The Seventh-day Adventist English Medium Primary & High School in Bhalki, India, is an educational institution providing classes from nursery through the high school levels and is listed in the official yearbook of the church. [1] In a recent Children’s Day Celebration, students from this Adventist institution performed the Hindu traditional “Tamil Harvest Dance.”
This specific dance recreates the growth and sprouting of crops. The young boys bending low to the ground symbolize the seed planted in the soil. The young girls standing behind them with one hand on their backs represent the sprouting of the seed as it breaks through the ground and grows upward towards the sky. These ancient dances are associated with honoring Mariamman, the Hindu goddess of rain and fertility, and Surya, the Hindu solar deity.
These cultural and ritualistic dances have nothing to do with preparing children for heaven or restoring them into the image of God. They should have no place in a Christian institution, for the Bible condemns such displays:
“But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” —1 Corinthians 10:20
“Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” —1 Corinthians 10:7
It is time for this pagan display to end. Seventh-day Adventist schools exist to train children in the pure principles of the gospel, not to introduce them to the rites of heathen deities. We therefore call upon the administration of the Bhalki school and the local conference leadership to put a complete and permanent end to these practices. Let no further compromise be tolerated. Remove every trace of idolatrous performances from our institutions, and restore the exclusive worship of the living God.
Sources
[1] https://www.adventistdirectory.org/viewEntity.aspx?EntityID=30119
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