Key quotation from a protester: "Yoga poses are representative of Hindu deities and Hindu stories about the actions and interactions of those deities with humans. There’s content even in the movement, just as with baptism there’s content in the movement."
Yes, if you teach a kid to pose a certain way, they will magically turn into a Hindu, even if you don't mention any teachings about the Hindu religion.
See, there's no religious teaching going on here, but even the act of teaching kids to assume yoga poses is being considered religious indoctrination by these Christian parents.
Zany.
(h/t +Lucas Wiman)
Embedded Link
School Yoga Class Draws Religious Protest From Christians
A small but vocal group of parents, spurred on by the head of a local conservative advocacy group, have likened the 30-minute classes to religious indoctrination.
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SMH is now my favorite abbreviation. Or, it appears to be because I'm using it so much!
I found this story very interesting.
The school system says it's o.k to practice yoga because it's not teaching any religious beliefs (though it is symbolizing them, in a manner)….yet you can't put up a nativity scene…even though that, in and of itself, isn't teaching any religious beliefs either.
"Yes, if you teach a kid to pose a certain way, they will magically turn into a Hindu, even if you don't mention any teachings about the Hindu religion."
Just like a nativity scene will 'magically' turn you into a Christian?
And, to clarify, I wouldn't have an issue with yoga being taught in schools as long as they kept any sort of religious teachings out of it.
Though, I don't see what's wrong with going outside to the playground, either.
If you're doing a Nativity Scene that isn't teaching any religious beliefs, I think you're doing it wrong. The Nativity is about the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary and Joseph, as described in the Bible in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. I'm not sure how that isn't about religious beliefs. (Certainly the Creche I put up in our Living Room at Christmas time is meant for its religious associations, not as simple table decor).
I took yoga in college. I don't recall anything we did that was associated with a religious activity or belief, or that any of the moves were described as symbolizing religious tales or figures. If the school in question is doing that ("Okay, kids, now assume the Chattering Monkey Extension, which symbolizes how Haruman stole a banana from Vishnu") then I could possibly see a basis for complaint.
I, for one, wouldn't substitute yoga significantly for unstructured play. I can see it as something that gets taught in rotation with other exercises and activities (kickball, circle dancing, yoga). I can also see it as an early morning stretch-and-focus type of activity.
Of course you can have a nativity scene up without teaching anything. It's a symbol for believers…it's not there to try to convert. If you drive by and see a nativity, and have no clue as to what it is, it's not going to just suddenly pop into your mind what it's symbolizing.
The same with the yoga stances. If you just go through the motions, with no idea what you're doing (save the physical fitness aspect), you're not going to magically convert into a Hindu.
Symbols are symbols and they all stand for something.
If it's a symbol that's not recognized or understood, then I could see your point. Someone who doesn't recognize the Nativity would … well, maybe think it was celebrating farm families or something.
But if it is a recognizable and understood symbol, then it speaks to believers and disbelievers alike — and to disbelievers, when done under the auspices of the government and exclusive of other such symbols, it asserts the truth and sponsorship of the belief behind the symbol.
In the case of a Nativity, it is a socially/culturally recognized Christian presentation, especially as it's presented at the time of the Christian holiday it's associated with. The number of people who "have no clue as to what it is" is negligible, and its association with the religion involved is straightfoward.
In this case, the yoga exercises are (presumably) being taught without reference to the religion involved, and many people don't connect religion with yoga. While there are some who do associate it with a spiritual tradition, and may even think this program will foster such a tradition, the connection to actual religion seems to me much more tenuous than with a Nativity scene in front of city hall, more along the lines of a teacher having her kids draw generic father-mother-child pictures in some covert hope that it will make future viewings of a Nativity inspire them to Christian fervor.
Interestingly, some conservative Hindus are also upset at how secularized yoga is becoming. This article argues that yoga, as it exists in its modern form has only a tenuous relationship with Hindu religion: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/not-as-old-as-you-think
It's not that surprising. It's akin to the tension between how some people are hypersensitive to any religiosity around Christmas, and others are hypersensitive to any lack of it.
I'm surprised at this one. Guessing the protesters haven't been to a typical Yoga class. I did Yoga with my Mom for years as a young kid and never once asked, "Are we Hindu?"
I'm also surprised on the level of why put your energy into this fight?