Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
SEATTLE, WA, USA, October 18, 2010: Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll’s statement that yoga is an agent of Hinduism, and hence demonic, has many yoga gurus and practitioners confused.
Adding fuel to the fire, The Seattle Times newspaper last week quoted R Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky, as saying that yoga was against Christianity. Some see the statements as acknowledgement of the popularity of yoga, which has been growing as rapidly as mainstream religions once did.
Those who flock to yoga studios feel that the pastor’s statement is an attempt by the church to interference in their lifestyle. “The church has nothing to do with my choice of exercise,” says April Mallery, 32, a yoga practitioner and a regular church-goer at Renton, Seattle. “The benefits of yoga are great and never in contradiction to one’s practicing religion,” she said.
What irked people like Mallery was a recent question and answer session of Driscoll with church members. “Should Christians stay away from yoga because of its “demonic” roots?” Driscoll asked, before replying: “Totally. You sign up for a little yoga class, and you are signing up for a little demon class.”
Contesting the idea of yoga seeking to “connect to the universe through meditation” and not “connecting to God through the mediation of Jesus”, Driscoll dubbed yoga “a form of pantheism and absolute paganism”.
[HPI recommendation: For a comprehensive series of opinions from miniesters and scholars on this subject, click here to visit the Dallas News religion blog.]