The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-01-24
Sermon Delivered By Rev. S. F. Lowe,
Pastor of the Dawson Baptist Church,
On the Evils of the Modern Dance

tclared that the danger point is that
the public cannot regulate the parlor
dances.
The Bible and Dancing.
But the question is being asked by
some, What has the Bible to say on
1.-THE dance question:" 1t is recalled that
Miriam danced in praise to God after
1.-THE victory at the Red Sea through
Gods hand Again we are reminded
that David danced before the Lord
when the ark of God was moved from
the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusa
lem. Plain cases OF dancing in the BIZ
Pble. But no one | am sure would try
to use this act OF worship when'there
were no intermingling OF sexes in such
la way as to make the morals OF the
Occasion dangerous. | am sure no one
would use this as defense of the
modern dance. Again we read in the
Bible. There is time for the dance"
That is, there is a time in the relig-
Iious life and service for people to
dance before the Lord. The context
Ialso says, There is time Tor every
purpose under heaven" To use the
text and context as an argument Tor
the modern dance would be to argue
that it is timely at times for one to
commit every sin in the entire cate
CORY. a.r
Still another question is asked: rs
there any scripture which condemns
the modern dance" There are several
ANSWERS which / wish to make to this
question. First, the modern dance is
dramatically opposed to the spiritual
land moral teachings of the Bible, tear
- 4 .lxIa {r,ac no h,1Iid
Iup; second, keep in mind the following
SCRIPTURES as we proceed: "Ye are not
your own Ye are bought with
bodies" ITO be carnally minded is
death" With these and other scrip
lures and with the general statement
Ealreadv made as a foundation for our
discussion | shall offer and discuss four
reasons why Christian people should
mot dance or encourage dancing:
Physically Injurious.
/. Physically the modern dance is
injurious to those participating in it.
The Bible teaches us that our bodies
are the temples OF the holy spirit;
that we are to glorify God in the
body; that we are to yield the mem
Ibers OF our bodies to the service OF
Christ as we did to the service OF the
devil. Any practice which impairs the
usefulness OF the body is sin. This
may be done in many ways other than
dancing. But the point now is that the
modern dance injuries the physical
body. An eminent writer declared
sometime ago that the great body OF
1.-THE medical profession is opposed to
the dance for physical reasons. Again,
the United States public health ser
vice department declares that the mod
ern dance is injurious to the physical
body of the participant. There are
three reasons for this which | simply
mention: First, the late and long hours
of the dance are grilling to the physi-
cal body The feeling one has on the
following day reveals the strain. Sec
ond, the physical bodies of dancers
are brought into such close contact in
the ball room that there is great dan
ger of communicating disease any one
may have that is communicable. Espe-
cially is this true OF the closed ball
room. Third, these two eminent sourc-
es from which | have just quoted say
the dance is a great contributor to
the modern laxity in morals and that
social diseases from immortality is the
most eminent peril of the day. 1t is
destroying the physical powers OF the
age.
| 2. Socially, the modern dance is
ihurtful to those participating. Here /
irealize | am contradicting the views
of the dance sympathizers. You often
hear it that the dance helps one so
cially. 1t gives ease and grace. The
topposite sexes feel more at home in
~. 81 ao~I, oh ajT thew
have danced. So runs the argument.
May | answer this bluntly without
seeming coarse by asking a question?
Do men and women have to embrace
each other in the swing and swizz OF
Jazz music to feel at home in the pres
ence of each other and to be GRACEFUL?
If so, heaven above pity the genera
Itions yet to be born. But come, let
Ius reason together. The dance OF to-
day is destroyer OF social opportuni-
ty. One goes and takes partner and
dances. If he. changes partners he
dances with just another girl and she
with the boy. So in the course OF the
dance one has very little opportunity
to meet people, Indeed, a woman rer'
marked sometime ago that she had so
little opportunity to know and learn
people at the dance After all, what
constitutes social training? To develop
the social nature one has to have that
interchange and contact of PERSONAL
Itv which comes from soul greeting
soul; mind commingling with mind;
heart sentiments of the nobler sort
meeting like heart sentiments. This
Irefnes. ennobles, makes young men
chivalrous. and young women modest
ly modest, and engenders respect OF
sex for sex. Not so with the modern
dance. Its very nature forbids this
we1l-rounded development The veil OF
modesty is destroyed. Chivalry is for
gotten, respect for the opposites is
llessened. noblest ideals are clouded. |
know this is not true in every case,
but this is the strong tendency OF the
modern dance.