Relaxing Yoga Class Halted. Reverend says “Could Cause More Stress and Confusion” for Public School Students. HUH?

Let me get this right: Practicing yoga starts you down that slippery slope to Hinduism. Gee, my Lutheran wife might be converting without me even knowing it. Without even her noticing it!

Here’s one of those crazy religious stories that makes you hate organized religion even more than you probably do right now. And it all comes at the expense of your child’s ability to learn. Yea for Christianity.

AP-A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.
Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.

But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites. "We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.

Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said, “The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."

A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.
According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.
There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, with the most commonly practiced type in the United States called hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.

But Rev. Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity. "People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion.”

Anyone pick up on the irony of Rev. Lucid's name...?