Cultural wars of the childish kind

Cultural wars are grounded in prejudices just like this. Prejudging others and being suspicious of  their culture  without even attempting to learn a little more about what they are reacting against  is just so narrow minded and dangerous.  The idea of American Exceptionalism  is anchored in ill informed  attitudes like this.  Dangerously so.


Americans’ deep fear of all things not Western has now resurrected in a Southern California school district. Some parents are now outraged that the Encinitas Union School District has launched a yoga program, calling it religious indoctrination.    

First of all, yes, the roots of yoga are based in Hinduism, but the exercise does not consist of prayer. And yoga has been proven to have mental and physicalbenefits as well as increase academic performance. That’s something you can’t say for the pledge of allegiance, which also has links to religion. But nobody is worried cares about a Christian, Western “democratic” ritual.

But God forbid (pun intended) another culture comes up with a better way to exercise and deal with stress than us Westerners. Although yoga has become more mainstream in the United States, some still associate it with hippie culture or “strange” Eastern practices. And this underlying fear that the practice just might work challenges Westerners belief in their superiority. The fear also continues to “other” those on the other side of the world while teaching children to do the same — continuing a cycle of racism and hatred.

http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/alyssa-figueroa/parents-pull-children-out-schools-yoga-program-fear-religious