Court Ruling: Yoga Allowed in Schools

Here following is an article about a recent court decision to allow yoga to be taught in a California school district. Some were trying to ban yoga from the schools claiming it as a religion, i.e. part of Hinduism.

As we know, yoga is a practice; it is not a religion. There is no prescribed belief system. Rather, people of all faiths and all backgrounds are welcome to practice yoga. Some mistakenly confuse or link yoga with Hinduism, but the two are not related. However, there is often misunderstanding about this because both were founded in India, and because they share certain terminology. But in fact yoga and Hinduism are completely distinct from one another. The proof is that their shared terminology actually holds vastly different meanings. For instance, the term “puja” in Hinduism often refers to idol worship, whereas “puja” in yoga refers to the surrendering of the unit ego. Furthermore, Hinduism upholds the caste system whereas yoga renounces the caste system. Hinduism espouses the belief in multiple Deities; whereas yoga advances the notion of one Supreme Consciousness. Hinduism supports the dowry system, whereas yoga does not prescribe to the dogma of dowry. And there are many other glaring differences between Hinduism and yoga.

Here then is the news article for your review:

Yoga in school not same as teaching religion, California judge rules

By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO | Mon Jul 1, 2013 9:16pm EDT

(Reuters) – A California judge refused on Monday to block the teaching of yoga as part of a public school’s physical fitness program, rejecting parents’ claims that the classes were an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions.

Judge John Meyer acknowledged that yoga “at its roots is religious” but added that the modern practice of yoga, despite its origins in Hindu philosophy, is deeply engrained in secular U.S. society and “is a distinctly American cultural phenomenon.”

He also said the Encinitas Unified School District had developed its own version of yoga that was not religious but distinct and separate from Ashtanga yoga.

“A reasonable student would not objectively perceive that Encinitas School District yoga does advance or promote religion,” he said.

While school district officials were pleased by the ruling, the lawyer for the parents said they probably will appeal.

“If yoga is a religion and has religious aspects, it doesn’t belong in the public schools,” said Dean Broyles, who represents Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock, whose two children opted out of yoga for physical education. “There is a consistent anti-Christian bias in these cases and a pro-Eastern or strange religion bias.”

Encinitas, about 20 miles north of San Diego, began a pilot yoga program in one of its nine elementary schools in 2011. About 40 to 45 students – out of the 5,500 in the district – were taken out of the classes by their parents.

The Sedlocks filed suit against the district in February, arguing that yoga is inherently religious and asking teaching of the classes be banned. The parents claimed that children who opted out of the program faced bullying and teasing. (Note: Another report tells how the schools were aiming to use yoga as a means to curtail bullying in schools.)

Their suit expressed concern that the school district had implemented the program with a $500,000 grant from the Jois Foundation, which promotes Ashtanga yoga.

The case was the latest twist in a broader national clash over the separation of religion from public education that has seen spirited debate on issues ranging from the permissibility of student-led prayer to whether science instructors can teach alternatives to evolution.

The plaintiffs objected to eight-limbed tree posters with Sanskrit characters that they said were derived from Hindu beliefs, as well as to the use of the Namaste greeting in class and several yoga poses said to represent worship of Hindu deities.

But by the start of the 2012-2013 school year, the Sanskrit and Namaste had been eliminated from the program, and poses had been renamed with “kid-friendly” descriptions, poses now called gorilla, turtle, peacock, big toe, telephone and other terms, according to testimony. The lotus pose, for example, is called criss cross apple sauce in Encinitas schools.

However, the plaintiffs’ expert, professor of religious studies Candy Gunther Brown, testified that yoga practice indoctrinates Hindu religious practices whether the individual knows it or not.

Brown cited research suggesting yoga practice changes the user’s brain and thoughts, a sort of gateway drug to the occult, Meyer said.

The judge did not agree with her, saying, “Dr. Brown has an obvious bias and can almost be called being on a mission against yoga.”

School district Superintendent Timothy Baird applauded the ruling, and pointed out that the district had been represented for free by lawyers provided by parents whose kids take yoga in the district.

“We always want our parents to be happy and we try to work with our parents on everything we do,” Baird said.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Bill Trott)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/02/us-usa-yoga-california-idUSBRE96016Y20130702