Religious knowledge

via Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish:

Read this first.

I would argue that you CAN be a believer but the very worst kind – someone who has chosen to take another’s interpretation of your religion and make it your own WITHOUT forethought and consideration. It invariably creates either a hypocrite (at worst) or a theological dichotomy (at best). For example, you can’t believe the Bible is the Word of God and then tell me you don’t believe in the Old Testament. You can’t say parts of the book are literal and then ignore others wholesale. You can’t claim your god is loving and then hold the Bible out as any truthful document. Not knowing what your religion teaches is what creates scorn in others who do not practice your religion and it’s what allows bad leaders to take advantage of it AND you.

Hatred festers in ignorance. If your faith is strong, it should be able to withstand some critical thinking. In fact, I’d argue that it MUST withstand some critical thinking – if only to keep assholes like Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and Bin Laden from turning what COULD be a positive thing into a weapon.

Because atheism is SO CRAZY

This week’s Glee narrowly avoided getting it banned. By all means, all the characters should mock or try to dissuade the folk who don’t agree with them. Because it’s SO CHRISTIAN to be intolerant.

I was actually excited when Kurt said he didn’t believe in god because I thought “Whoa! We’re going to have THIS conversation!” Despite Glee fumbling some other storylines (or at least choking a bit) I was pretty hopeful that it might turn out to be good or even great. Sigh.

I’m glad Kurt got to stick to his guns, it’s just too bad it took a full episode of all his peers telling him that he couldn’t possibly be right and that life is too hard not to have god. Also, the only person who agrees with him is THE BAD GUY. Fuck you, Glee writers.

Luckily Kurt can look forward to many, many, many more years of the same treatment since the only religion REALLY tolerated in the US is Christianity. Not that I’m bitter.

As with any good passion, there are things about yoga that make me nuts.

Not yoga itself, but the perceptions assocaited with it – for example, Christians can’t do yoga because it’s worshipping other gods. Whenever someone says that to me, the top of my head blows off. I can’t help it.

First – yoga is nontheistic. It is a series of stretches and breathing exercises designed to help you become a better person (click “8 Limbs” above). The sutras acknowledge a ‘higher power’ or ‘higher consciousness’ but if you’re part of a monotheistic tradition, insert your deity here. If you’re an atheist, stick with the higher consciousness part. Everyone can find a spot to fit here.

Second – yoga classes are as individual as their teachers. So to say that doing yoga means you have to pray in Hindi is like saying “I don’t like Captain Crunch, so there is no cereal that I will ever like.”

There are absolutely classes which involve chanting (typically in sanskrit and not necessarily as deity prayer though -again – you can insert the deity of your choice). There are classes that have a more spiritual bent. I’m a big believer that if those are the kind of classes you’re teaching, you need to advertise it clearly. That’s true of just about anything – no one wants to walk in expecting A and get D instead. Of course that would be disappointing.

But for example, I don’t even use the word ‘meditation’ in my class. Is that what savasana is? Pretty much. But if it makes you feel better to call it ‘relaxation,’ it’s that too. My classes focus on breath and asana, stretching and strength building. So do most other yoga classes.

I make myself available for students if they want to talk about incorporating a spiritual aspect into their practice, but I don’t make it a part of my classes. I don’t talk about religion, ever. I don’t lecture about the sutras, even though there are koans of wisdom I may use. It’s my goal to help each student have the practice that they want, I’m just the guide to get them there.

So yes, Christians, you can absolutely practice yoga. Stretching and breathing isn’t a conversion process or proselytization. I guarantee that no teacher is trying to make you uncomfortable, so if one class or teacher doesn’t work for you, check around (especially at gyms). There are so many great benefits of yoga that it would be a shame not to try it because of a misconception.

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