Belly dance and religion

[Greek Bonfire]

There are a couple of Psalms about praising the Lord with dancing. I don't know of any passages against dancing.

King David who wrote many of the psalms danced in his worship of God all the time. Also, in the Torah, Miriam, the sister of Moses, danced in worship when the Israelites defeated the Egyptians.

Sounds good to me!

 

[Belly Love]

For all those whose trolly senses are tingling, I do believe that Maya is not trying to be a troll, not on purpose. I believe she's simply trying to follow her heart and do what she feels is right, but she's going about it in the wrong way, in the wrong forum, and has fallen for the same misconceptions about bellydance that many of us have fought against for so long.

That's exactly what I thought when I read her comment.

I am a Christian and I did a lot of research before I decided to partake in belly dance because I wanted to make sure it didn't derive from or represent something that is ungodly, ie: dancing to other gods or harem style dancing. I think she has taken something she read or heard as fact even though it's fiction.

I think that often times when someone tells us they don't like what were doing, it doesn't make us feel good and we assume we are being judged, when that's not necessarily the case. I think that's often times why people feel that Christians are judgemental. A person who has certain values that go against the societal norm, is going to not agree with a lot of things that are "no big deal" to most people. Not agreeing with something does not equal judgement. Also, people tend to point out someone elses faults/sins when their actions are being questioned instead of focusing on themselves. I refer to this as emotional immaturity- "You don't like what I'm doing? But you're doing this!" etc.

Then, when it's pointed out that a Christian is sinning themselves, they are called hypocritical- yet, I don't know a single Christian who claims to be perfect and free of sin.

I am surrounded by Christians half the time and non-Christians the other half of the time and I find that non-Christians tend to be extremely judgemental towards Christians (this is based on my experience). Although I do know some judgemental Christians, being a Christian is not about being perfect. It's about having faith in God and trying to live your life to glorify him. It's a journey, a process, you don't become a Christian and just turn into a perfect person! And, not all Christians are the same, just like all non-Christians are not the same.

Anyway, it's a complicated subject and hard to type up in a neat little comment I'm very comfortable being a Christian belly dancer! I think it's fun to get dressed up and celebrate and be joyous- after all, God wants us to enjoy our life! He wants us to celebrate and what could be a better occaison than weddings, birthdays and baby showers- which are often times when belly dancers perform!

*On a side note, I cannot believe this thread has gone on for 5 years!!!

 

[Ariadne]

*On a side note, I cannot believe this thread has gone on for 5 years!!!

:lol: It does seem to keep hanging on doesn't it?



But to answer the question, no there is nothing scriptural against dancing for Christians so it is the exception when a Christian sect has rules against dancing. It's not dancing itself that is the sin it is what you may be wearing or how/why you are dancing that can be the sin. Since bellydance does have a stigma associated with it often it is assumed that it will not be done appropriately. Sadly there are some dancers who only increase that assumption.

 

[Belly Love]

It's not dancing itself that is the sin it is what you may be wearing or how/why you are dancing that can be the sin.

Exactly!

That's why some extreme so-called Christian groups think dancing is a sin. They don't want their children or anyone in their society to fall into sinning, so they ban the activity altogether. Then these children grow up thinking dancing is a sin and you will go to hell if you do it.

This makes me think of the Amish. They typically don't even allow electricity in their homes (I understand why) and I don't think they allow music, so I'm pretty sure they don't allow dancing of any kind.

 

[LadyLoba]

That is true...whether or not belly dance, or any form of dance is a sin depends a lot on each sect, denomination, or individual's ways of interpreting or viewing their religion. There are some Christian denominations or individual churches, that view dance of any kind as a sin, but not all.

I'm a non-denominational, non-church going Christian who respects all paths as long as they seek good and not evil...and I see nothing wrong with any form of dance. But others might. I noticed on the religion poll on here there are a lot of people from a wide variety of religious paths, so there is certainly no religion where absolutely everyone who adheres to it is against dancing. (Religion, not denomination or sect)

 

[Meera]

King David who wrote many of the psalms danced in his worship of God all the time. Also, in the Torah, Miriam, the sister of Moses, danced in worship when the Israelites defeated the Egyptians.

