I spoke falsely. It wasn't individual sects, but it was more of a gradual thing. It was enforced in some places, but did not become concrete until the 12th century.

You are totally full of crap Son. The catholic church claims that the church was by JESUS F'N H CHRIST [Ive always wanted to use that in a sentence!] The catholic church teaches that the coming of the holy spirit upon the apostles at the pentacost signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the catholic church. The catholic church was a fully functioning organization with authority centered in Rome as early as the middle of the FIRST CENTURY. You are a liar, Son.

I can see it now. A bunch of drunks leaving the club to be confronted by the "singing nuns". I would buy a ticket lol

Tracts... don't forget about the tracts. And then bring in the biggest baddest looking parishioners to keep the neighbors away from the convent. Don't forget to put 911 on speed dial and don't be afraid to use it - like 1 second after 11 PM, whenever a fight breaks out in the parking lot, or a drunk patron pees in the bushes, or cars are parked in the convent's parking area and the patrons go to the strip club. If you see anyone who looks underage, call that in too. (Don't forget to post the parking areas) Eventually, they will get tired of being tattled on and close up shop.

It would require a concerted effort, but it would be worth it. That depends on the surrounding towns too. But more than these nuns need to show up at the mayor's and town council's offices too; and demand an accounting of the bribe money that came from the strip club allowing it to build only 2 feet from a property line.

They're Catholics, people! Not Protestants.

They dig the booze. It's the BOOBS they can't handle!

Gimme a double shot of the blood of Jesus on the rocks, please..

If the nuns have a problem I suggest they walk the equivalent of the three blocks from their entrance to the entrance of the strip club and offer counseling to the patrons. People, this is not really next door at all, there are 5 properties between them and the entrance is on the opposite end of the block, which is actually 2 reg blocks x 2 regular blocks in size n they only touch a small portion of each other in the very red of the convents rear section...no where near the buildings.

I don't think much of Strip Clubs but this is not a complete article, I guess Nuns Protesting a Strip Club opening hundreds of feet from them and around the corner in an industrial trucking area would not make good copy.

There is a reason they did not show a map

Laura

where would you want to move the nuns. They city needs more strip clubs not convents.

Ron

I'm no holy roller by any means but where theres strip clubs, theres sleazy wasted guys-I wouldnt want to live by one either

laura, where there's a bar (saloon, dive, etc), there's "sleazy wasted guys". Yet I NEVER hear anyone complain about a bar being opened in their neighborhood.

Seems to me that the majority of you Puritans are just against this kind of JOB CREATION.

Thank you Ron, best laugh I've had in days...............still laughing. Where would you want to move the nuns...oh jeez, that's funny. But on a serious note, c'mon Laura. Are the nuns acting like Christians? Or are they being judgmental? And last I heard, judging is God's job, not yours or theirs.

Yeah I always loved that about morality, if you don't conform to my way of thinking, you're wrong. Unless the patrons of the nearby club come waltzing into your church and disrupt your services, it really shouldn't be a concern of yours as to what goes on over there. As I recall, jesus did state that his followers should have a respect for "caesar's law". This club went through the proper channels to be built, and so long as you yourself aren't taking a part in what they're doing, you shouldn't really care about what they do. Now if they become a problem in the future, such as excessive noise, or crime etc becomes a problem, protest it then instead of hammering at a place that isn't even open yet.

FreeSpeech: They will be "waltzing" into the nuns' property, in the form of noise, lights, and probably drunks in the parking lot or racing down the street. You know what the future will bring (which is why there are zoning laws; the nuns' residence was there first, so it should be residential; only a corrupt town government would rule otherwise). You know that these nuns will be vulnerable to attack.

Hey, forget the religion: these are elderly women. I guess the safety of elderly women doesn't concern you either?

And the club did not go through proper channels if it is being built only 2 feet away from the property line.

What, four feet will make it more palatable to them?

..."You know that these nuns will be vulnerable to attack"....

I'm gonna guess that the patrons and dancers will be just as vulnerable to attack.

Have a nice day :)

Laura:

..."there are plenty of other seedy places to move it to".....

Your Freudian slip is showing.

The Convent is already a seedy place?

Interesting to note... Before Prohibition, Chicago had the highest number of bars of any city in the US, about two per city block and mostly family owned. After Prohibition (We all know why there is an after Prohibition.), Chicago had one of the lowest saloon counts, but most were mob-controlled.

