Catholic Sexual EthicsAnswered

Do the saints condemn the dancing of men and women, and do you agree with that teaching?

A viewer asks whether Robert is familiar with the traditional teaching of certain saints that condemns the dancing of men and women, and whether he agrees with it in principle.

Answer

I have heard of instances like this, but they are not infallible doctrine. Most of them were given at times when a pope or bishop felt that, for one reason or another, it would be better to prohibit that in a particular society. This was not all of Catholic teaching, but the opinion of local councils or bishops for specific reasons, and it does not apply to every Catholic society, especially those not in the same danger of sin. That being said, we already find the principle in Scripture. 1 Corinthians 7:1 says it is good for a man not to touch a woman, and that would include dancing. Some do not like the strictness of that and try to turn 'touch' into 'become sexually involved,' but the Greek word there means touch; look it up everywhere else it is used. Now touching a woman is sometimes a sexual act, or it gives the signal that a barrier has been crossed, and the mind begins to rationalize the next kind of touching until, if you have no control over yourself, it leads to fornication, which is exactly what Paul warns about in the rest of that chapter. Note that the verse does not say it is a sin for a man to touch a woman; a handshake or a friendly pat is not sin. It simply says it is better not to, and refraining from touching whenever you can is a very good idea because of what we know it can lead to.

Dr. Robert Sungenis

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