America
Yoga is secular, rules US court
By
Arun KumarWashington, April 4
Ruling that yoga taught in
elementary schools is not a gateway to Hinduism and does not violate
religious freedoms, a California appeals court has allowed it to
continue.
"We conclude that the programme is secular. (and) does
not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion, and
does not excessively entangle the school district in religion," the
three-member appeals court ruled Friday.
The decision by
California's 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a lower-court ruling in
support of the Encinitas Union Elementary School District in San Diego,
utsandiego.com reported.
The school had been sued by parents who
argued the school yoga programme was inherently spiritual and therefore
unconstitutional.
Attorney Dean Broyles, who represented the
parents in the lawsuit, was quoted as saying he and his clients "are
disappointed with the decision and we are carefully considering our
options."
"No other court in the past 50 years has allowed public
schools to lead children in formal religious rituals like the Hindu
liturgy of praying to, bowing to, and worshipping the sun god," Broyles
said in an email to U-T San Diego.
Yoga has been a health and
wellness activity in the school district since 2012, when the
Encinitas-based Sonima Foundation gave the district $2 million to add
yoga to all physical education classes.
Broyles sued the district
on behalf of a couple and their two children, saying the programme
violated the separation of church and state by endorsing Hindu religious
beliefs promoted in Ashtanga yoga.
The state Superior Court
sided with the district in 2013, finding that the school programme had
been stripped of religious overtones, utsandiego.com said.
The
trial court noted in its decision that the district's yoga classes
"consist of instruction in performing yoga poses, breathing, and
relaxation, combined with lessons in positive character traits, such as
respect and empathy."
District Superintendent Tim Baird said
school district officials had always anticipated a favourable ruling and
are pleased now that it's happened.
All students in the
district, which includes kindergarten through sixth-grade, get two yoga
classes of 30 minutes or more per week.
"We are seeing tremendous
results," Baird said. "Kids are more flexible, stronger, and have more
ability to focus. We think this is a key to the 21st century."
Baird said he was surprised at the flap over the lawsuit as "Yoga has become ubiquitous in the United States."
"The argument that it turns somebody into a Hindu is a stretch."
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])