Criminy wrote:
If I saw a priest come up to me and greet me with hands clasped in the exact same yoga pose I would recognize it as a symbol of respect. *boom* There are no double standards being held here.
Except for the one where many people are fine with a yoga instructor teaching children in public school to use that pose, but would absolutely oppose a Catholic priest doing the exact same thing.
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I recognize all religious as being equal.
So you agree that both are religious in nature? So we should not bar one from public school while allowing the other, right?
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The fact that I can see the medical benifits behind yoga and how it gives children a way to get exercise without the constant competitions that are traditionally taught says more than the people who are so blinded by the beliefs that they would rather watch their children suffer than to grow as individuals.
Believe it or not, I have absolutely no problem with kids in public school being taught yoga. I'm simply saying that I can understand where some people might be coming from with regard to the alleged double standard. For me, it's more a point of the absurdity of trying to identify "religious" things and keep them out of "public" things. There's always going to be silly edge cases like this.
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Gbaji wrote:
It's arbitrary and purely within your own mind. There is nothing more or less inherently religious about saying 5 Hail Mary's versus performing a yoga series like the Sun Salutation. Nothing at all. The fact that one prayer takes the form of a series of physical actions designed to bring you closer to your spiritual goals, while the other is a chanted series of words designed to do the same really shouldn't matter at all.
In Gbaji-land doing 5 Hail Mary's = the Sun Salutation.
Not equal. But both are prayers. The fact that many people repeat the Sun Salutation prayer without believing that the Sun is a divine force in the world does not change that fact. I doubt very much that the whole "you don't have to believe in God to recite the prayer" bit would fly, do you? See where the double standard comes from?
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In reality the Sun Salutation is a series of yoga moves originating in India.
As part of a spiritual tradition. It is a prayer in physical form. Period. That you perform the prayer by motions of the body instead of words doesn't change what it is. Reciting prayers is great speech exercise btw, but I don't think that would fly in public school either.
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Widely adopted across the globe for the health benefits it provides.
So wide adoption makes a difference? Should we compare the number of people in the world who can recite the Hail Mary versus those who can perform the Sun Salutation? Both are still ultimately prayers. That's why they were created. That they have other properties as well should not change that fact.
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Although I suppose you got a friend in Albert Mohler...
Someone I've never heard of, so whatever. I could imagine you're friends with someone I can hold up as a strawman as well, but I'm not going to because it's a really stupid means of debate.
Edited, Jan 10th 2013 4:37pm by gbaji