Pastor Mark Driscoll: Yoga is the Work of the Devil

November 3, 2011 By 138 Comments

I don’t do yoga, but it seems like a fine way to clear your mind, stretch your muscles, and relax your body.

What do you even think about when you hear the word “yoga”? Something like this?

Seems pretty peaceful.

But when Pastor Mark Driscoll thinks about yoga, he sees something very different:

On his website, he argues that because yoga is so intertwined with Hinduism, you can’t practice yoga without making the Baby Jesus cry.

He made similar comments in an article in the Seattle Times last year:

“Should Christians stay away from yoga because of its demonic roots? Totally. Yoga is demonic,” Driscoll said. “If you just sign up for a little yoga class, you’re signing up for a little demon class.”

Driscoll is like the Boy Who Cried Satan. Every time he says it, he loses more credibility, even with people who generally believe in the kind of bullshit he spews on a regular basis.

Now, Driscoll is expanding on that statement and explaining why yoga is so antithetical to Christianity.

Lucky for us, we get to read all the hilarious statements:

A faithful Christian can no more say they are practicing yoga for Jesus than they can say they are committing adultery for Jesus.

…

… yoga is often not overt in its teachings but rather weaves them through seemingly harmless practices such as stretching…

…

… I thought I’d take this opportunity to provide a much fuller and comprehensive teaching on what yoga is and why it is in fact demonic. By demonic I mean it’s a spiritual act to a being other than the God of the Bible. And, for those unfamiliar with me, I’m no raging Christian fundamentalist.

Says the raging Christian fundamentalist. (Though I suppose this would explain why Bikram Yoga takes place in heated rooms…)

Who knew stretching brought you closer to the devil? I’m pretty flexible and I can get into the yoga position. I never realized, though, that it was really just a calling card for demons to appear beside me.

(What will Driscoll’s next sermon be about? How atheists are responsible for Jazzercise?)

Whether they know it or not, Christians who engage in yoga are participating in a religious expression that is antithetical to Christianity. The result is often an unguarded spirit that is susceptible to the many lies of Satan and a slow, almost unperceivable degradation of faith and Christian truth in one’s life. The act itself is a worship act. Subsequently, it cannot be done in a way that is not spiritual.

Why the hell do so many Christians take this nut seriously…?

There are yoga classes across the country and not all of them involve Indian chants or homages to supernatural beings. Hell, there’s even a Yoga Club at the high school I teach at. It’s not anti-religious or anti-Christian — it’s not anti-anything. It’s just a place for students to clear their minds and stretch their bodies.

Driscoll is just trying to spread his delusions in as many places as possible. (This is the same person, if you recall, who said “Avatar” was Satanic.)

Trust me: no Christian has ever walked out of a yoga class thinking, “That whole Jesus thing is *such* horseshit.”

If there was any truth to what Driscoll says — that yoga is in any way anti-Christian — atheists would’ve stopped all of our billboard campaigns a long time ago to focus our energies on starting yoga classes nationwide. (In fact, we could have shown “Avatar” while people were in class! How quickly our numbers would have grown!)

But that never happened. And it never will. Because the only people who think yoga is demonic are the people who believe that if you’re not praising the Christian god 24 hours a day, you’re heading straight to hell.

It won’t be long before Driscoll’s preaching against critical thinking. Forget yoga — nothing draws people more quickly away from religion than an open mind.

Filed Under: General 138 Comments
About Hemant Mehta

Hemant Mehta is the chair of Foundation Beyond Belief and a high school math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He began writing the Friendly Atheist blog in 2006. His latest book is called The Young Atheist's Survival Guide.

  • http://thegodlessmonster.com/ The Godless Monster

    People like Driscoll are forever testing their flock’s ability to accept bullshit by constantly pushing the envelope of absurdity. It’s not about belief…it’s about power. He’s no different than the (very) late Jim Jones of Jonestown, Guyana infamy. If he can get folks to agree to “A” , then it’s a small step to get them to accept “B” and so on and so forth.
    This isn’t just about silly beliefs, but controlling and manipulating other human beings.

    • Anangelbyanyothername

      indeed Godless.

