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Yoga led Laurette Willis into a New Age lifestyle. Now she's warning others of the spiritual pitfalls—and offering an alternative. The attractive couple on the television screen gracefully moved their bodies into the next yoga pose: arms extended, head tilted slightly back, a deep breath in. In front of the TV set, a seven-year-old girl and her mother did their best to mimic the posture. The little girl, Laurette, loved this special time with her mom. It was 1965, and Laurette's mom, Jacquie, didn't think twice about exercising along with this yoga program that came on the TV after Jack...

Recently Duke Chapel at Duke University in North Carolina tweeted photos of yoga exercises on the floor of its majestic worship space as part of Healthy Duke Week of Wellness. Built in the 1930s as a Methodist sanctuary in the style of a Gothic cathedral for what was then a Methodist affiliated school, Duke Chapel is now nondenominational. There are Evangelicals and Catholics who critique yoga as wrong for Christians because its mantras originate in eastern religion. Setting aside that concern, should worship space be open to recreation and "profane" (i.e., secular) activities? Tai-chi? Kickboxing? Karate? Spinning? Ballroom dancing? Salsa?...

August 30, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A Spanish bishop apologized for an event in his diocese during which a Hindu deity was processed around a Catholic church and the priest who allowed it resigned from his position as Vicar General. However, the bishop said Hindu beliefs don't need to be "rebuked" and that wasn't the point of his statement. It's unclear whether the priest, Father Juan José Mateos Castro, will remain in his position at that parish, Our Lady of Africa. Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of the Diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta issued the apology, portions of which Crux translated. A...

The protests are against CNN show 'Believer with Reza Aslan'. Washington -- US-based Hindu organisations have demanded an apology from CNN and asked the news channel to stop further airing of a show which they allege promotes xenophobia and 'Hinduphobia'. A series of protests small and big were held across the US on Saturday and more are scheduled against the airing of six-episode series Believer with Reza Aslan by the CNN. As many as 16 top Hindu organisations in the US have come together the umbrella of American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) to mount a joint campaign against CNN and...

WASHINGTON, Jan 5: Hindus and Jews have gained ground in the new US Congress, even as a latest research suggests that the members of the legislative body remain overwhelmingly Christians despite significant change in the religious demographic profile of the country in less than five decades. This is for the first time in American history that the Congress has three Hindus members -- Tulsi Gabbard, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ro Khanna. After Jews, who have 30 members in the new US Congress, Hindus and Buddhism, each having three members jointly share the third sport in terms of religious ranking of US...

Another case linking domestic violence to abortion is being reported in India this week. According to First Post, police in India arrested a man on Monday after he allegedly murdered his wife and unborn child when she refused to have an abortion. The wife, Pratibha Gautam, 30, was three months pregnant when her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her house in Kanpur, India, according to the report. Her husband, Manu Abhishek, said he found her body after returning home from a trip; however, a postmortem report indicates that she was murdered. Authorities found injury marks from...

When Brahmachari Vrajvihari Sharan led his first worship service in his new job as a Hindu chaplain Sunday, he knew his audience. As the service began, he asked worshipers to clear their minds. “Close all the tabs that are open, just as you would do to a Firefox window,” he said. The comparison — of a spiritual mindset to an Internet browser — worked at once. More than 40 college students, many of whom had been up until 3 a.m. the Saturday night before this 9 a.m. service, chuckled appreciatively and fell into a reverent silence. This is Sharan’s new...

Imran Yousuf, a bouncer at the Pulse nightclub, had an advantage. A Marine who had served in Afghanistan, Yousuf was able to use his training to quickly identify the impending threat and remain clear-headed as people died around him, according to the Marine Corps Times. Because of the 24-year-old’s decisive actions, he is being credited with saving dozens of lives.

American elections rarely make the Indian news. This massive democracy has perennial political changes of its own to worry about. But US presidential candidate Donald Trump has found his way into the hearts of a strident few in India, where his name is starting to grab headlines. The rhetoric of these fans is strikingly similar to some of Trump’s most extreme backers within the US — except that these aren’t American white supremacists who demonize Muslims. They’re far-right Indian Hindus who demonize Muslims. Last month, a group known as the Hindu Sena held a holy fire ritual in New Delhi...

An ancient Hindu phallic symbol believed to be more than 1,000 years old has been found at a local temple in Tha Sala district. Anat Bamrungwong, director of 14th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Sithammarat, said Thursday the shiva linga or Hindu phallic symbol is believed to be about 1,300-1,400 years old. Hinduism thrived in Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat around the 10th-12th centuries, Mr Anat said... The shiva linga has a base which is about 47cm wide and 1 metre long. Its base has flowers carved in relief which in the Tawaravadee style, Mr...

