Pastor’s Misguided View of Dance

Re “To the Church, It Was a Case of ‘Dirty Dancing,’ ” Nov. 26: Pastor Edgar Chacon states, “I told myself, ‘Well, the parents will be happy that somebody is taking care of the children.’ ” I wonder if this is how he assuaged his conscience for firing a long-standing member of his congregation, a man who had been raised in the church, who had devoted his time and his resources to the children of the community, who taught at the church school for years and whose family was involved in the business of the church.

Chacon was a newcomer, and in his arrogance of knowing what was right, he did no less than a deed of evil and malice because of [director of the dance program] Bill C. Rugh’s homosexuality. He did not bother to query the parents of the children; he assumed that they weren’t looking after their own children, so he would. How is this any different than the religious intolerance we see worldwide today -- intolerance that leads to violence? Did Christ specify anywhere in the Bible a specific form of dance to be associated with his teaching? No, the closure of this program was completely based on homophobia and religious intolerance, with no thought given to the children.

Gerald Bennett

Newbury Park

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With three years of dedication to Glen A. Wilson High School’s dance team, I have always looked highly on the opportunities my peers and I were given to explore the beauty of fine arts and culture. I was flabbergasted to find that the art of dance could ever be viewed as a “pagan practice” or categorized as “taboo.” Although Pastor Chacon states, “I am protecting the children,” he is only protecting the youth from unleashing their talents and emotions in an art that celebrates the body’s movements.

Recently, my high school’s dance team watched Herbert Ross’ 1984 musical film, “Footloose,” which discusses the struggle of a generation of adolescents who yearned for a community free from laws against dance. The closing of the film displays Kevin Bacon, starring as Ren MacCormack, before a panel of adults, where he explains the art of dance and its role in the Bible. Dance is not only a great addition to fine arts but also an act used to praise and honor God.

Stephanie Kuoch

Hacienda Heights

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I’m so glad that Chacon doesn’t know my child, but I feel deeply sorry for the children he does know and is “protecting.” Chacon and his church board really need to read more, and they would do well to start with their Bibles. There, they would learn that King David “danced before the Lord with all his might” (2 Samuel 6:14) and that there is, as written in Ecclesiastes (3:4), “a time to mourn and a time to dance.” The next book they should pick up is a good German-English dictionary, especially while attending a German opera. They would have seen that the German word “lust” translates to the English word “enjoyment.”

Rhonda

Cameron-Hawkins

Compton