On a post concerning Luther and homosexuality, Jim West opined in the comments that he finds all sex outside a hetero marriage abominable. Now that reminded me of the Methodists I knew as I grew up. As liberal as you like with theology, but when it came to sexual morals, it was chastity belts built like tanks. So the question is: does Jim West dance? Why do I ask? Well, the Methodists frowned upon dancing. The ostensible reason was that it would excite the passions and lead to sex. However, it seems to me now that relation was the obverse: not dancing -> sex, but sex -> dancing. That is, if a couple was dancing they had already had sex! So they banned dancing. If you see Jim West dancing, or perhaps have seen him dancing, let me know.
11 November, 2009
11 November, 2009 at 7:41 am
nope- but not because i have anything against it. i just cant do it. if it makes any difference, i love to watch ‘so you think you can dance’ on tv…
20 November, 2009 at 6:27 am
Nonsense – now we’ve all seen you dance!
11 November, 2009 at 10:53 am
Jim Watusi West! Bet he shows up at the bibliobloggers dinner in a tutu.
11 November, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Hmmm, so you like to watch …
11 November, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Funny. They used to call Methodists “Dancing Baptists” precisely because Methodists would dance.
12 November, 2009 at 2:51 am
Ah, Roland, I guess you would enjoy very much the history and practice of the tango (not the one that Hollywood depicts–that’s not tango): it started, late in the 19th and early 20th cent., as a suburbian dance, of African origins, the one that marginals danced with all their depraved passions, and a brothel dance. When it began gaining acceptance (1920s-1930s), dancing tango with women was morally wrong in public forums, so tango was danced only man to man (one leading, the other one following). Then came the acceptance of seeing women dancing it without putting into jeopardy their morality. However, tango was always seen, and still is, as a reflection of sexual intercourse: the better you dance it, the better your sex performing skills.
EP
14 November, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Or is that the better your sex performance, the better your dancing?
13 November, 2009 at 11:58 am
No one ever asks me to dance.
15 November, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Do you think it might be the horns?
16 November, 2009 at 3:02 am
No, it can’t be that.
16 November, 2009 at 2:53 pm
The beard? The cat?
20 November, 2009 at 7:11 am
[...] from asking whether Jim dances, our last interesting moment was when I asked Jim why he is opposed to homosexuality (or, as it [...]