Parents Get All Bent Out of Shape Over School’s Yoga Program, Cite Religious Objection
Over the last couple decades, yoga has gone from being thought of as a mystical ancient Indian discipline to a mainstream exercise practiced the world over.
In fact, all students in the Encinitas Union School District, which is in the San Diego area, now do yoga twice a week as part of their physical education curriculum. But this isn't sitting well with some parents, who are worried that the Hindu philosophy on which yoga is based is seeping into these lessons. So they may sue the school district, arguing that yoga is a form of religious indoctrination, and, thus, having it in public schools is unconstitutional.
“There’s a deep concern that the Encinitas Union School District is using taxpayer resources to promote Ashtanga yoga and Hinduism, a religion system of beliefs and practices," explained attorney Dean Broyles, who is also chief counsel for the National Center for Law & Policy, a nonprofit law firm focused on “the protection and promotion of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, parental rights and other civil liberties.”
Distract superintended Tim Baird denies the yoga classes have any religious connotations and says they will continue.
Do you think the aggrieved parents have a case? Or is sometimes a workout just a workout?
[NC Times]