08.14.08
Yoga - Religion or Exercise?
Ok, now I’ve heard it all! I subscribe to Worldwide Religion News, a sort of newsletter that sends regular updates about religion issues in the news all over the world (as the title would suggest, of course…)
Anyway this evening there was an article from New Delhi questioning whether yoga is ok for Christians to do - because it may be too close to its Hindu roots. To most of us, yoga is a healthy exercise and I don’t think any of us in this country at least would view yoga as having anything to do with religion. Even if it did, what would be wrong with participating in something from another religion if it made you healthier? But apparently some (very ethnocentric, totally “Stage Two”) people within Christianity have a real problem with it. Here is an actual quote from this religion newsletter http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=29200:
Last year, two Somerset vicars banned a yoga class for toddlers from their church halls. This year, a leading Roman Catholic exorcist condemned yoga as apparently harmless but as a possible conduit to “the evil spirit.”
In his best-selling pamphlet Exorcism: Understanding exorcism in scripture and practice Fr Jeremy Davies, chief exorcist of the Roman Catholic diocese of Westminster writes: “.. The thin end of the wedge (soft drugs, yoga for relaxation, horoscopes just for fun and so on) is more dangerous than the thick end, because more deceptive – an evil spirit tries to make his entry as unobtrusively as possible.”
Evil spirit my foot! Obviously a comment motivated by fear - fear of something he must obviously have no experience with. Of course - this statement was uttered by……an exorcist? I didn’t know such a vocation even existed (….hope I never have need of one, now that I have made fun of this profession!)
MPJ said,
August 17, 2008 at 10:53 pm
This comment came in from my friend Marilyn:
Seems to me that the banning centers around fear. In this case, fear that
someone might expand their spiritual awareness and no longer need to be told
what to think.
Marilyn
MPJ said,
August 17, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you on this.
Apply food stamp said,
September 23, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.
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