  • David McNerney

    This isn’t an extreme view.

    My kids go to a local protestant pimary school and on the suggestion that Yoga be introduced the clerical patrons (who to be fair are normally quite sane) went spare – they stopped just short of calling it witchcraft.

    How I laughed…

    (The same people told me that they didn’t this it was healthy that my 4 year old daughter had an Pokemon as an imaginary friend – again How I laughed…)

    • http://thegodlessmonster.com/ The Godless Monster

      Extreme doesn’t mean it’s not accepted by large swathes of the sheeple. What was once extreme is still extreme. We have to be careful not to desensitize ourselves to their idiocy.
      Let them move the goalposts all they want; I’ll keep to standards of rationality and reason.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        Education

    • Demonhype

      Not the same kind of church, but our Catholic school told my mother that there was something seriously wrong with my little brother because his drawings were all of big monsters with distinctive bulging muscles (this was the  late eighties/early nineties and he was hugely into the TMNTurtles.   They suggested that he see the school psychiatrist for his disorder before he became dangerous.  My mom laughed in their faces and refused.  She still finds it amazing that they thought something was wrong with a seven or eight year old boy who draws scary monsters.  I don’t know if they referred to them as demons or not, but I often think that was what was going through their heads.

      She did the same thing when they wanted me to see the school psychiatrist (who was a screwed up religious kook, BTW, and had messed up a number of kids the school’s leaders believed were problematic for similar reasons) because apparently I didn’t find the class material stimulating and would often go into some full-coma-style daydreaming as she bleated repetitively, on and on.  I wasn’t hanging on her every word, therefore I must have some serious problem that needed some professional help.  I’m not sure why skipping me a grade wasn’t suggested, since that’s the first thing I think of now when I think of a kid who is getting A’s and not paying any attention in class.  Instead I was somehow a rebellious troublemaker, sitting there thinking on my own instead of satisfying myself with their little pre-packaged rations of  properly-approved thought.  My mom didn’t think there was anything wrong with me going into my own independent thought processes, so long as I wasn’t disturbing the class (I wasn’t) and was getting good grades, and she told them so.

      My mom is very cool sometimes.  :)   But I often feel sorry for kids whose parents are/were not quite so cool.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        Pshychiatrist push for medication like many in society to heal or “mask” something they deem as a problem. Only Jesus, through wise counsel can help. God of wonders

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      Please if you are a believer, please look at the root of it. It may scare you it may not. Yoga that is, The other, Im sure she will grow out of. Just be educated through books

  • Revvie

    I heard the same garbage growing up.  I wish I was joking.  The “reason” we were given?  Yoga involves meditation and clearing the mind so you can focus on the moment.  Christians should always be focused on Christ and leaving the mind blank gives a foothold to Satan to pervert your thoughts.

    It’s nonsense – but common nonsense in the fundie world.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      Exactly, remember when king David in psalms 119. It talks all about meditating on the word of God day and night

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        I think people forget or just don’t read

  • Angela Stephens-Owens

    That’s that folks…..I am signing up for a yoga class….today!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Owossoharpist Sherry Konkus

    I refused to accept the horse poo claims made by fundies about poke’mon being evil and of the devil. Especially when there’s no trace of people playing Poke’mon being under satanic influence in every way. I won’t accept the notion of yoga being of the devil either.

  • oambitiousone

    As a yoga teacher, I’m not sure whether to be relieved (that crazy people will avoid my class) or annoyed (one more excuse for people to avoid the gym).

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      That is an excuse, but the fact of health is never an excuse. Goodluck pursuing health and Jesus Loves you even though we are all sinners

  • oambitiousone

    You know where Satan *really* resides?

    Church potlucks.

    It’s all a smorgasbord of starch and sugar, designed to take your mind off the divine and pack fat onto your belly. Add coffee and you have a jittery insulin coma. It’s not what Jesus would eat, I’m sure.

    Come to yoga class and have some herbal tea…

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      You know, if people would turn to God instead of worrying, like the church and the Israelites in Amos, all would not be so complicated. Just turn to Jesus alone please

  • http://www.facebook.com/edietzler Betty Dietzler

    I wasn’t sure how to round out my phys. ed credit for next semester.  Thanks for the suggestion, Driscoll!