In the latest offensive against Islam's Prophet Mohammad which seems to go unreported in mainstream media, Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari called him 'the world's first homosexual', which caused the Muslim community to vehemently protest the statement. According to Breitbart which first reported the news, the Muslim community in India condemned the act, saying it is designed to 'incite a riot'. The protestors, who staged numerous marches and rallies called on the government to prosecute Tiwari, accusing him of making 'anti-social' statements and 'blasphemy'. Breitbart said that about 2.5 lakh people attended the latest rallies, which later took a violent turn....

When we think of religious persecution, the Middle East comes to mind. But the world's largest democracy? At this time last year, I urged BreakPoint listeners to pay close attention to the state of religious freedom around the world in 2015. I said that this most important of freedoms was in peril at home as well as abroad. Little has changed in the past twelve months. If anything, the state of religious freedom is even more precarious, as events in India amply demonstrate. Normally, when we think about the persecuted Church, what comes to mind are places like the Middle...

I am a Hindu. I am hearing alot about religious persecution from the lawyers representing the family of the Islamic terrorists. But my "second home" is India. I know a lot about Islam. Come with me to Kolkata (Calcutta), I can show you Islam. I know how this game works, and this grievance game. Politics and religion are one and the same in this modern radical Islam. So let me give my view of religion and politics because today, it is one and the same, because today where you stand in politics has a lot to bare on where you...

An atheist professor said Tuesday that it's acceptable to criticize Christians but not Muslims, because he does not "fear" retaliation from Christians. "I know what keeps me from critiquing Islam on my blog is just fear," Phil Zuckerman said at a discussion on religious liberty at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. "I've got three kids. "So I know I can say anything about Christianity or Mormonism, and I'm not living in fear, which is a testament to Christianity and Mormonism, and that's wonderful. Thank you," said Zuckerman, who is a self-described atheist and professor of secular studies at Pitzer College...

Mumbai Celebrates Krishna's Birthday By Building Human Pyramids Dahi Handi festival is celebrated in Mumbai by people building human pyramids trying to reach the pot of curd hanging above the ground 06 Sep 2015 The birthday of the Hindu deity Krishna was celebrated in Mumbai on Sunday, with the annual Dahi Handi festival. The tradition involves participants, known as govindas, forming a human pyramid to reach a pot filled with curd hanging above the ground.

NEW DELHI: In a breathtaking spectacle, Goddess Kali was projected on the Empire State Building in New York. Artist Andrew Jones designed the portrait of the goddess to make the point that Mother Nature now more than ever needs a fierce avatar to fight the dangers of pollution and extinction, Firstpost.com reported...

[1]A crowd of naysayers that ranged from her cousin in the state of Washington, to Buddhist leaders in Boise, Colo., to a rabbi in Nevada has called on Idaho Sen. Sheryl “Sherry” Nuxoll (R) to apologize for calling Hinduism a “false faith with false gods.”While the self-described mother, housewife and co-manager of a farm/ranch in Cottonwood, Idaho, has admitted she could have turned a better phrase, she has refused to say the words many people want to hear: “I’m sorry.”Senators Not Happy with Decision to Open with Hindu Prayer Nuxoll and two other Republicans refused to attend the opening...

Hindus Ask Pope Francis To Punish Priest Who Said Yoga Leads To Satanism, 'Kingdom Of Darkness' By Bruce Wright @bctw on February 23 2015 The pope has been asked by some Hindus to discipline a Catholic priest who equated yoga and the devil. Reuters/Max Rossi A group of Hindus is appealing to Pope Francis to intervene after a Catholic priest from Northern Ireland insinuated that the ancient discipline of yoga is tantamount to Satanism and paganism. Rev. Roland Colhoun from Glendermott parish was delivering a sermon in the village of Drumsurn on Feb. 8 dealing with the devil and exorcism...

Every month there is an incident, like taking property of Hindu people or forced conversion of Hindu girls. ... Minority Hindus have complained of increasing harassment and discrimination in Muslim-dominated Pakistan in recent years, including the destruction or desecration of their places of worship. ... Hindus complain that girls are forcibly converted to Islam, there is no legal recognition for Hindu marriages, and Hindus are discriminated against when it comes to access to government jobs or schooling. ... During partition in 1947, the violent separation of Pakistan and India into separate countries, hundreds of thousands of Hindus decided to migrate...

The head of India's most powerful Hindu group vowed to press ahead with a campaign to convert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, stoking a sensitive debate that has stalled parliament and threatened the prime minister's economic reform agenda. Mohan Bhagwat of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, which is also the ideological wing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, said India was a "Hindu nation" where many Hindus had been forcibly converted to other religions. "We will bring back those who have lost their way. They did not go on their own," Bhagwat said in a speech late on Saturday. "They...