In a welcome and surprising collaboration, an atheist stripper and a Christian pastor, both from Oregon, are joining forces to raise money for children affected by the recent ICE raids in Mississippi.

Rev. Adam Ericksen of Clackamas United Church of Christ and Dawn McCall, who dances at a “vegan strip club,” posted this video yesterday morning:

“As an atheist, I know it seems super weird that strippers would do anything with the church for any reason,” McCall, also known as Blu Dawn, said in the video. “However, this is Portland and we keep it weird.” … They said they decided to link up and start an initiative called the “Our Kids Charity Campaign.” “Because at the end of the day, we are all saints and we are all sinners, and the children of Mississippi are our children too,” Ericksen added.

If you want to help their cause, you can buy this shirt designed by fellow dancer Lauren Seeley — all proceeds will help those ICE victims. McCall will also host charity events at her place of work for the next couple of weeks while Ericksen will urge his congregation (and other churches in the area) to donate to the cause.

By the way, if Ericksen’s name rings a bell, it may be because his church is known for putting up fantastic progressive messages outside the building. And he has a blog at Patheos! Seriously, read this backstory of how their collaboration began.

I love the partnership here. Progressive Christians have far more in common with atheists than they do conservative evangelicals, and there are plenty of times when we can and should set our theological differences aside for a greater cause. This is one of them.

Maybe one day, those conservative Christians will discover some basic human decency and help out. Until then, they’re being upstaged in the morality department by a “heretical” Christian and the sort of woman they routinely condemn.