  • http://twitter.com/0xabad1dea Melissa E

    I was definitely told that yoga was evil Hinduism growing up. It was psychologically difficult to sign up for the yoga elective in uni. However, it was very disappointingly un-evil. 

  • http://criticallyskeptic-dckitty.blogspot.com Katherine Lorraine

    This is the thing that makes me laugh. If you say words without any comprehension of what they actually mean, do you agree with what they are saying? If a Christian goes to a yoga trainer who makes them do some chanting to clear the mind or whatnot – and it’s in a language the Christian doesn’t know, it’s not at all like they agree with them.

    That’s not to say that all yoga instructors involve chanting in their exercise. If the motions mean something as well, it doesn’t mean you’re praying to Shiva if you’re doing the Warrior stance if you don’t know the Warrior stance means praying to Shiva. It’s like the a-OK sign with your thumb and forefingers connected – you’re allowed to be ignorant that it’s basically the synonym for “fuck you” in some countries.

  • Anonymous

    How the fuck is this guy considered some kind of moderate in many circles? He is batshit insane crazy

  • http://billybobsbibleblog.blogspot.com/ billybobbibb

    I took yoga classes from an Indian instructor. At the outset of the class, he deliberately said that “worship” was an important step in mastery, but it didn’t matter what the object of worship is, be it Jesus, Muhamed, Shiva, even Mother Earth.  As an atheist, I chose to focus on the universe as a “god”.  The only reason yoga is associated with Hinduism is because it developed in India, surprise.  There’s no reason there could not be Christian yoga classes that focus on Jesus.  Driscoll knows very little about which he speaks.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      Until it is not called Yoga, it can never be for Jesus Christ. Im sorry, thats just the way many will view it. Just the way things are.

  • gsw

    Yoga classes cost money – which you could be giving to your pastor!

    • http://thegodlessmonster.com/ The Godless Monster

      Exactly, and that is precisely one of the main motivations for control. These folks want to control you so they can control  your resources.  They want the women, the kids, the property, the money…they want it all and they’ll say or do whatever they must to get it. Sure, there are those rank-and-file low income garden variety types who actually do believe the crap they spew, but the truly powerful and successful ones rarely believe this garbage and the evidence that bears this out is overwhelming.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        Just follow Jesus who is Son of the most High.

    • Anonymous

      All the more reason to offer some kind of Christian yoga class people can pay for. Meditation to connect for god or Jesus isn’t unheard of in Christianity. They just need to find a way to insert a priest somewhere to control the messages and lessons

      • Anonymous

        You forget…. many of their priests are and have been inserted into young boys……..

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        True, money is the root to all kinds of evil, and men are basically easily influenced like sheep. Just follow Jesus, and He will cure everything. Never follow a man

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      This is true, but remember as Christians we are to judge by saying nice thing, for they will be like heaping coals on the unbelievers head. Lead by example, not correct. Paul warns about this in Romans.

  • Steve Bowen

    Last year a Cof E Vicar in England banned Tai Chi classes from using his church hall for similar batshit crazt reasons.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8574000/8574374.stm

  • Anonymous

    Part of the reason (a small part, to be fair) I changed my major from teaching is this drivel. I was going to get a specialization in early education and had been placed in a kindergarten classroom for my first teaching clinical. Some of the teachers were sharing anecdotes with me during art class when one of them mentioned she had encountered something like this. To help her first-graders settle down in the morning and prepare to learn, she taught them simple yoga poses. It worked fabulously–and they loved it–until the parents discovered that their children were being “indoctrinated through yoga” and raised the fundie flag. They argued so much that she finally had to call it “morning stretches,” and eventually she had to drop it all together. I didn’t realize that calming stretches were so dangerous, except that it did put the little ones in the proper state of mind to think.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_55HCGTRPQF6BHC2QWJJ6NLP33M Eleanor

      Oh my dog, that’s so sad… because it’s just so typical. “Thinking is evil!”

