Is Yoga a Religion? Should it be Allowed in Public Schools?
All over the U.S., Christians are having a hissyfit over Yoga being a religion. If Christians can’t pray in school, then a bunch of moonbeam navel-gazing Hindus shouldn’t be allowed to practice THEIR religion in schools either. But is Yoga a religion?
San Diego Superior Court Judge John S. Meyer has ruled that Yoga can be taught in the Encinitas, CA school system without violating the separation of church and state. The ruling was a defeat for a local Christian couple who had filed a suit to prevent Yoga from being taught, their reasoning being that teaching Yoga amounts to religious indoctrination.
And these two devout Christians — Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock — are absolutely right. Yoga IS a religion, and a very dangerous one at that. Did you know:
During the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, armies of vicious Yogis staged a series of bloody crusades in the Middle East. Between a million and two million people were killed during the Yoga Crusades.
A few centuries later, after the Church of Yoga had become more powerful than ever, Yogis waged a campaign of mass torture and slaughter of anyone who didn’t practice Yoga. To this day, the Yoga Inquisition remains one of the darkest most brutal chapters in world history.
The American Colonies were not immune to the excesses of Yoga fanatics. In the late 1600s, Yogis staged a series of “trials.” Drowning, hanging or being burned at the stake was the grisly fate of any infidel who wobbled a little during the headstand or couldn’t hold the Lotus position properly.
But you don’t have to go way back in history to witness Yoga’s religious fanaticism and mass conformity. When the Supreme Court overturned the federal law against same-sex marriage, Yogis reacted with fire and brimstone, hatred and fury.
And so on.
Labels: is Yoga a religion, Yoga in schools
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:40 PM
17 Comments:
If you've every been to a hot yoga class you'll know you've experienced some kind of torture!
Kung Fu and Tai Chi could be called religions since they were originally taught by Monks, encourage meditation and a belief of a Universal Energy outside of man.
As well as a Karate Dojo can be a Church of sorts.
But since they all came to this country they all learned how to worship money, which puts them in the mainstream.
Erik
The parallels between Yoga and Christianity are amazing, uncanny one might say.
These people really have nothing else to occupy their time do they? There is nothing but nothing in yoga that is religious if you don't want it to be. For me, it's part of my workout, I do the hot Vinyasa because I can sweat all the nasty out of my body. at the same time I am getting a really good workout. Makes one very flexible also too you betcha.
Hmm, Erik, I understand that capitalism is taught in our schools too. Yet these Christians don't seem to have a problem with that religion -- the worship of mammon -- being taught in our schools, despite the fact that the Bible very specifically warns against it as a religion to oppose. Interesting, hmm?
- Badtux the Heretik Penguin
Infidels
And they steal your picnic baskets!
Good point, BT.
Tom, you neglected to mention all those yoga pedophiles...preying on the youth of Amurica with all that there squatting and stuff.
those pedophiles should get beheaded or stoned to death
Jim: LOL, that's what I've heard. I do a few basic Yoga stretches but I've never taken a class.
Erik: Yup, the churches of Karate, Tai Chi and Kung Fu should all be banished for their religious indoctrination.
Jerry: You're right, the parallels are so eerie, they're almost scary :)
Jess: I've heard some of these newer Yoga styles are a kickass workout. I do mostly Convict Conditioning -- sort of a combination of basic Yoga exercises and plain old pushups, pullups, hanging leg raises and a few leg exercises.
BT: Capitalism is the only true religion of today's "Christians." They've rewritten the Bible to where Jesus embraced the moneylenders and drove the beggars from the temple.
Randal: And they do kinky things with them.
jadedj: Yes, it's just sick what these Yoga priests do, making a child assume the headstand position while the priest proceeds to...well, I can't even talk about it.
I've certainly experienced enlightenment while practicing (and teaching) yoga...but I have during sex, also.
Is "communing" during sex also considered practicing "religion"...or is it only when you actually light the scented candles?
Sex is already prohibited in school so it must considered a religion... or at least a religious experience.
JG: Sorry, you're only allowed to commune with God, and only during church services -- which I assume you're attending every day if you're a Good Christian. Sex and scented candles are strictly Verboten!
Jerry: Nope, sex is only a religion for Devil Worshipers, Hindus and other non-Christian infidels.
Christianity to me, is real, and a refuge. But I'm the type of liberal that gets shit on all the time. By anyone. You people suck.
We don't all suck. In fact, I would imagine that if any of us do, it's just a little, and those of us who do suck don't really suck all that bad. ;-)
It's OK, liberals can be Christians, just like right-wingers can be atheists. It seems like it's all portrayed like if you're liberal you have to be an atheist or agnostic, or if you're Christian you have to be a Republican. None of that is true.
I am a liberal who tried for years to be a Christian and finally gave it up because it just didn't work for me, but if it's real and if it's a refuge for some people, I'm fine with that. I just want to keep religion out of politics and vice versa. And if people want religion in schools, there are schools where their kids can go.
So, if I suck, so be it.
As far as Yoga goes, I think it's fine in schools. Just don't refer to it in any way associated with religion. Just call it something like flexibility training or stretching, don't call the various positions by their Hindu names, just explain what the different positions do and why they're good for you, etc. Explain to kids that this can be an important part of keeping in good physical condition. If they find that it makes them feel peaceful and if they want to learn more about the spiritual aspects of it, they can find out on their own later. Public schools shouldn't have to teach spirituality IMO, and I hope they don't try.
In any event, I'm not sure how Yoga and Christianity are incompatible. I don't see why some religions can't take some of the better aspects of other religions to heart. But I guess maybe that goes against human nature, where things like black-or-white or "for us or against us" seem to be the rule of the day.
Snave: Good response to the troll. I didn't bother responding, but you told him/her good. It's true that being Christian or atheist doesn't necessarily correlate to being liberal or conservative, in spite of the general perception. The Internet seems to be full of rightwing atheists, including the one who comments regularly at Jim's blog.
Yoga isn't any more a religion than martial arts are. Most martial arts practitioners talk about the spiritual heights you can reach after years of doing katas and breaking boards. If Yoga is a religion, then so are martial arts. I don't think either one of them are religions.
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