MIRTH AND GAIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19607, 8 April 1927, Page 13

MIRTH AND GAIETY.

METHODISTS AND DANCING. "NOT SINFUL IN ITSELF."* IDEALS OF THE CHURCH. The attitude of the Methodist Church toward dancing was defined yesterday by the Rev. Dr. H. Ranston, president of the Methodist Conference. He said dancing was not regarded as an evil in itself, but as a pastime to be discouraged as it tended to interfere with religion. The Methodist Conference at Auckland passed a resolution calling the, attention i of Methodists to the regulation of their church warning them against the great moral and spiritual evils attaching to dancing. The resolution expressed the opinion that the Church could fulfil its complete mission without the introduction of dancing in any shape or form. "This resolution was for the benefit of Methodists only," Dr. Ranston said. "Other churches can define their own attifor themselves. Methodists are not 'kill-joys' or opposed to sports and amusement. The mover of this very resolution, the Rev. H. Rvan, was the winner of the recent bowling competition for the Auckland championship pairs. Mirth and gaiety are not treated with suspicion, neither do we regard dancing as intrinsically sinful in itself, and those who dance as vicious or immoral. To put all who dance in the class of sinners was certainly not the attitude of the conference.''The Methodist Church looks at dancing and all other amusements from a certain point oi' view It aims, through its various institutions, to develop men and women with a fine sense of social and private duty, with a keen consciousness of moral and spiritual values. It desires to see its members and adherents with characters in which ethical and spiritual qualities are uppermost. It believes that goodness of life is of such supreme importance that even such fine things as strong bodies, trained minds, cultivated imaginations, and educafed aesthetic tastes are much inferior in comparison. "It is with this ideal in mind that we Methodists approach the matter of dancing or any other amusement. We believe that experience has fully proved that indulgence in this form of amusement nearly always to bluDt the spiritual experience and to make it harder to be a Christian. Not only so, but we know that in many cases dancing takes place in circumstances which provide real moral peril to the participants. Hence, we do not allow it on our church properties, and discourage it among our people." Dr. Ranston added that a merely negative attitude was impossible. A church, which, like his own, was against dancing, should be prepared to encourage suitable substitute amusements for. its young people, instead of .the rowdy, ungraceful games so often played. The Methodist young peoples' department was taking the matter in hand, he said.