  • Tiffany

    Actually, last year I took a yoga class at my conservative Christian university (don’t ask why I go there.) That’s not the only interesting part. At the time, my mother told me that many Christians don’t like yoga because opening your mind lets in evil spirits. (Yeah, THAT’S why they don’t want you to have an open mind.)

    I told her flat-out that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

    Luckily, a year later, she is as liberal as I am. She still buys into the religion thing, but is much more open minded.

  • Nickolas Johnson

    Couldn’t help but be reminded of “the church lady” from snl.
    “Yoga? Could it be…..SATAN!” lmao

  • Anonymous

    It’s also worth noting that Christianity has always has people who practiced things like meditation, asceticism or fasting to attain altered states of mind, visions or spiritual experiences. There is a long and respected tradition of Christian mysticism – especially in the middle ages. Some of its practitioners from that time are still well known. It’s just mostly confined to religious orders, i.e. monks and nun, and never caught on in the general population

  • Parse

    My inner cynic (well, outer one, actually) says that the main issue fundies have with yoga isn’t the ‘worship’ aspect.  It’s being able to clear your mind and be at piece with the world without going to church.  What’s the use in instilling guilt, fear, and general anxiety, if people can just ‘yoga it away’ (instead of absolving their feelings by donations in the offering plate)?

    • Anonymous

      Yes. That’s exactly it.

      Christian mysticism and many Asian religious/spiritual systems teach that you can find peace or insights into god on your own. There are guidelines and a framework, but not everything is about rigid rules. The reward comes from within and not from the authority of a book or a priest. That’s a direct threat to the authority and financial well-being of priests – especially ones who practice a personality cult such as Driscoll

    • Random_acct

      FYI, you have no clue what Christianity is about.

      • Parse

        Well, damn! I thought I had known SOMETHING about it because of, you know, being a True Believer for YEARS, but nope! Your blind assertion has convinced me that I have no clue what Christianity is about! I see the light!

        Pro tip: Making comments such as this really makes you look like somebody who has substituted blind faith for any and all rational thinking skills. If you’re trying to convince me I’m wrong, show me how. If you’re trying to get insulted and persecuted because of your faith, well, you’re not. You’re getting insulted because of your willful ignorance and stupidity.

        • Random_acct

          In fact you have no clue what Christianity is about.

          Tip: No one can convince you that you are wrong. You know that, so at least be honest enough to admit it. HTH.

          • Parse

            I see. Rather than trying to support your assertions, you double down, and add a strong dose of projection. You’re either trolling, too stupid to respond to, or both. Either way, I’m done playing your game. Piss off.

            • Random_acct

              No, you don’t see. That is my point. You have no clue. But I’m not surprised. Arrogance always thinks it is so smart and others are “too stupid”.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        What is it all about? Just curious, since you seem to know something that I clearly have nit been informed of?

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      So, if you want true rest and peace, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your eternally lifelong God. “Accept my work and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will find rest for your souls. Yes, the work that I ask you to accept is easy. The burden I give you to carry is not heavy.”

  • Anonymous

    I do about 30 minutes of light yoga every morning.  It is stretching, balancing and breathing.  I’m not sure I’d call it relaxing as I usually end the session in desperate need of a refreshing shower.  We over 40s can’t take our health for granted you know.

    I’m sure I would have noticed if Satan was sitting on my shoulder unless Satan has taken the form of my cat and is laughing at me.  Come to think of it her eyes do sort of glow in the dark and she does have very pointy ears.Driscoll has probably never tried yoga, has probably never even seen a yoga class and hasn’t even looked into it.  He’s probably reacted to a comment from someone else who hasn’t seen someone do yoga either but heard from their aunt’s friend’s cousin that it had something to do with the east.  That’s near the middle east so it must be the work of Santa and his evil elves.  Or something.  What a tool.

    • Entertaining Doubts

      I wonder if part of it is thinly-veiled racism — Satan and his evil *brown* elves. Driscoll is definitely playing on the “otherness” aspect….

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      I got that too. As you go about your journey, just remember to look at what Gandhi said about Jesus, and what Jesus said about the world. Happy travels to you as you explore through this wonderful world we call life.

