California Schools Sued Over Religious Indoctrination Program
Yoga is not exercise and eastern philosophy and meditation does nothing to improve concentration or physical well-being. But that didn’t stop a California school system from instituting a school-wide program to put Yoga and its navel-gazing philosophies into practice in the schools. Now they are being sued for failing to maintain a separation of school and church. I hope the lawsuit is successful.
From FoxNews here:
An attorney representing a family bent out of shape over a public school yoga program in the beach city of Encinitas filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the district-wide classes.
In the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, attorney Dean Broyles argued that the twice weekly, 30-minute classes are inherently religious, in violation of the separation between church and state.
“EUSD’s Ashtanga yoga program represents a serious breach of the public trust,” Broyles said. “Compliance with the clear requirements of law is not optional or discretionary. This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney.”
Broyles said his clients took legal action after the district refused to take their complaints into account.
The lawsuit notes Harvard-educated religious studies professor Candy Gunther Brown found the district’s program is pervasively religious, having its roots in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and metaphysical beliefs and practices.
Children who have opted out of the program have been harassed and bullied, the plaintiffs allege. The children who opt out also are missing out on 60 of the 100 weekly minutes of physical activity required by the state, since they usually sit and read during the yoga lessons, the plaintiffs say.
Yoga and meditation are strong tenets of popular eastern philosophies, a preferred religion among liberals. And it is mandatory in this school district, replacing normal physical fitness programs such as playing on the playground or learning team sports. The same people who think this is just hunky-dory would freak out if students were to pray before meals or at a morning assembly.
