This article is adapted from a news release concerning this ongoing controversy. Alabama was the only state in the U.S. to still have a ban on yoga being offered in public schools
until May of 2021 when it was lifted.
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FORMER YOGI, MIKE SHREVE, INSISTS
YOGA SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT IN ALABAMA SCHOOLS
Should yoga be taught as part of the curriculum in the public schools of Alabama? A former teacher of yoga at four Florida universities, Mike Shreve, says, “Absolutely not!” Evidently, some Alabama legislators disagree, because in May of this year (2021), the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill, introduced by Democrat Representative Jeremy Gray, lifting the ban on yoga in the public school system that has been in place since 1993.
Apparently, Representative Gray has a vested interest in the passing of this bill because he is a yogi himself and promotes certain yoga-related concepts through his business called “Elevate Your Grind.” In a statement given to the Associated Press, Gray insisted, “This whole notion that if you do yoga, you’ll become Hindu — I’ve been doing yoga for 10 years and I go to church and I’m very much a Christian.”[1] That sounds convincing, but it is clear that, regardless of his claim, Mr. Gray does not embrace a traditional, New Testament “Christian” worldview. On his website, he proposes that the result of the study of yoga will be the following:
“Ultimately one must connect with self on a physical plane in order to connect on a spiritual plane wit [sic] God, The Universe, Buddha, Allah, Nuture [sic] or whatever deity we choose.”[2]
Mike Shreve was converted to Christianity in 1970 and he immediately shut down his yoga ashram and ceased teaching yoga classes. “The two worldviews are just not compatible,” he contends. Countering Gray’s point of view, Pastor Mike Shreve offers, “A true biblical perspective does not include all religions, nor does it propose that God and the universe are one. That stems from a Hindu belief called pantheism. Neither can you ‘choose any deity you want.’ Jesus clearly insisted, ‘I am the way . . . no one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6).
Some lawmakers have recently expressed regret that they voted affirmatively for the bill. “We just didn’t realize what it was all about,” one commented recently at a statewide Republican gathering.
Alabama was the last of 50 states to have the yoga-ban in place. “That was a trophy on Alabama’s shelf that never should have been relinquished,” Shreve insists. “Until this year, Alabama legislators were informed and courageous enough to go against this cultural megatrend by holding onto standards that may not be politically correct, but they are philosophically and theologically correct.”
It is true that the bill (HB-246) prohibits many overtly Hindu practices like chanting mantras, the use of mudras (symbolic spiritual hand gestures), meditation, guided visualization, using Hindu names for postures, and greeting one another with the Namaste greeting (which means “I bow to the divine in you”—a way of declaring that all human beings are manifestations of God). However, according to a BBC interview, “Mr. Gray . . . hopes to remove the unnecessary aspects of these amendments in [sic] future.”[3] Which of these restrictions does he consider “unnecessary”? Unfortunately, once yoga gets a foothold, these limitations may erode slowly over time and then the floodgates will open.
One of the most blatant indications that the bill is unacceptable is the required wording on a permission slip that parents must sign for their children to participate. It reads:
“I am informed that my child (name of child) will participate in yoga instruction at the school named above. I understand that yoga is part of the Hinduism religion.”
What? Read that again! Anyone of a different religious persuasion (Christian, Muslim, Sikh or any other), should be disturbed by the wording of this requirement. Unknown to most people, the physical exercises (asanas) and the breathing exercises (pranayama) are the third and fourth of eight steps leading to God-consciousness (according to the renowned Hindu teacher Patanjali). No wonder, in an interview that described Hinduism as “the soul of yoga” the Hindu, Sannyasin Arumugaswami, former managing editor of the magazine Hinduism Today, warned:
“Based as it is on Hindu Scripture and developed by Hindu sages, Yoga opens up new and more refined states of mind, and to understand them one needs to believe in and understand the Hindu way of looking at God . . . A Christian trying to adapt these practices will likely disrupt their own Christian beliefs.”[4]
Tim James, son of former governor, Fob James, was the concerned Alabamian who enlisted Mike Shreve’s help in the hope of reversing this ruling when the legislature reconvenes. August 12th (2021), along with seven others, they met in Birmingham to discuss their approach.
In the picture (from right to left) participants are Tim James (son of former Governor Fob James), Suzelle Josey (a Christian activist and intercessor), Bill Armistead (former Alabama state senator and former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party), Attorney Eric Johnston, Mike Shreve, Steve Logan (pastor of the Upper Room Church in Montevallo and Prattville), and Danny McDaniel (Ministry leader from Texas). Not pictured are John H. Killian (former president of the Baptist Association in Alabama), Clete Hux (Director of the Apologetics Resource Center), and Eunie Smith (head of the Eagle Forum—a national conservative association) who also participated in the meeting.
Once a law is in place, removing it will likely be a challenge, but as Tim James commented, “The legislature never should have lifted the ban to begin with.”
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[1] https://macarthurmc.com/opelika-alabama-representative-gets-public-school-yoga-ban-lifted-but-dont-say-namaste accessed 8-20-21.
[2] https://elevateyourgrind.com/morning-meditation accessed 8-21-21.
[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/57204355 accessed 8-21-21.
[4] https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2006-05-02-christyoga-story.html accessed 8-14-15.