      • hoverFrog

        Why should I care what Gandhi said about Jesus or what Jesus said about the world? Do you care what Philip Pullman said about Harry Potter or what Harry Potter said about the world? More importantly what has this got to do with the original point or my comment?

  • Nena

    My former mother-in-law believed yoga was of the devil. She completely lost her shit when I said I was going to start incorporating yoga into my exercise (this was many many years ago when I was still a christian).  I was stunned.

    • Darwin’s Dagger

      Christian starts yoga and becomes an atheist. I’m sure Driscoll would say that you prove his point.

      • Nena

        Hahah! Well, I didn’t actually like yoga (I’m curvy; not the sporty and lithe body type that excels at it), so I didn’t stick with it. I switched to running and strength training. So that must be of the devil as well. :)

        • Anonymous

          mmmmm, curvy!

          Sorry.

  • http://theotherweirdo.wordpress.com The Other Weirdo

    How sure are we that this guy isn’t just a troll? He’s pushing the envelope of absurdity quite far, if not beyond the breaking point.

  • keegan

    There is another reason to be afraid of yoga, apparently.  I live near a gigantic gym that is supposedly run by a group of fundamentalists.  It has all the latest greatest shiny new equipment and a great facilities.  But… yoga is banned, supposedly because it is too ‘sexually explicit’.  I’m not sure if that’s really their stance, or just what they tell people, but it is quite comical. 

  • Charles Black

    Driscoll is either very stupid or crazy but I doubt he’s as crazy as Camping in that he hasn’t on record made any doomsday predictions that failed to materialise. I could be wrong of course on this.

    • Anonymous

      I’m absolutely sure he believes in the apocalypse. For Christians, the crazy thing is making predictions about exact dates

      • Anonymous

        Christians need the end times because otherwise their religion will disappear without any rapture, tribulation & second coming.

      • Charles Black

        I suppose that given his craziness it would be no surprise at all if he did believe that Jesus is coming “Any time now”.  Oh wait every Christian believes that.

  • http://religiouscomics.net/ Jeff P

    Yes, clean those Christian thoughts out of your mind and then I will take your soul forever!  Ha Ha

    If only it were that easy.

  • Anonymous

    Yoga must be of the Devil.  If I tried to twist myself into some of those positions, they’d have to bury me that way.  Soon.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      I’m a Christ follower, and before I came to know him in Japan; I dabbled in Yoga for a few years. Now I found the Lord, and He has Led me to South Western Baptist Theological Seminary. You would not believe all the things I experienced even if I told you spiritually that I thought God was dead during my Yoga experience. If you want to know more of Yoga, I suggest you read a book called THE COMPACT GUIDE TO WORLD RELIGIONS by Dean C. Halverson. There are many more, but that will give you a broad over view of things. Or just education, and asking the right people or scholars or theologians Hope this helped

  • Alexis

    I was a young teenager. The Beatles and the maharishi had not yet brought yoga to international attention. There was little awareness that yoga existed let alone what it consisted of. I brought a book of hatha yoga home from the library, purely stretching exercises, no chanting or breathing or anything. My Baptist mom got a glimpse of the cover and cried out in dread fear “Isn’t Christianity good enough for you?” I’ll never forget that tone of voice. And it was based on total ignorance, total lack of knowledge.

  • JimG

    “It won’t be long before Driscoll’s preaching against critical thinking,” Hemant says. 

    Too late. I’m pretty sure a rejection of critical thinking was his first step into fundieland.

  • Alexis

    About twenty years ago, I took a 12 week class of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement.  This is simply a method of using contrasting movements to learn optimal movement patterns. The instructor rented a room from a nearby Episcopal church. After week ten some influential parishioner heard about it, and week 11 our instructor announced that we would have to meet elsewhere for the last lesson as some fool had somehow associated this benign class with satanism.

  • http://www.shadesthatmatter.blogspot.com asmallcontempt

    Yep, this story is old hat. Christians have hated on yoga ever since yoga became popularized; most pastors don’t devote very much time or crazy to it since all they have to do is to tell their flock it’s “of the Devil” and no one will think about it, research it, or try it for themselves. Instead, the only piece of relevant information in their minds connected to yoga is incredibly negative.

