yoga
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Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these anti-yoga right-wingers?

A conservative Catholic Bishop in Nebraska has issued a warning to women claiming that they are sinning if they practice yoga, and says they should find a different way to exercise.

Retired Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Lincoln Diocese sent a letter to Women of Grace Ministry calling yoga a dangerous practice and "a pagan religion based on heathen beliefs and false doctrine of revelation involving such things as transmigration of souls, and so forth."

That's right. This Catholic Bishop thinks over 20 million Americans are living in sin because they are practicing yoga, which exercises the body and mind through controlled breathing, stretching and meditation.

But because yoga originates from India and is associated with Hinduism, conservative "Christians" around the country have targeted yoga in vicious attacks that include proposals to ban women from wearing yoga pants.

"Certainly, if one wants to engage in physical exercises to strengthen one's body, such a practice would be morally neutral, and would not, in itself, involve anything detrimental to our Catholic faith," Bruskewitz continued.
"The practice of yoga...eventually morphs into an acceptance of points of view, and even doctrinal and moral matters that are distant from Catholic truth and from genuine and authentic Christian revelation.

In our time there are innumerable ways and methods by which appropriate and proper exercise of the human body can be undertaken that present no real danger to our faith or to our Catholic beliefs and commitments. It would be most desirable for persons who are Catholic to abstain from the practice of yoga and use other methods to exercise. We are never allowed to place our Catholic faith unnecessarily in any danger, and certainly the practice of yoga could be an occasion of serious sin."
If conservative Catholics are really worried about succumbing to "pagan" religions just because they adopt a practice originating from another religion, perhaps they should also stop using Christmas trees, mistletoe, or celebrating Christmas on December 25th, which were all adopted from "pagan" religions. It's really the only way to not be a hypocrite.

And conservatives wonder why more Americans than ever before are refusing to identify as Christians. It's because of embarrassments like Bruskewitz and other Christian leaders.

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