Clergy Fight Yoga Instruction in Slovakian Schools

Yoga instruction in Slovakia's schools, which was to begin in September, has been put off following opposition by Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy, who charged that it would undermine Christianity and promote Hinduism.

"Yoga rejects faith in God the Creator; it rejects Jesus Christ, the whole act of redemption and Christianity," said a letter from Slovakia's bishops to the country's Roman Catholic churches. "It's a path to total atheism." Protestant clergy agreed.

Yoga classes are offered in some U.S. public schools and have met with opposition, mostly from conservative Christian groups. Unlike in the United States, where rigid separation of church and state requirements keep religious instruction out of schools, Catholic and Protestant churches in Slovakia wield considerable influence in education. The yoga classes were proposed by the government as an exercise for the growing incidence of back problems in children.

Bishop Ivan Osusky of the Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession said, "Yoga is not gymnastics. ... It leads to individualism which further leads to belief in reincarnation. It is an onslaught of Hinduism." The Catholic bishops' letter said, "Under ... Hinduism, everybody lives only for themselves."

Source: Boston Globe