    My husband and I started doing yoga when we found a video to follow on Netflix streaming (called “Candlelight Yoga” if you’re interested – we turn off the sound on the TV, play some quiet music and stretch for 30-45 minutes. We’d never done yoga before, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but aside from the usual workout video cheese, it’s not bad.) and I have yet to detect Dark Forces at work. Like Froggie said, it feels good to stretch and concentrate on breathing – I feel relaxed and ready to tackle a day after yoga. And so calming, too!

    tl;dr: Yoga is awesome. It makes you relax, breathe, and increases flexibility. While some forms incorporate chanting or meditation, most Americanized varieties are somewhere between yoga and pilates, dispensing with some of the less workout-y aspects of yoga.

  • Anonymous

    When I was teaching high school English, I asked the students to close their eyes and think about writing a great essay where the punctuation and sequence where carefully done. (We had been working on those elements.) Next day I had a totally frenzied mom show up who informed me that I had been channeling demons and that asking children to “think” was opening them to the Devil.  Satan apparently gets into people when they think as well as stretch.  I told her that public high school was going to ask her kid to “think” every day, and that we regarded it as an excellent tool to help prepare students for their futures.  She removed her daughter that day and put her in a small Christian school.  I guess they didn’t have to worry about “thinking” there.

    • http://www.shadesthatmatter.blogspot.com asmallcontempt

      Wow. This is SUCH a plausible story, one that totally illustrates my reluctance to go back into the classroom.

      THIS. People, this. Dealing with nutjob parents sucks like NONE other. Bleh.

    • John

      majority of people are mentally ill Reav.
      If she did that because you asked the kids to think. I wonder what she would do, if you taught the kids about their right to a non-violent environment and home.
      I bet she would punch you in the nose or break your legs or something. As I am sure she does to her daughter every time she decides to think for herself.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      I think when it comes to Yoga, we should just know more on the orgins of it, same as Christianity or any religion. On her behalf, as a parent, I would like to appoligize. I just think she was freaking out way too much. Youre an educator with the best intention for these young ones. If you are a Christian, then just beware of those who oppose us. Remember, its nothing that we have done ourselves, but because Jesus came and condemned the world. He said there would be much persecution. Do not worry to much. If the intention or the motive was right, I know God knows. He has to

  • Rich Wilson

    In her 20s and 30s my mother was anti-Christian and dabbled in a lot of new-agey stuff.  After I left home she was born again in a big way.  It’s really funny whenever she hears when someone’s birthday is, she automatically starts working out their sun sign and trying to explain how it matches their attributes.  (aka ‘Cherry Picking’)  But then she’ll suddenly remember she’s not supposed to do that, and make some statement about how it’s the Devil’s work and stop.

  • T-Rex

    Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo! It doesn’t get any more F’d up than that.

  • Michael

    I went to yoga last night. No wonder I feel so evil today.

  • Yoav

    Athletic competitions have their roots in Greek pagan worship, every time you play baseball you worship Zeus, which Driscoll will tell you is just another name for SATAN!!!!!!.

    Sports is demonic,” Driscoll said. “If you just sign up for  little league baseball, you’re signing up for a little demon class.”

    A faithful Christian can no more say they are playing football for Jesus than they can say they are committing adultery for Jesus.

    (You hear that Tim Tebow?)/Sarcasm off.

    • Dave

       Why sarcasm/pointed remark off ? Idiots like Tim Tebow believe God is paying attention to the biblical citations scratched in to their under eye makeup while MILLIONS of children in Africa die of dehydration and stravation. Disgusting.

      • Yoav

        Because you can’t detect tone in written comments it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between sarcastic and serious comment (add poe’s law on top and things are even worse). It happened to me before, I would write a comment like this and someone will miss the joke and go all apesh*t on my a*s about how stupid I am to think sports is demonic and how is the fault of people like me that Americans are so obese, so I just find it prudent to add an indication that I was being sarcastic (although Tim Tebow is fukcing annoying).

        • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

          Everybody is flawed. The only non flawed is God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        Exactly, we should be doing something for Jesus Christ. Whether that be telling others for Jesus or living as the example, so people can ask you why you live in such a good way. We should all live our live in accordance with Him. Let Him be the light that shines through you

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      I think he pushes things over the deep end. Just follow Jesus, and Him only

  • Anonymous

    The Hippocratic Oath requires the physician to swear to pagan Greek gods:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath

    Does that make the art of medicine satanic?

  • Saltyestelle

    I once had a very depressed client in therapy, a 40ish woman who was devoted to Jesus.  Her depression (along with paranoid delusions) had become so severe that she rarely left the house, was desperately lonely and unhappy.  She had once before tried yoga and found it very helpful, but her current beliefs did not permit her to practice such ‘ungodly’ exercise.  It was so terribly sad, that the one thing she knew might actually help her was not available.  She was also going through the mid-life peak of sexual drive, but of course would not permit herself to masturbate or have sex since she was unmarried.  As an atheist, I had a very difficult time with this one.  I just wanted un-brainwash her, and give her a hitachi magic wand.  Sigh.

  • deityfree

    “baby Jesus”… lol. (Talladega Nights)

  • Brian C Posey

    I think if I were an uptight repressed fundie, I’d be more worried about “yoga” pants.  Nice asses in yoga pants give me impure thoughts.

    • Anonymous

      Well, then. . . http://girlsinyogapants.com/

  • http://friendlyatheist.com Richard Wade

    Years ago, one of the first times I ever heard Pat Robertson speak, he was talking about how Yoga is “demonic.” He also said that Halloween is demonic, and that Halloween candy is infused with evil witchcraft.  I was equally amazed and amused.

    I think that comedian Mark Driscoll wants to grow up to be Pat Robertson the way Robin Williams wanted to grow up to be Jonathan Winters.

    And, for those unfamiliar with me, I’m no raging Christian fundamentalist.

    Comedian Mark Driscoll, who apparently is concerned that he might be mistaken for a raging Christian fundamentalist, and that people thinking he is a raging Christian fundamentalist might diminish his credibility, needs to do more than merely deny that he’s a raging Christian Fundamentalist, as if simply saying he’s not a raging Christian fundamentalist proves that he is not indeed a raging Christian fundamentalist. He should write a long article titled, “Why I Am Not a Raging Christian Fundamentalist.” He could first describe and define what a raging Christian fundamentalist is, provide a list of famous raging Christian fundamentalists as examples of what raging Christian fundamentalists are like, and then contrast his views and behaviors with those of raging Christian fundamentalists, so that people who are unfamiliar with him as well as those who are very familiar with him will not mistake him for a raging Christian fundamentalist. That would help a great deal to put to rest the rumors that comedian Mark Driscoll is a raging Christian fundamentalist.

    • http://www.shadesthatmatter.blogspot.com asmallcontempt

      Richard, I like this so much I had to click the button AND tell you here in this comment. Tip of the hat!

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      Its just a mis application to the meaning of mis-education.

  • SJH

    I don’t intend to defend Mr. Driscoll and I do not know to what level he has thought about this issue so I do not speak for him. What we can do is try to weed through the hyperbole and try and discover, what if any truth there is to his statements. I think that the problem many Xians have with yoga is not the physical or mental component but the spiritual one. If a person wants to practice Yoga while meditating on Christ, I do not think that it would be contrary to the beliefs of most Xians. On the other hand if a person tries to reach a state of perfect enlightenment outside of God then this is where the conflict would arise. Assuming that the Xian god is the one true god then it would be logically impossible to reach a perfect state of enlightenment without him. This does not necessarily lead you to Satan but it can pull you away from a closer relationship with God since you are not seeking unity with Him.

    • Nesh

      “logically impossible to reach a perfect state of enlightenment without him”?

      I think, rather, it is logically impossible for to you to logically make that claim since, logically, you cannot logic beyond your brain washed logic.

      Yes, how DARE those Christians reach peace on their own! God wants ALL the credit, no sharing!

