 |
| (Photo by LocalFitness) |
The many proponents of yoga in the schools were concerned that San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer might do a backward bend on the issue.
However, the forward-thinking judge instead ruled that because yoga - as it's being taught in the Encinitas Union School District - has been
stripped of its religious significance, including it within the curriculum is not "in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state."
Dean Broyles - the attorney for parents who had sued the school district concerning this matter - begs to differ.
He thought (out loud) that the judge "got some of his facts wrong." Although District Superintendent Timothy Baird had described this curriculum as simply "a very mainstream physical fitness program that happens to incorporate yoga into it," Broyles argued that yoga is "inherently religious."
Candy Gunther Brown, a Harvard-educated religious studies professor, seems to agree with Broyles. According to MSN News, she found this yoga program to be "pervasively religious" – with "roots in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, and metaphysical beliefs and practices."
Perhaps she and Broyles see this yoga program as being the philosophical equivalent of having a school aerobics program that would be based on repetitive speedy genuflecting…
Resources
http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/yoga-in-public-schools-is-not-religious-says-calif-judge?ocid=ansnews11
Copyright July 3, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment