[High school student is outraged her school is offering a yoga class]
christianity not welcome in the public schools, but hindu stuff like yoga is allowed...
87 comments
> christianity not welcome in the public schools, but hindu stuff like yoga is allowed...
So is the neopagan concept of Avoiding Harm to Anybody, but like yoga, it's allowed because it's not exactly a religious practice - more like a common sense guideline most people strive for anyway. And yoga is exercise. Problem solved?
As long as they keep the spiritual stuff out of the yoga class and just focus on stretching, there's no problem. Same as if they have a class teaching the bible as literature rather than as fact.
the so-called seperation of church/state that liberals complain about
It's there for your protection too, dumbass. It's what keeps Muslims from implementing sharia law like you RR idiots complain about.
It's also optional. You're allowed to pray any time you want in school as long as it's not disruptive of anything else. Just don't expect the school to force you to pray, just like you're not forced to take yoga.
And besides, I'm assuming that your school offers wood shop, which is carpentry. Isn't that a direct link to Jesus?
So, billiefan, physical exercise is persecution against Christians, now? Is there anything that won't offend fundies like you?
1) Yoga is not a religion. Therefore, the separation of church and state does not apply.
2) Claiming "christianity not welcome in public schools" is disingenuous. Public schools cannot turn you away because of your religious beliefs. They can, however, discipline and/or expel you if you become disruptive. So you can keep your faith--just keep it to yourself.
"whatever happened to the so-called seperation of church/state that liberals complain about"
Liberals only want it enforced; Conservatives complain about it all the time because 1: they don't understand it and 2: they attempt to violate it at every turn and never get away with it, which is why they like to say that the Constitution doesn't have that clause and that Jefferson didn't really mean what he clearly said in his letter describing both the concept and his intent.
"christianity not welcome in the public schools, but hindu stuff like yoga is allowed..."
Yoga is not "Hindu stuff" any more than Kung Fu is "Buddhist stuff."
So when it's "hindu stuff like yoga," you're all for church/state separation, but when it's bible study, school-sanctioned christian prayer, etc., there's no such thing?
Yoga was developed and is used as a form of Hindu meditation.
But it only has religious value if you want it to.
For most people, yoga is just a form of exercise. Most yoga teachers (very different from yogis, though the two sometimes overlap) do not bring any sort of doctrine, dogma, or faith into the classroom. They bring yoga poses and the encouragement that you center your mind, heart, and body.
Also, some public schools DO have religion classes . . . where you can learn ABOUT Christianity. It's not that people don't want to have religion around at all. It's that we don't want to be preached to.
My father does yoga. He is a Christian. Granted, he is not a fundie, but he was never a Hindu or anything. Isn't yoga just stretching exercises? It's almost as if fundies want to be considered "fat and stupid."
(Seriously, has anyone else noted that Headache's hackneyed stereotype may not apply to Americans, but it applies to fundies perfectly, American or not? I do not think that this is a coincidence.)
whatever happened to the so-called seperation of church/state that liberals complain about
The one that Christine "Mouse Brain" O'Donnell and other theocrats say isn't in the Constitution? It's funny how Constitutional rights poof into and out of existence at the convenience of people like you.
As fundies are so eager to point out, there is no "separation of church and state" in the Constitution. There is a rule against "establishing a religion"; i.e., using the government to promote religious beliefs. Yoga exercises, by themselves, don't promote religious beliefs. Now if the yoga teacher starts introducing Hindu religious beliefs into the exercise classes, that will be forbidden just as teachers are forbidden to lead prayer sessions in school.
People saying "Yoga isn't Hindu stuff" really should investigate before they talk here (this is a common problem; witness the numerous people who made "profession of atheism" jokes in ignorance of one of the well established meanings of the word "profession"). The term "yoga" means a branch of Hindu (or subsequently Buddhist or Jain) religious philosophy and practice. Now, if you just practice the asanas (postures) of Hatha yoga, without understanding what they mean or what their purpose is, you're not practicing Hinduism, but you are still performing "Hindu stuff" in the same way that someone who replicated in exact detail the physical movements of Shiite Muslim prayer as exercise would be doing "Muslim stuff."
She's right, yoga is used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It should be banned from schools under the doctrine of separation of Church and State, in the same way and for the same reasons as we ban reading, which is used in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Show me one instance where Christianity is not welcome in schools? Lying sacks of shit!
I've never heard of a student being denied access to school because they were Christian.
I know you fucktards think that if you can't force your BS on everyone else that it somehow means you're being persecuted.
Fucking liars -every one of you.
They let you have Bible study and shit like that as long as its not supported by the district.
Oh yeah, and yoga isn't a religion, you're just a stupid fucking asshole with a victim complex.
