Last night

the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission was

scheduled to consider a new development plan for a

Hooters restaurant at Banks Road and Ga. Highway 314.

Do we

really want a Hooters restaurant in Fayetteville? Could

the addition of this restaurant mark the relaxing of our

community standards? With the exception of a few inches

of tight cloth, what is the difference between this

restaurant and a restaurant with topless waitresses?

Some of you

probably think I am an old stick in the mud at this

point. Honestly think about this situation with me for a

moment.

Though I

have never been to a Hooters, everyone knows the basic

attraction of this restaurant. Hooters is not just about

good food. It appears to me that the stomach is not the

initial target in their marketing plan. Could it be that

the stomach is really just the plate on which they serve

a dish that appeals to a different appetite?

What I am

saying is that men go there to fill their eyes more than

their stomachs. When people think of Hooters they do not

think about chicken wings but about young females in very

little clothing. Any honest man that goes there would

admit this. A man that says he goes to Hooters for their

food would also tell you he reads Playboy for the

articles.

A friend of

mine and I were in Florida for a seminary course several

years ago. At dinner time he suggested we go to the local

Hooters for dinner. My response was simply, "No, I

can't do that." When he further asked for an

explanation, I simply gave him one of the many reasons I

did not want to go there.

Let me give

you several of the reasons:

1. I want

to please God. I am a red-blooded American male and I

know that my eyes can easily distract me. Jesus warned

that adultery does not begin as an act but as a heart

attitude. (Matthew 5:28).

2. I want

to be sensitive to my wife's feelings. How would she feel

if she heard that I had gone to a Hooters? (This is the

reason I mentioned to my friend in Florida.)

God has

given me a beautiful wife. I want my eyes to have a

singular focus on her. I do not want to do anything that

would make her feel insecure about my love and devotion.

3. I have

two daughters and I do not want to contribute to anything

in society that reduces women to being toys for men's

entertainment. I also do not want to contribute to

raising men who are confused about this issue.

Maybe you

do not share my first two reasons, but I hope you can see

the importance of the impact things can have on our

families and our society.

There are

other reasons I could give here but I think you get the

idea.

I do not

understand the details of zoning, but I would have

serious concerns about letting a Hooters come to

Fayetteville. I do not think this is just another

restaurant option. I think it is a compromise for our

community.

Chuck Griffith is

pastor of Fayette Assembly of God, 1144 Ga. Highway 92

South in Fayetteville, 770-719-0322.

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