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Show IS DANCING A SIN? (Catholic Columbian.) An answer to this inquirer's question ques-tion about, dancing, will be of w ide interest: in-terest: Dear Editor: I would like to fseo your opinion of dancing. I know il is not strictly forbidden by the church but some say it is condemned. Though I have never seen anything to that effec t. I have been reading books from a Catholic library for two years and two-third3 of the books mention dancing danc-ing (waltzing) as only an innocent ' I amusement. Why do they do tlr'.s if it j is not right? T have asked my confessor's confes-sor's advice on this subject and he said unless impure thoughts are derived de-rived from it, it is not a .sin. And again I've heard that it can not be done without impure thought. Do they think the whole human- race is corrupt ? Impatiently waiting. I am A READER. Dancing is like whisky--a more or less dangerous thing, affecting different dif-ferent persons differently. Just as the church cannot and will not pa&s an absolute regulation, imposed on everybody, ev-erybody, saying: "You must not take a drink of whisky,"' so it will not say-to say-to all its members: "You may not dance." It does say to the man who-cannot who-cannot drink in moderation, but who ai? soon as he takes one dram must go on a spree: ''You must not touch it at baser passions, beware of it." So it suyu to those; who cannot dance without with-out not simply "deriving" that is being be-ing tempted by bad thoughts, but also harboring, accepting, consenting to them, "you must not dance at all," no matter what the dance, even the Virginia Vir-ginia reel or the minuet. But to other persons who are not likely to girt way to impurity while dancing, it says; "Beware, be prudent, be moderate, be considerate of the moral welfare, of othens, your partner, in this amusement," amuse-ment," but it does not, to them, positively posi-tively say: "Don't do it." Nevertheless the church has warned the faithful against immodest dances and it does tell them that experience proves that dancing" parties are proximate proxi-mate occasions of sin to many persons. A .person's ; own conscience, then, should tell him what to do. The Church tries to allow the largest liberty, con-' sistent with the good morals. ' But a faithful Catholic does not need to be hit with a club before he will refuse to do something that he knows it would be best for him .not to! do. The church would be glad . if all its members,' or, at '. least those who "are at all apt to be even seriouslyVtempted against holy purity, would never dance. But while there are dances that are not immodest and while there are multitudes mul-titudes of persons who love to move aiound to the rythm of music, without with-out a thought of harm, the church will not be so Pharisaical . as to make a general law, including all its members and extending to every form of saltatory salta-tory exercise, and say, like a hypocrite and a tyrant "Thou shalt not dance." |