What we have not seen is a picture of the neighborhood. Is the "convent" simply a 1920's 3-5 story hotel? The article mentions another strip club two blocks away, but says nothing about the closest saloon. What other businesses exist?

No offense, but the Church is not big on spending money on retired or sick (or even young, healthy) nuns.

Elizabeth, the issue here is that you're assuming a lot about a place that isn't even built yet, or staffed, You're making a large assumption about what will be going on. You also didn't see the rest of my post. raise an issue when there is an issue to be raised, give the property owner a chance to see if he can keep things under control. It's like saying I'd rather that ethnic family not move into the neighborhood because crime is sure to follow. It's wholly unfair and judgmental. If things get out of hand, then by all means take action, however just assuming gets a person nowhere. I also don't "hate" old ladies, until there is harm done, there is simply no case.

The last thing I would want is to be attacked by a bunch of killer Penguins when I'm leaving a strip club!

Although, the nuns could make sure the strippers got to their cars ok..

Goingdigital.

Nuns might look hot in stripper shoes!

For all we know, they might actually be wearing some under their Burquas..

You obviously twisted around what I said, which is what atheists usually do. I never said that all muslims were responsible for for 9/11. Infact less than 1% are apart radicalists.. And you're goingto judge my faith based on whether or not I capititilize my saviors first name? Like I said in my previous statement I wasn't comparing the two, I was just saying this is two things that shouldn't be mixed together because they can result in conflicts. Just like a mosque being built near the site of 9/11, is sort of disrespectful, and that is my opinion because this attack was inspired by Al-Queda a small Islam group.I mean they can build a mosque anywhere but why does it have to be right near ground zero? This will just stir up old feelings. So please don't put words in my mouth, and don't be like the stereotypical atheist, who likes to call Christians un-educated cult group. Please, It is not a cult, it is my faith, and it is what I believe in, just as you believe that the world was caused by the Big bang. Have a nice day.

Red Dead.

Will building a MOSQUE near a convent be rude to people "trying to develop a relationship with Jesus?"

How about building an Atheist Temple. How about a Jewish Temple?

Get over it, Christians. Insisting that everyone else kow tow to your fairy tales is stupid and arrogant. You wanna develope a "Personal relationship" with Jesus, go ahead. Just keep it personal. The minute you start insisting everyone else follow suit, you have problems.

If you can say an Islamic center can't be built near ground zero, I can say that a church can't either - Christian Imperialism and crusading had just as much to do with 911 as Islam had. One might even say that without Christian Supremacist antics, 911 might not have even happened.

Just because YOU consider your cult your Faith, doesn't mean that it's not a cult. I'm sure lots of cult members have faith in their cults too.

A mosque built near ground zero might, as you call it, "stir up old feelings," but those "old feelings" are unreasonable and bigoted. Who cares about unreasonable and bigoted feelings?

Besides, I'm quite sure you'll be on another thread glibly telling people that they need to Grow some Thick Skin in the face of sheer racism and zenophobia. Take your own advice.

Grow some thick skin. But not just around your skull.

Have a nice day.

All I was saying was, they could build a mosque anywhere in the country, right next door to where I live, I could care less. But why does it have to be right near Ground Zero? And I love the fact that you insist, even though you don't say it that I'm prejudice towards all muslims, when the fact is you are racist towards Christians, because just as Sean did, you twist my words around. And you say that Jesus being my savior, and me trying to do good in the world by trying to follow the ten commandments is a form of a cult, maybe atheists need to start looking in the mirror before they start calling religious people, a form of a "cult." Like I said before to Sean, do not be like the stereotypical atheist who tries to make me feel guilty because of my savior. That's all I'm saying, I'm not trying to start any conflicts on this page or anything, I'm just stating my opinion. So Please, have a nice day.

Just wanted to up-vote one more time.

Larry in CO:

YOU WROTE: "I would like to see all churches, etc. taxed at 35%. It's time to end this free ride."

MY RESPONSE: I get tired of hearing someone complain about the tax exempt status of churches in the US. So, let me just point out how much money the Catholic Church alone saves taxpayers each year. According to The National Catholic Educational Association, the total Catholic school enrollment (grades 1 through 12) for the last academic year (2010-2011) was 2,065,872. Those students attended 6,980 Catholic schools.

