Iâm beginning to doubt the image I was sold in the 70âs of evil chess playing mathematical geniuses toiling away at complex machinations aimed at bringing an end to the corrupt and decadent west. Turns out, they are more along the lines of Appalachian Evangelicals slappinâ bellies running from the devil.
If only weâd moved faster, here in the United States.
How/why are ânew religious cults and movementsâ any worse or less desirable than old ones?
And how does this jive with Yoga being about 3000 years old? How is that ânewâ, precisely? Newer than what?
Well, the evangelicals do seem to have a hotline to comrade PutinâŚ
Internet preacher: Because SCOTUS gay marriage ruling, Putin will destroy America for Jesus - Boing Boing
They are right on the substance. Before it was turned into hip gymnastics in the West, Yoga was a serious branch of Hindu religion/philosophy/way of life. It was practiced with the intent to achieve liberation through introspective examination of oneâs psychological states and perceptions - something totally incompatible with Christianity, as it is currently generally preached and understood. The physical exercise part of it, with which it is now primarily associated, is only a minor aspect of the whole thing.
But what substance is that? It still makes no sense with regards to their claims of wanting to avoid ânew religionsâ, considering that itâs older than theirs.
The ideas some westerners may entertain about Yoga in no way changes nor undermines its character generally.
How it may be associated would seem to depend upon whom we ask.
What we call yoga, ancient folks called isometric exercise.
Wait, the city is called âPutinlandâ? Are you sure this wasnât a story from the Onion?
Iâm not saying I agree with them in banning it.
I suppose they are arguing itâs ânewâ to the ~traditionally Orthodox-Christian Russia, the same way Christianity was new to the Americas.
At least parentâs efforts to ban yoga in public schools recently got thwarted:
California Appeals Court Rules Yoga Doesnât Violate Religious Freedom - WSJ
A California appeals court ruled last week that a school district in Encinitas could incorporate yoga into physical education, rejecting a challenge by parents who said the millennia-old discipline violates religious-freedom provisions in Californiaâs constitution, which are broader than those in the U.S. Constitution.
Thereâs a pretty substantial difference between being âinextricably linked to religious practicesâ and being âextricably linked to religious practicesâ.
It would be pointless to argue that âyogaâ wasnât cribbed from specifically Hindu sources, since it was; but it would be fairly easy to argue that a fully dereligionized version is not that hard to deliver, and in practice is delivered much of the time.
Traditionally, wasnât the Sovi⌠erm excuse me⌠Russia, atheist?
It used to be. However, now the historical pendulum is swinging to the other side, and the Church apparently became a considerable power in the rural areas, and catering to its whims seems to be a good career move. Plus the need to ideologically differ from the Decadent West, kind of like why the god thing was placed on the money by the US to cater to the whims of the religious and to differ from the Decadent Communists.
More of the same, just from the other side now.
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