CHURCH ON DANCING

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 282, 27 November 1937, Page 17

CHURCH ON DANCING

MORALITY ISSUES.

METHODISTS STATE CASE.

MATTER FOR INDIVIDUAL*

The morality of dancing was a matter for the individual conscience and the holding of dances under church supervision would be ill-advised owing to the numerous difficulties in the way of successful control.

These were among the findings of the Welfare of the Church Committee in a report submitted to the annual Synod of the Otago and Southland district of the Methodist Church.

It was stated by the convener (the Rev. D. O. Williams) that the committee had dealt exclusively this year with the report on the dancing question which had been referred back to it by the 19:57 conference of the Church.

In the view of the committee the crucial .points of the problem were:— (a) Was dancing morally wrong, apart from its associations? (b) Had the Church any duty to provide '•outlets" for adolescent emotion energy? (c) Could it arrange dances which would be safe for those engaging in them ? Modern lance Halls. The committee was of the opinion that the associations of the modern dance hall, that was to say, the drinking of intoxicants and the low moral tone, were to be wholeheartedly condemned, and that, while some participants might attend properly conducted dances without any obvious undermining of their moral and spiritual stability, were others who, by reason of their emotional constitution, indulged in dancing only to their moral and spiritual peril.

It therefore affirmed that indulgence in dancing, as in other forms of amusement, must remain a matter for the individual conscience, directed by the twofold general rule that every form,of conduct which tended either to blur the God-consciousness of the agent, or indirectly by example to lead another astray, should be avoided. "Outlets" for Adolescents. It was appreciated that for most people adolescence was a period of emotional stress and strain, and undoubtedly it was largely because of this tension that young people were drawn to the dance halls. The Church, therefore, should take up as a vital matter the whole question of meeting this adolescent need.

It was not suggested that the Church should become an amusement centre for youth, but that much could be done by the reasoned advocacy of suitable "outlets" provided by the Church, by organised games, and by sympathetic instruction as to the nature of adolescent problems.

The possibility of, holding dances under church control had received the fullest consideration, continued the report, and the committee was definitely of the opinion that, even for.those whose emotional stability was not undermined by participation, the Church would be ill-advised .to make such an effort, owing to the difficulties of obtaining suitable accommodation, of organisation and of control, and, further, there was the danger that church dances would serve as a training-ground for the more brilliant outside dance halls. Such dances would rather aggravate than solve the problem. Recommendations Approved.

The following recommendations were made by the committee and approved by Synod:—

(1) That pur young people be warned in Bible class discussions and personal talks of the subtle evils associated with the modern dance halls, and that the matter of indulgence in dancing be hud on the enlightened individual conscience.

(2) That the conference continue in its refusal to allow dancing on church property. (3) That the conference commend the work already being done by the Hible Class Co-operative Committee on Social Standards, and instruct the Youth Board to consider the whole question of improving the standard of our young people's socials from the point of" view both of decorum and attractiveness. (4) That, in view of the publicity attending the discussion of the dancing question, and our young people's demand for guidance on this matter, conference should issue a manifesto setting out the reasoned basis of its decisions concerning dancing and the Church.