Sounds good to me!

Oh wow. Thats really cool. I had no idea lol

 

[CoraTurner]

Shocking anti-bellydance comments

How does belly dancing fit into Islam? - Page 2

I was shocked when I read this, these people are simply crazy , failing to see that the corruption is in their minds and not in the dance they are saying that "when they see a belly dancer, they run out of a venue!"

Not to get an idea that this is the general Muslim view. I work for various Muslim Club/Restaurant owners, had many Muslim friends and teachers...However this view is not uncommon as many of us have experienced.

Check out the link , they won't let me comment , of course.If you do want to comment on that forum, don't put Atheist or anything like that in the 'religion section' of registration.

 

[dinavienna]

Its utterly sad ppl would say with quite some conviction there is no such thing as bellydancing at muslim weddings, that arabs in the west would increasingly like it or that it is a custom of non-muslim arabs in the middle east..
while it is quite clear most muslim scholars would agree bellydancing is not allowed in a mixed sex environment - and most would also not allow it at womens parties only for objections to music in general or to revealing the body this much even in front of other women - the theory and the practice have been too very different pairs of shoes. as much as religious orthodoxy and leadership say it is not permissible just ..as much it has been part of ppl's ordinary lives. it puzzles me ppl say they have been to dozens of weddings in the region and never seen a bellydancer.. it is rumoured to be declining a lot, granted, partly because its considered old-fashioned partly because of re-islamization of societies.. but to suggest it has become SO rare not once in a dozen of weddings ppl would see a dancer that's scary..
one will have to consider these very religious ppl will likely have very religious acquaintances so its more to be expected from their crowd than from the average population i guess.. still, quite stunning and puzzling! and sad.

 

[Taslin]

I was just watching "All American Muslim" on TLC they talked about how dancing is a part of arab culture-not religion. It was nice because they showed a muslim womans white/irish husband asking, and sounding confused about belly dancing and how its so popular amongsrt arabs and a conversation ensued about dancing and islam.

I knew from previews there was a wedding and belly dancing on the first episode.

My favorite character-up until this comment- was shown at a wedding. The dancer was wearing Baladi type wardrobe and one of the main women on the show called her and i quote "skanky" for "showing off her body and dancing like that" "no different from a stripper really." And then the camera cut to the woman in her hijab who had just called the belly dancer a skank doing a juicy maya, and some hip bumps at the wedding,lmao!

The biggest argument on the show was that that dancing/performing goes against everything they believe about modesty. So yeah if you wear the hijab i could see why dancing would be even further away from your beliefs.

But a good point was made-acceptance in a culture does not =acceptance in a religion.

Still pissed about calling the dancer in a dress with sleeves to her wrists and skirt to her feet skanky. I dont even wear that much coverage to work.

 

[Indigo Shimmer]

I watched that show and I was kinda shocked too at her comments. I found her dress very modest from an outsider's point of view.

I was watching that show to kinda educate myself on the religion. All I know is that saying all Muslims are the same is like saying all Christians are the same. I know that is dead wrong! I wanted to watch it because, well, what if I get to be a good enough dancer and get requested to dance at an Islamic function and then wear the wrong attire???? I'm not interested in insulting anyone through my own ignorance. ( Lord knows I work around people with enough bad attitudes on different religions. I don't want to be like them! I want to avoid acting as rude or prejudiced as they are. )

I was even more shocked when they showed the Muslim festival at what the non-islamic picketers where shouting. Talk about mean spirited and ignorant!

BTW my apologies to anyone if I've used the wrong terminology in this thread. I know next to nothing about the Islamic religion. If I have screwed up in saying something or using the wrong words interchangeably, please let me know so that I don't do it again. I'm not interested in repeating my mistakes.

It has just proved to me the same thing I always believed about religion. There are many beautiful religions out there. But people's interpretation of them can be ugly. That's the person's fault, not the religion's.

Indigo S.