I wrote recently about religious people getting freaked out the introduction of yoga in the elementary schools of a California school district because of its associations with non-Christian religions such as Hinduism.
Now religious people are upset that yoga is also infiltrating that bastion of all things American, the US military, because they have introduced a program of yoga in an effort to deal with the mental health problems that many service members have. Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, says that such people would be better served by developing a closer relationship with his god since we know that that solves all mental problems.
How did yoga become so controversial these days? Back in 1967 Elvis Presley, that emblem of all that is American, played a former officer in the US navy in the film Easy Come, Easy Go where he even sang a playful song about yoga. If that is not convincing enough proof of yoga’s innocuousness, I don’t know what is.
I thought that having a personal relationship with god WAS a mental problem!
I agree. The religious delusion is indistinguishable from other delusions. It’s just that it’s a socially acceptable delusion with an infrastructure that supports and encourages it and gives it power.
Now they are just grasping. FFS, there are FAR more important things to worry about.
Meh. When fearmongering gets you power, the entire world turns into one of three things. Stuff and people to protect, stuff and people helping you protect the first group, and things and people you need to protect the first group from. The only limitation is the credibility of your audience. You’re rewarded for pushing it to the max.
Yoga is extremely evil and subversive, because isometric exercise, stretching and deep breathing all lead to, uh… something bad, I’m sure.