ON YOGA IN SCHOOLS (October 28, 2003)
Over my morning coffee, I flip through the local newspapers almost every day. There are two broadsheets available in my favorite café. More often than not, I limit myself to reading the titles. By and large, the rest is too depressing. On occasion, I read an entire article, but only if it is rather short. Today I spotted a surprising title: “Catholic Associations Against Yoga in Schools.” Promising, I thought. And brief, too. According to the article, more than thirty Catholic associations have expressed their concern about the recent proliferation of yoga programs in Croatian public schools. Their argument is that yoga is inseparable from Hinduism, which is inimical to the Christian faith. Besides, any form of religious instruction in public schools is in breach of the Croatian constitution. Having read the article, I got befuddled. On the one hand, I was delighted to learn about the promotion of yoga in Croatian schools; on the other, I could not find any fault with the Catholic associations’ argument against it. Shucks.