For your enjoyment … Select quotes from ….
God’s Answer to Young People’s Problems – A Handbook of Christian Conduct!
by William W. Orr. (c) ?
Music and “Swing” …
Swing and its older brother, jazz, is a strange new madness in music. Born in the corruption of evil minds, this foul plague has literally swept the world. The air today is filled with it as radios blare it forth, juke boxes grind it out and dance bands sell it. Swing is difficult to describe for sometimes it is subtiilly, sensuously sweet, and other times blatant with harsh discord. But always there is present that underlying beat of lawlessness and unrestraint. Absent is the nobility and inspiration of true music. Certainly, this is not God’s music. Shun it.
No one will deny that swing moves in bad company. Its bosom companions are a well know infamous trio, the dance, the movies and liquor. Its effect seems to be to promote a frenzy of emotional excitement which with some becomes a delirium. The jitterbug demonstrations connected with it amount to barbaric shamelessness and the contortions vile and suggestive. Swing is nothing less than a satanic seduction of music for sinful purposes. Those who love their Lord Jesus should have absolutely no part in it.
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Shall I dance?
Yes, I know quite well that dancing is universally popular and overwhelmingly approved, and that many church people dance. I know that dances are widely promoted by many character-building organizations and even by some churches. I am aware that in educational and Christian circles hardly a voice is being raised against it. But I’m dead in earnest as I tell you the dance is the Devil’s territory and way out of bounds for real lovers of Christ.
There isn’t a shadow of doubt that the root of the dance’s attraction is sex, and its intention to arouse and stimulate passion. Take away the opportunities for improper physical proximity and you’d kill the dance in a week. Who would want to dance if girls danced only with girls and boys with boys? That shows what the dance is built upon. To the one whose body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God there need be no other argument.
The companions of the dance are a sorry lot when dragged out into the open. Usually there is drinking nearby, and smoking and profanity. The lights are always turned low as if to hide what goes on there. The music strange, jungle music, with the tempo calculated to make the dancer throw off restraint and indulge to the full. The whole thing reeks of sensuality and lust. Tell me, ought born again Christians to be there?
I know that the dance is almost irresistibly attractive to some young people. They dearly love to dance. But please, for Christ’s sake as well as your own, examine carefully the facts of the case. The dance destroys modesty, promotes impure thinking, soils lives and in many cases causes immorality of the worst sort. The dance crowd is the Devil’s crowd and the worst of bad company for the children of God.
There are those who maintain their ability to dance and remain pure in thought. Well, if you can … you will certainly be the exception. What about your companion… is she or he pure minded too? It’s a real problem.
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Clothes, Make-up, etc…
One of the most revolting sights of today is the shameless display of the male torso at our bathing beaches. Most observers will instantly and gladly agree that, so far as beauty is concerned, the expanse of hairy chest and protruding abdomen should be fully and forever covered….
One of the mysteries of the modern world is why girls who so earnestly strive after beauty will dress up like a circus and paint up like and Indian on the war path….
When make-up is to be used, the secret is to use it so sparingly and skillfully that no one will be aware of its presence… Finger nails, too, should be well groomed and neatly polished, but never with screaming colors.
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