Hey, Headache. Last I checked, this was Fundies Say the Darndest things, not Americans Say the Darndest Things. Try to keep on target, asshole - that is, if you're not too badly cross-eyed. >_>
@ katie5000:
It just seems like 99% of it comes from your wingnuts though - although maybe that's just a language bias. Or maybe because we don't have anything like the vocal fundie idiot problem over here.
Besides, if most of the OPs are American or taking American sources...
@Headache and Talmyr
As an American, I'll admit, it would seem our country is currently suffering from a pretty nasty case of wingnuts. But I'm pretty sure this outbreak is only temporary. There's no evidence that fundyism is an inherent quality of being American, and it's certainly not typical of all or even most Americans.
Look at it this way, even if we assume "99%" of these fundie quotes are from Americans, each one has maybe on average 50 comments from people headdesking at how ridiculous they are. What's stopping us from assuming "99%" of them are Americans too?
Yoga was originally "Hindu stuff", but if they're not teaching the spirituality, then it's about as religious as dressing up as Santa for Christmas.
We must be certain that Godly slobbishness is maintained among the superstitious. Soon, when the great aerial nude parade has the earthbound observers awestruck at the sheer marvel of it all, it is imperative that the physical blimpishness of Christianity displays like a badge to an exclusive club as the various squadrons proudly show-off their close formation flying skills. Besides which, it is only just and right that slovenly bodies match slovenly minds for the full Christian effect to be seen.
@ Headache
What Headache is really saying:-
"Look at me! Look at me! Look at me as I gibber and caper like a caged specimen with rabies. I'm not like a retarded clueless moron. No sir! Not me! I'm a shining example of reason and rationality. It would be wrong to say that I'm troll-like."
@ Old Viking:
You're thinking of Yogi, named in parody of Yogi Berra. Yoga was that little green guy on Star Wars that, "bass-ackwards talked he did!"
@ Headache:
Hey! I work for those clueless morons! They prefer to be called Upper Management. We give them those jobs so they can't harm themselves or others, and generally don't even let them handle anything as dangerous as a stapler. We give them lots of money because they are clueless with that, too. This keeps lots of manufacturers of luxury yachts and luxury toilets, and ridiculous fad designer French clothes in business. Stupid is an asset if you know how to use it, and have no shame.
Further down in the thread:
Yoga is bad! for Christians! It is not something that we should be doing. It is another religious practice that is not biblical. Period!
Oh you mean like how the Rapture isn't mentioned in the bible?
First off, the class is optional. Optional yoga is not the same as mandatory prayer. Second, yoga has proven health benefits. Prayer...why don't you ask Madeline Neumann how prayer improved her health?
@TB Tabby "First off, the class is optional."
"Optional" doesn't make it legal to offer religious exercises in a public school - if, in fact, the yoga classes actually have Hindu religious content - which is unlikely unless the administration is really dumb.
The reason is, in areas where 90% of the people are, say, Baptists or BIEBNOS (Baptists In Everything But Name Only), e.g. western Kentucky, opting out of school prayers and other Protestant Christian religious practices isn't a practical option if you don't want your family to be ostracized, have your dog killed or have a cross burned on your lawn.
Perhaps if billiefan2000 read up on yoga as taught in high school, she would realize that nobody is being indoctrinated into the Hindu religion. They're just bending and stretching, maybe with some biofeedback work (which Western medicine endorses).
Get over yourself, seriously. If a high school yoga class can turn people away from your religion, you're doomed anyway.
If they start burbling about chakras, you might have a point.
If they're just stretching, what do you care?
Um...the aspects of yoga taught in your school are the basic "stretching" stuff, not the "let's all worship Vishnu" stuff.
And it's sepa ration, sweetie. Maybe you should pay more attention to your teachers and less attention to the cultural origins of a damn-near secular exercise.
And I say it again, if Christianity is "not welcome in the public schools," then why does every public school I've ever been in (and I substitute-teach so I've been in A LOT) advertise student-run Christian prayer groups like First Priority and See You At The Pole?
I think we're all missing the real issue here.
Why is this young woman conservative to begin with?
That's sort of like being a pig that wants to be eaten.
Yeah yeah, I know, 'Straw Traitor' and whatnot. Well fuck it. tvtropes is wrong on this one. No woman or minority should be republican. Case closed.
Because the "yoga" they're teaching has had all of its spiritual meaning removed, dingbat. In fact, it shouldn't even be called yoga, but that's how culture-appropriating middle-class America rolls.
Yoga isn't a religion, nor is it religious.
Funny how you don't like the idea of separation of Church & State until you can use it as an argument against other religions.
Please be POE!! Please be POE!! Please be POE!!
Can I just say that the last time I saw something/someone this stupid, they were trying to talk to a tree and drooling all over themselves? Just wanted to point that out.
You do realize the following
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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