Yup...Yoga is the devil's work

[Drolefille]

Didn't Calvin refuse to answer a math question because it was against his religion? Heck, I've tried to give it up for Lent before, that didn't fly either.

[RACooper]

Sounds about a stupid as those parents who protested the fact that kids learned to sing "One Tin Soldier" on the grounds that it was anti-Christian in it's message

[shinerbock]

I don't think this is that ridiculous. While I don't see Yoga as a religion, I don't think a school needs to be involving themselves in such things. A lot of people get uncomfortable when children are asked to do anything bordering on praying or even relaxation techniques.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by RACooper

Sounds about a stupid as those parents who protested the fact that kids learned to sing "One Tin Soldier" on the grounds that it was anti-Christian in it's message

How on earth is that anti-Christian? Did they think the "go ahead and hate your neighbor" part was a directive and NOT sarcastic?

Oh, and yoga is not a religion. That's like saying walking back and forth is a religion because you walk up to the communion rail.

Besides, if it was OK for Marcia Brady in 1973, it's certainly OK for Canadian kidlets now.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Oh, and yoga is not a religion. That's like saying walking back and forth is a religion because you walk up to the communion rail.

No, not really. Yoga, as widely practiced in the West has become pretty detached from religious underpinnings, but that just the Americanization of yoga. (McYoga, maybe?) I can tell you that when my wife was getting training as a yoga teacher, she had to read quite a few Hindi religious texts.

Per the ever-helpful Wiki:

Yoga (Devanagari: योग) is a family of ancient spiritual practices dating back more than 5000 years from India. It is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy. In India, Yoga is seen as a means to both physiological and spiritual mastery. Outside India, Yoga has become primarily associated with the practice of asanas (postures) of Hatha Yoga (see Yoga as exercise).

Yoga as a means of spiritual attainment is central to Hinduism (including Vedanta), Buddhism and Jainism and has influenced other religious and spiritual practices throughout the world. Hindu texts establishing the basis for yoga include the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and many others.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't have a problem at all with yoga, and I think these parents took a great big gulp of overreaction. (Although I tend to agree with shinerbock -- is this something for schools to get into?) But these parents are not kooky just for acknowledging that yoga can be a religious practice rooted in concepts that many conservative Christians might find problematic.

[AlphaFrog]

Whatcha wanna bet that those parents had the fat kids that couldn't get into those poses and hate exercise in general.

/I'm just sayin'

[RU OX Alum]

it is something schools need to do becaus there are too many fat kids

there is hindu yoga, yeah, also buddhist and some atheist (devoid of religion or religously neutral) yoga out there, and probably some christian yoga too.

It just sounds like a couple of hicks who don't know anything.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

it is something schools need to do becaus there are too many fat kids

Then make them run laps or do something aerobic that will actually burn fat.

there is hindu yoga, yeah, also buddhist and some atheist (devoid of religion or religously neutral) yoga out there, and probably some christian yoga too.

Yoga traditionally is Hindu or Buddhist. There is indeed yoga adapted to Christian understandings (although these women would probably also consider that the work of that non-gentleman Satan) and yoga purely as exercise.

It just sounds like a couple of hicks who don't know anything.

Or who do know something of the history and origins of yoga, perhaps, but not enough and overreacted.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

It just sounds like a couple of hicks who don't know anything.

Pretty much...Quesnel is hicksville / BFE.

[bluefish81]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Whatcha wanna bet that those parents had the fat kids that couldn't get into those poses and hate exercise in general.

/I'm just sayin'

That's pretty much what I thought. PE class in general may next be "the devil's work" if that's the case.

[moe.ron]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Didn't Calvin refuse to answer a math question because it was against his religion?

I tried that rationale once in junior high. The teacher or my parents did not appreciate me finding God during midterm examinations.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by moe.ron

I tried that rationale once in junior high. The teacher or my parents did not appreciate me finding God during midterm examinations.

Teachers never appreciate that. Going to a Catholic school they were completely on top of the "giving that up for Lent" excuse too. I always wondered if I attended a public school (and got a gullible teacher) if I could have pulled that excuse off. My parents would have slapped me silly though.