Back when the church was first organized, many pious Christians believed that dancing was wicked. It excited the passions and led men and women to have inappropriate thoughts about each other.

The prophets had a different view of things. We are grateful to have bodies — the first of the gifts of God in this mortal life. To move our bodies to express ourselves, to dance together for pleasure or art, these are perfectly legitimate. Any of our talents can be misused — but none should be buried. So in the early days of the church, we Mormons scandalized many of our neighbors by our insistence on dancing.

Which is why it makes me more than a little sad to see how little dancing has come to matter in Mormon culture these days.

Read the full column on MormonTimes.com