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Is yoga the work of the devil?
The Christian Diarist ^ | June 1, 2013 | JP

Posted on 06/01/2013 12:58:39 PM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST

Father Gabriele Amorth is an old school priest. The octogenarian told The London Times this week that, since he was ordained way back in 1954, he has cast out some 160,000 demons.

I believe that gives Father Gabriele some authority on the devil. So when he told the Times, “Practicing yoga brings evil,” he got my attention.

I’ve long considered yoga a benign form of exercise, no more harmful than, say, aerobics or Pilates or, the apparent latest craze, Zumba. But after doing some research, I’m inclined to agree with Father Gabriele, the exorcist.

While yoga indeed has a physical component, it’s the spiritual component that leads to the devil. For yoga, defined as a “union with the divine,” is not about obeisance to the God that Christ followers worship. It’s about homage to the false gods of Hinduism.

That brings me to a lawsuit, brought by parents of children enrolled in the Encinitas Union School District in California, challenging the yoga program the district mandated for its nine public schools, under the guise of “physical education.”

Funding for the program comes from the KP Jois Foundation, which promotes a form of yoga called Ashtanga. The Ashtanga practice traditionally begins with a mantra, which concludes, “To Patanjali I salute.”

“Lord” Patanjali, as he is known by the Hindu faithful, is considered to be one the incarnations of Shesha, a many thousand-headed serpent god.

The Encinitas Union School District maintains that its district-wide yoga program is strictly secular; that neither Shesha, the serpent god, nor Patanjali, his human avatar, are anywhere to be seen.

But that’s not what Harvard-trained religious scholar Candy Brown found when she visited the Encinitas public schools. “I see it all over the place,” she testified in court a fortnight ago.

And even though the school district insists that there is no chanting of mantras, Dr. Brown provided the court written statements from teachers in the district that children have, in fact, been observed chanting while doing their yoga.

They were sending shout outs to Patanjali, the several-thousand-headed serpent god, and they were none the wiser.

Now, many may think the court case in California is much ado about a trifle. And even some Christians may argue that there is nothing unGodly about yoga. That they separate their faith and their workout. That Shesha and Jesus can peacefully co-exist.

Well, that’s KP Jois Foundation wants Encinitas parents. That’s what the devil wants all of us to think.

Which should bring to mind to all of us who count ourselves Christ followers the challenge Joshua issued to the children of Israel: “Choose you this day whom you will serve.

The choice for the Joshua’s people was between the gods their fathers served “that were on the other side of the flood,” or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land they dwelled after the Exodus, or the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The choice today for those who consider themselves faithful Christians, who have been advised by Father Gabriele and others that yoga is a gateway to evil is whether they will stand with the Lord, or sit, in Lotus position, in homage to the serpent god Shesha.


TOPICS: Current Events; Eastern Religions; General Discusssion; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: agitprop; gabrielamorth; kpjois; patanjali; pentangeli; publicschool; tinfoilhatsociety; totalbs; yoga
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Public high school football players risk being suspended for pointing to sky to honor God, but a California school district can get away with mandating yoga, covertly indoctrinating kids in Hinduism. Prima facie evidence of anti-Christian bias.
1 posted on 06/01/2013 12:58:39 PM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

To do 160,000 exorcisms at one per day he would have to be 438 years old

Unless he tossed them out in groups.


2 posted on 06/01/2013 1:00:40 PM PDT by Mr. K (There are lies, damned lies, statistics, and democrat talking points.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

The only thing they could possibly offer in defense is that people who practice yoga usually know nothing about Hinduism.


3 posted on 06/01/2013 1:03:01 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: Mr. K

Their name was “Legion” for they were many (many thousand).


4 posted on 06/01/2013 1:03:47 PM PDT by BipolarBob (I have sexdaily. Oops, I meant dyslexia.)
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To: Viennacon

I’m not sure that excuses them. It never worked for me when I didn’t know the speed limit.


5 posted on 06/01/2013 1:04:46 PM PDT by BipolarBob (I have sexdaily. Oops, I meant dyslexia.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

It’s just a human mental construct to answer the ultimate unanswerable question.


6 posted on 06/01/2013 1:04:53 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Viennacon
There are people who believe in 'word magic' ~ they'll argue that even if you don't know what the words mean you are under the spell of whatever diety first advised someone to say those words.

BTW, I don't believe in word magic.

7 posted on 06/01/2013 1:06:29 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Mr. K

People can be possessed or oppressed by more than one demon at a time. So performing one exorcism on a single person my cast out hundreds. But thanks for doing the math.


8 posted on 06/01/2013 1:07:57 PM PDT by surroundedbyblue (Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

Ridiculous.


9 posted on 06/01/2013 1:08:06 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

Of course - yoga improves your health and lengthens your life, extending the time you will spend away from the Kingdom of God. It’s much holier to eat at McDonalds every day and never exercise, so you can go to be with Him sooner. :)


10 posted on 06/01/2013 1:08:42 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves (CTRL-GALT-DELETE)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

As far as I can tell yoga went from whatever it was all these centuries to the means by which the western media can depict ‘spirituality’ in commercials, TV and movies without indicating anything icky like Jesus or God.


11 posted on 06/01/2013 1:08:58 PM PDT by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

I’m 36 years old and ALL of my friends are into yoga. I avoid it at all costs for this reason.


12 posted on 06/01/2013 1:09:16 PM PDT by surroundedbyblue (Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

“False gods of Hinduism.”

Wonder what the Hindus have to say about their god.


13 posted on 06/01/2013 1:09:27 PM PDT by wastedyears (I'm a gamer not because I choose to have no life, but because I choose to have many.)
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To: BipolarBob

I think I read that the best estimate of demonic number is actually around 3 million, one third of the heavenly host.


14 posted on 06/01/2013 1:12:08 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: wastedyears

Hindus greatly differ on which of their gods are true. Some sects say Vishnu. Some say Shiva.


15 posted on 06/01/2013 1:12:54 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

Yoga? That’s where you sit down in ways calculated to put you in a wheelchair?

Prefer yoghurt.


16 posted on 06/01/2013 1:15:12 PM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama equals Osama))
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

While the LSM will take anything Christian and make a mockery of it, it’s articles like this one and the one down thread about whether or not online dating is Biblical that simply gives the media more fodder. I’m more concerned about Christianity and obamacare, homosexuality, etc. than my cobra pose.


17 posted on 06/01/2013 1:15:17 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: CHRISTIAN DIARIST

I learned about the positive influence of exercise in Military Acadamy 35 years ago. There was no yoga and it was big time christian based.

My liberal friends and clients do yoga. None of my conservative folks do yoga. They either go to a gym and lift weights, ride a bike etc, play in a b-ball league or do nothing. Conservative guys I know wouldn’t be caught dead in a yoga class. Just an observation.


18 posted on 06/01/2013 1:24:11 PM PDT by albie
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Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: goodwithagun; CHRISTIAN DIARIST

“While the LSM will take anything Christian and make a mockery of it, it’s articles like this one and the one down thread about whether or not online dating is Biblical that simply gives the media more fodder. “

The media will NEVER stop mocking.

Follow your convictions and let ‘em holler.


20 posted on 06/01/2013 1:25:58 PM PDT by PetroniusMaximus
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