Posted on 07/01/2013 1:59:51 AM PDT by markomalley
A judge is expected to issue a ruling Monday on whether yoga is a religious practice that shouldn't be allowed to be taught in public schools.
An attorney representing a family bent out of shape over the public school program in the beach city of Encinitas filed a lawsuit in February to stop the district-wide classes. In the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, attorney Dean Broyles argued that the twice weekly, 30-minute classes are inherently religious, in violation of the separation between church and state.
Judge John S. Meyer is expected to issue his ruling in the case that went to trial.
The Encinitas Union School District is believed to be the first in the country to have full-time yoga teachers at every one of its schools. The lessons are funded by a $533,000, three-year grant from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes Asthanga yoga.
(snip)
"We're not teaching religion," he told The Associated Press. "We teach a very mainstream physical fitness program that happens to incorporate yoga into it."
Broyles said his clients are not seeking monetary damages but are asking the court to intervene and suspend the program.
The lawsuit notes Harvard-educated religious studies professor Candy Gunther Brown found the district's program is pervasively religious, having its roots in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and metaphysical beliefs and practices.
Children who have opted out of the program have been harassed and bullied, the plaintiffs say.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
12. With the present diffusion of eastern methods of meditation in the Christian world and in ecclesial communities, we find ourselves faced with a pointed renewal of an attempt, which is not free from dangers and errors, to fuse Christian meditation with that which is non-Christian. Proposals in this direction are numerous and radical to a greater or lesser extent. Some use eastern methods solely as a psycho-physical preparation for a truly Christian contemplation; others go further and, using different techniques, try to generate spiritual experiences similar to those described in the writings of certain Catholic mystics.13 Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory,14 on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a "negative theology," which transcends every affirmation seeking to express what God is and denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God. Thus they propose abandoning not only meditation on the salvific works accomplished in history by the God of the Old and New Covenant, but also the very idea of the One and Triune God, who is Love, in favor of an immersion "in the indeterminate abyss of the divinity."15 These and similar proposals to harmonize Christian meditation with eastern techniques need to have their contents and methods ever subjected to a thorough-going examination so as to avoid the danger of falling into syncretism.
NB: A footnote in the text identifies "eastern methods" as follows: The expression "eastern methods" is used to refer to methods which are inspired by Hinduism and Buddhism, such as "Zen," "Transcendental Meditation" or "Yoga." Thus it indicates methods of meditation of the non-Christian Far East which today are not infrequently adopted by some Christians also in their meditation.
Maybe so, but .. In all my hippie years, I’ve never met gentler souls than someone that practiced yoga.
God bless those families.
But it is a religion, and kind of yucky and a very dangerous form of mind control.
WHAT backs the American dollar?
More faith than believing Jesus is Lord.
No one speaks loudly in a bank ... god is in its tabernacle (the safe)
Yoga is a form of physical exercise, meant to limber up the body and tone the muscles. I was taught yoga by people who were convinced of its superiority as a physical exercise, on the basis that it originated in the east and everything eastern is superior. I don’t recall ever having it associated with religion. I haven’t done it in years, but it is a popular form of exercise—someone at work leads a lunchtime yoga group for the physical fitness buffs at work.
Just because a method of physical fitness was developed and practiced by practitioners does not make it an intrinsically religious practice. There is no need to teach the religious tradition of those who developed it, and I’m sure that’s *not* taught at the public school.
They may not teach the religion per se, but I wouldn’t rule out that, when introduced, the teacher explains the origins.
Not everyone that practices TaiChi or Yoga is trying to channel some demon entity.
Some of us just wanted to get laid with some very nubile looking lasses.
It’s my understanding that the Catholic issue with it is not about demonic possession. It is that the spirituality of it focuses on the practitioner rather than on God. Merely doing the physical exercises is fine, but one can not take part in the spirituality which is not God-focused.
I am the LORD thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me
(and if you DO?)
Obviously, another god can only be a demon, thus .. demonic focus .. and depending on your involvement .. posession.
The die-hard zero worshippers are defacto demon posessed.
I would still argue that focusing on oneself does not mean demonic possession. If that were the case, a lot of what we do as human beings would be demonic possession.
Jesus says we are to die to self.
That I agree with.
“Maybe so, but .. In all my hippie years, I’ve never met gentler souls than someone that practiced yoga.”
Stretching exercises are fine, but meditating on ‘gods’ opens the door to darkness. GOD says, “Do not have any gods before ME.”
I have no ide what Mr. Berra's religious beliefs are.
and let’s not forget Boo-Boo
I get a little nervous when I’m instructed to “clear my mind” or “empty my mind.” I start praying silently.
You are SURE because . . . . ? How would you know what the teacher is teaching? There are some pretty screwy teachers out there.
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