A Baptist church has closed its day-care center, saying working mothers neglect their children, damage their marriages and set a bad example.
A letter from the First Baptist Church of Berryville told parents that families could get by on one salary if they went without such luxuries as "big TVs, a microwave, new clothes, eating out and nice vacations."The closure - and letter - infuriated parents left without a place to take the children in Berryville, a small town 160 miles northwest of Little Rock.
"I don't think any of us are trying to copy a man's role, whatever that role may be," said Katrena Alexander, 44, who runs a manufacturing company with her husband. "I still don't know what those roles are. My husband does dishes just like I do."
Her daughter, Keanna, was enrolled at the day care center for a year before it closed March 14. The girl cried when she heard the news.
"I don't know of too many people here who can survive on one person's salary, especially if that salary is minimum wage," Katrena Alexander said. "This is just something that shouldn't have happened in this decade."
State officials have hurried to license another church day care to replace Stone Day in Berryville.
"We understand that the Baptist church felt women working outside of the house was a sin against God," said Joe Quinn, a spokesman for the state's human services agency. "What we did was expedite getting a license for the other church because we know that in this day and age people are highly dependent on day care."