Written by Don Byrd
Writing at Religion Dispatches, Katherine Stewart has a thoughtful piece about a growing controversy in California, where programs to introduce public school children to yoga have been criticized by some conservative Christian groups as improper promotion of religion. Why thoughtful? Because she takes seriously the complaint, while considering it in the context of other forms of proselytizing rampant in many school systems today.
Here is a snippet.
However, the organizational test raises more serious concerns in this case. Encinitas’ yoga program is partially funded by a grant from the Jois Foundation, which is contributing to teachers’ salaries, curriculum development, and even yoga mats.
…
[C]onsider the Jois Foundation’s relationship to the K. P. Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute, an organization whose web page asserts that yoga practice helps to burn away the “six poisons” that surround the “spiritual heart.” Talk of “spiritual elevation” and “sacred beads” does not help the case that this is a non-religious group.
That being said, she concludes, the concern over yoga is “a matter of far less concern than the well-organized conservative Christian proselytism that is already making deep inroads into public education.”
[UPDATE: A lawsuit has been filed, arguing the yoga classes are religious in nature and violate the separation of church and state. Associated Press has more.]