Now consider the cost of a public school education, which averages somewhere between $8,600 to $27,000 per student (depending on whose statistics you accept). For our purposes here, let’s just use a low average of $10,000 to educate each public school student.

That being said, according to my calculations Catholic schools are saving taxpayers more than 20 BILLION DOLLARS each year (2,065,872 Catholic students times $10,000, which would be the cost to educate those students in public schools). And that amount doesn’t even include the cost of building 6,980 additional public schools and financing the associated infrastructure necessary to educate those Catholic children if they all suddenly transferred into the public school system.

And what about all the money saved by taxpayers because of religiously-run social services, such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, pregnancy aid centers, free counseling, financial assistance, etc.? I’m betting the savings to taxpayers are astronomical.

So don’t give me that malarkey that churches (and their associated parochial schools) shouldn’t be tax exempt when they’re already saving the taxpayers billions of dollars EVERY YEAR. Aren’t those savings to taxpayers just like paying taxes? Do you air the same complaints about General Electric, which doesn’t pay a single cent in taxes despite earning billions in profits? Maybe General Electric gets away with tax evasion because their CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, is President Obama’s buddy/confidant.

And what about the 47% of Americans who pay no taxes at all, yet receive government benefits in one form or another? Shouldn’t they be required to pay at least a minimal tax for the benefits/services they get?

Just for the record, I’m not Catholic and I’m not a member of any organized religion. Instead, I’m a Deist who's not a fan of all the dogmas, ceremonies, and regulations of organized religions. Nevertheless, I’m still an admirer of a nearby Catholic church because I’ve noticed the good works that it sponsors – boy scout and girl scout troops, clothing drives (which I’ve benefitted from, even though I’m an “outsider”), a food pantry, a homeless shelter, and a Good Samaritan group which does volunteer labor for the needy. That group even travels to disaster areas, such as the Gulf Coast, to help the desperately needy after disastrous hurricanes. And they do that at their own expense without regard for the religious affiliation of those who benefit. I've received their assistance without ever being asked about my religious beliefs.

The "lord" works in mysterious ways!

Didn't Jesus hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors for exactly that same reason?

Didn't Jesus hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors for exactly that same reason?

Thats different. That doesn't count. See, when you're in the inner circle of the church thingy, that stuff is ok. Whores, raping boys, theft, being rich...all that is ok. The sheeple that follow have to refrain from all that and be poor because poverty and having no material items means you're closer to the god. But the ones running the church can be rich and have whores and diddle boys. But you can't. Cause that makes sense. To them.

Of course you are exaggerating for effect because if your aren't you need to be committed to protect society.

Was that directed at me?

I don't know what there issue is. They had no problem supporting priest fondeling little boys. I am a catholic in theory I guess but I had a hard time continuing in the church after getting a catholic newsletter a few years back stating that my donation would help the church because the sexual abuse claims went against the insurance carrier and not them. Ridiculous. They still dont condemn the practice. I mean, their leadership needs to grow some spine and kick these people out. The catholic church gets into all this holier than thou attitude such as the stripper club next door but at the same time takes the hipocrite approach to practices that require some leadership spine on their part. Peace and love? It doesn't mean scr wing kids. WHile I wouldn't want my kid to be exposed or have access to the strip club or in my community. If the rules allow it and its not in a residential area than it need to go in and they need to shut up.

@JollyJoker: you are SO out of touch. Those nuns did not support anything of the kind! You need to go wash your mouth out with soap. I hope for your sake you find God before you go, because you just made a grave offense against Him and His Church by slandering these decent, Godly women.

Jolly you must've picked up off the Quacked One's nonsense.. This has absolutely nothing to do with pedophile preists.

You buy the bull - sometimes you get the horns. Look, you believe in that type of evil (by not doing anything or speaking out) than I don't need to shut up on anyone. Its all the same. I don't believe in any organization that doesnt police itself. You take their donations out of the church to run your house and pay for your praying. I have not heard 1 and I repeat 1 nun so much as say a peep on the topic. That is bunk.

Nuns most certainly DID help cover for the priets and the church.

i hope the nuns win and god bless the nuns for fighting for that my god bless you nuns

JolleyJoker

Some say tha'ts what Vatican 2 brought about.