When does dancing become sinful?

[pm2222]

I was dancing at an event. There were a few people grinding but a lot of people were not and I was not either. Some of the lyrics in the song were not good and i think some of them had sexual references in them. I realized this when I was on the dance floor but stayed dancing anyway. Would this be considered a mortal sin?

 

[Skeptic92]

I was dancing at an event. There were a few people grinding but a lot of people were not and I was not either. Some of the lyrics in the song were not good and i think some of them had sexual references in them. I realized this when I was on the dance floor but stayed dancing anyway. Would this be considered a mortal sin?

Dancing in and of itself is not sinful (example A: King David before the Holy of Holies), it can become an ‘occasion for sin’ (like the grinding that you saw). I am not including ‘exotic dancing’ (lap dances) in this, but whether or not the dancing done inside a club is sinful is up to your own conscience (and hopefully another poster can enlighten us further).

 

[pm2222]

Yeah I mean I tend to be scrupulous and when I was dancing I thought I was sinning( i was dancing by myself like not wirh another person)but instead of walking off the dance floor I kept dancing

 

[benjammin]

I’ve always thought it was sinful when it either imitates sex, or is being used for seduction (in which even wholesome dances can be used unfortunately) As an example of the former, I especially felt like this in HS (a catholic HS by the way) where we would dance with girls and basically imitate having sex and the bad thing was that a lot of guys and girls felt dirty afterwards, even if they said they didn’t.
The latter is a little harder to see, but think of it this way. Even if you are doing a dance that seems chaste (like country swing dancing, which a lot of religious groups at my school promoted and had barn dances) you can use it for seduction or to manipulate guys or girls into doing immoral things, but in that case it’s not the dance that is immoral, but the motives.

 

[Usige]

I don’t necessarily think the dancing itself was sinful (though I have seen some people dancing alone in clubs in what might be a lewd manager so…)

What I do think is a more interesting question is that you thought you were sinning and continued to do something you believed to be sinful. So the question is: is it a sin to continue doing something you believe is sinful even if the act isn’t a sin? Does the continuation become a sin because you believe you are cooperating in an ongoing sinful act?

To be honest I don’t know the answers to those questions. Being that you say to tend toward scrupulosity I wouldn’t be too worried, but I do think it’s an interesting thought.

 

[Gods_Peace]

I was dancing at an event. There were a few people grinding but a lot of people were not and I was not either. Some of the lyrics in the song were not good and i think some of them had sexual references in them. I realized this when I was on the dance floor but stayed dancing anyway. Would this be considered a mortal sin?

Well, when you feel a beating on your conscience, that’s a sign to leave. If you have any doubt of whether or not it was a mortal or venial sin it is best just to confess all of the sin in you.

 

[pm2222]

One problem I seem to have though is worry that everything is a sin and sometimes I probably even think I sin when I don’t. And I felt as if it could be a sin but I kept dancing while wondering if I am sinning or not

 

[domNoah]

I was dancing at an event. There were a few people grinding but a lot of people were not and I was not either. Some of the lyrics in the song were not good and i think some of them had sexual references in them. I realized this when I was on the dance floor but stayed dancing anyway. Would this be considered a mortal sin?

It would depend on a number of things, such as what type of company you were in, how vile the lyrics where, how where you dancing (could it have provoked lust in young men), where your movements restrained and graceful etc.

Attending dances can be very dangerous, St Augustine and St John Vianny where against them because of all the bad behavior (like you mentioned) going on at them.

 

[domNoah]

One problem I seem to have though is worry that everything is a sin and sometimes I probably even think I sin when I don’t. And I felt as if it could be a sin but I kept dancing while wondering if I am sinning or not

As a rule of thumb if something is troubling your conscience stop doing it and go to a quiet place an examine your conscience.

If we eat to much we sin, if we sleep to much we sin but if we fast we gain merit or if we stay up to help of friend we shall not lose our reward.

That is why we need to consider why we are doing something first before we do it. The first question should always be “Does this give glory to God and aid in the salvation of my soul?”

Believe it or not right recreation is important that is why even Monks take recreation but the fact that you seem to have little peace from attending this dance seems to indicate you should probably look towards a different activity in the future.

 

[Mickey_Finn]

When Baptist do it?

 

[AthenaC]

Which is why I enjoyed the heck out of myself the one time some friends dragged me to a gay bar. When I looked around and realized, “Hey, none of the guys here could possibly be seduced by me, which means I have carte blanche to dance however I want!”



But yeah, dancing in mixed company (where everyone is hetero) tends to get problematic pretty quickly. Even more classic dances like swing-dancing - I find any sort of dancing with a guy EXTREMELY erotic. Except for the one time I did some swing dancing with my little borther, which I suppose is a good sign. Of course, I would fall in love with and marry a guy that doesn’t dance. Oh well - I guess if I want to dance I have to either:

1. Go to a gay bar; or
2. Dance with my brother

Interesting choices …