Oh, the utter arrogance of the American judiciary; now a judge has decreed, declared, defined and ex-cathedra promulgated that the centuries old religious ritual known as yoga is not religious.
So, like, there you go, and stuff, Hindus; we Westerners set you straight as we know your theology, your religious rituals, better than thou.
We previously reported not solely on yoga but about the specific issue of yoga being pushed into Encinitas, CA tax-payer funded public schools. I took screenshots of the official Encinitas yoga curriculum and it includes religious symbols.
Also, the school district’s website links to an article that encourages changing the names of the various postures so as to water down the religious aspect and thus, fool people into believing that it is not a Hindu practice, see here.
In short, if it was just stretching then it would be called stretching. But then again, they could just call yoga stretching and bring it into tax-payer funded public schools that way, as per the article noted above which recommends changing terms but keeping practices as is.
The bottom line is that discernment is the key. This is because, if you were to, rightly, say that yoga is a Hindu ritual and does not belong in tax-payer funded public schools then they can just change the terminology. If you, rightly, say that it is against the tax-payer funded public school curriculum they can just change the curriculum. If you, rightly, say that it goes against the law well, they can just change that as well and we have now reached that point.
Note very carefully how Marty Graham broke down the news in “Yoga in school not same as teaching religion, California judge rules,” UK Reuters, July 2, 2013 AD:
Judge John Meyer acknowledged that yoga “at its roots is religious” but added that the modern practice of yoga, despite its origins in Hindu philosophy, is deeply engrained in secular U.S. society and “is a distinctly American cultural phenomenon.”
So we begin by the admission that, yes of course, yoga “at its roots is religious.” But just zoom past that fact and claim that it is acceptable in tax-payer funded public schools because modern yoga (same religious ritual but with watered down terminology) is, like, hip and cool and stuff so it must be okay.
He also said the Encinitas Unified School District had developed its own version of yoga that was not religious but distinct and separate from Ashtanga yoga.
If you look at my screenshots you will see that this is simply not the case as, in this particular case, the Encinitas Unified School District has not even bothered changing the terminology in the official curriculum.
So, thus saith the judge, the district version of yoga is “distinct and separate from Ashtanga yoga.” But wait, there’s more as the district implemented the program with a $500,000 grant from the Jois Foundation, which does what; promotes Ashtanga yoga.
Now, note the bullying nature of Judge John Meyes’ following statement:
“A reasonable student would not objectively perceive that Encinitas School District yoga does advance or promote religion,” he said.
Get it?!?! If you objectively perceive that Encinitas School District yoga does advance and promote religion then you are not a reasonable student. Judge John Meyer’s arrogance is simply stunning!
Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock rightly noted:
There is a consistent anti-Christian bias in these cases and a pro-Eastern or strange religion bias.
As Ravi Zacharias noted,
We are living in a time when sensitivities are at the surface, often vented with cutting words. Philosophically, you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true. Morally, you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim it is a ‘better’ way. Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it. If a spiritual idea is eastern, it is granted critical immunity; if western, it is thoroughly criticized.
—Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods (Nashville: Word Publishing, A Thomas Nelson Co., 2000), p. Introduction-vii
As aforementioned, this issue is heavy with watering down in order to fool. Thus, it is reported that pertaining to a lawsuit:
The plaintiffs objected to eight-limbed tree posters with Sanskrit characters that they said were derived from Hindu beliefs, as well as to the use of the Namaste greeting in class and several yoga poses said to represent worship of Hindu deities.
Now, note the retort:
But by the start of the 2012-2013 school year, the Sanskrit and Namaste had been eliminated from the program, and poses had been renamed with “kid-friendly” descriptions, poses now called gorilla, turtle, peacock, big toe, telephone and other terms, according to testimony. The lotus pose, for example, is called criss cross apple sauce in Encinitas schools. [emphasis added]
You see, they are doing the exact same things from the exact same roots but just changing the terminology. So, what is wrong with doing that? Oh, well, besides purposefully fooling the public so as to break the law? Well, “the plaintiffs’ expert, professor of religious studies Candy Gunther Brown, testified that yoga practice indoctrinates Hindu religious practices whether the individual knows it or not.”
Interestingly, Professor Brown “cited research suggesting yoga practice changes the user’s brain and thoughts” and if you read what the school district has to say; the very purpose for them wanting yoga in tax-payer funded public schools is for the specific purpose of changing the user’s brains and thoughts. They place a happy face on their explanation but what they seek is for children to relax and be calm which they claim is what yoga does. Well, what they will get is children who are placed into meditative hyper suggestibility as their brain waves drop off and they are in an atmosphere of being a captive audience who suspends disbelief and accepts that which the yogi/teacher tells them.
Hey, why not have students take communion/eucharist and just call it crackers and juice?
Here are some relevant books:
Knowing the Facts about Yoga by John Ankerberg and John Weldon
Should Christians Practice Yoga? by John Weldon
A DVD: Yoga Uncoiled From East to West by Caryl Matrisciana (which, by the way, includes interviews with Indian Hindu yogis who are deeply offended that Westerners claim that their religious rituals are not religious rituals).
For more info see the following videos:
Yoga as Christian Occult Practice by Caryl Matrisciana
The Yoga Boom: What are Christians to do? by Elliot Miller
For more background and consideration of some Hindu philosophy see the video:
Bill Honsberger – Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta: the Roots and Fruit of a Movement