      • SJH

        I am not going to speak for God but I do not think that he wants all the credit as you say. If there is only one true God then perfect enlightenment can only be achieved through him. If a person does not seek it through him then his/her knowledge will be incomplete since he/she does not know the one true god. It would be similar to attempting to have a perfect understanding of my children’s behavior without attempting to have any understanding of me. The personality of my children is highly dependent on my behavior and how I treat them. You must understand my behavior if you want to perfectly understand theirs. Without it you are limited in your knowledge. This has nothing to do with religious beliefs, it is just plain reason.

        • Anonymous

          You clearly don’t know about how yoga is practiced by some Hindus. What you are thinking about is Buddhism, which is atheistic for the most part. Yoga as practiced in Hinduism can indeed be about gaining unity with their god or gods – not being separate from them. In some schools that’s the main goal of the thing. That’s also how Christians up to the middle ages used meditation and other things.

          But there are many, many different schools and ways to practice it. Each with different goals. What people do during meditation or get out of it is up to them. It can be any number of things.

          Never mind that modern, westernized yoga is often completely divorced from these metaphysical aspects and used mostly for health reasons. It relaxes the mind, but much of it is just physical exercise. Again that depends on where you go to and which school the instructors follow

        • JohnnieCanuck

          For a person who claims not to speak for a god,  you certainly seem to have a lot of opinions on what it must be like and what it wants.

          As far as I can see, everything you ‘know’ about this god was either made up by other people for you to select what you liked best or made up directly by yourself.

          How do you know these things? Were you there to witness them? It seems a little strange that the maker of billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars would be so focussed on the needs and wants of one insignificant member of one insignificant tribe on one speck of dust surrounded by mostly nothing.

          Men create their gods in their image, not the other way around. And yes, mostly it’s been men not women making these things up.

          • http://squeakysoapbox.com/ Rich Wilson

            Personally I was amused by the attempts at gender neutrality, except when it comes to God.  Evidently we can be sure that God is male.

    • Anonymous

      Most Christians wouldn’t have a problem with yoga if it weren’t for the complete bullshit told to them by their priests. It’s the priests who are threatened in their power, authority and money making when people can reach insights into their god on their own. Such practices de-emphasize scriptural and priestly authority. So they tell their flocks that’s it’s evil and the brainwashed sheep eat it up. And yes, you need to be brainwashed or insane to believe that Satan or demons can get at you when you relax your mind. But whatever they say, it’s just a rationalization because they can’t tell their followers the truth.

      As far back as there was a Christian religion, there were people who used things like meditation to get visions or spiritual experiences. Which is also one of the contexts Hinduism uses it. It’s not just about being one with your body and yourself, but being one with your deity depending on how it is practiced; you got it wrong. In Europe, meditation was just never popular with the general population, but widespread among monks at some points.

    • Anonymous

      It seems pretty evidence that he hasn’t thought about this issue at all.  Perhaps he hasn’t thought at all.  Who can tell?  Let’s see if there is any truth in his statements though.  Let’s pick something simple like “yoga is demonic”.  This is a claim to the truth.  What evidence is there that this claim is actually true?  First what evidence is there of things being demonic or of demons existing at all?  None.  There is no evidence.  That’s just bat shit crazy superstition straight out of the middle ages.  Anyone who goes around claiming that things are demonic in the 21st century needs their head examined.

       I think that the problem many Xians have with yoga is not the physical or mental component but the spiritual one.

      No, the problem that some Christians have is that they buy into the superstitious mumbo jumbo of an uninformed, ranting lunatic who just wants their money.  Yoga is nothing more than a target for his nonsense.  If it wasn’t yoga he’d be picking on Harry Potter books and films or Halloween costumes.  It is utter nonsense but it plays on the superstitious fears that his kind have fostered for centuries in the gullible.  

      Yoga is something that people enjoy and it helps them with general fitness by providing some gentle exercise.   It has a loose connection to the East where Christianity isn’t as popular so it must be something different.  Driscoll and his ilk can’t stand the idea of something being different because they seek to impose God Controls in the brains of the sheeple so that they can keep extracting money and praise for the rest of their lives.  It is a con and a cruel one at that.

  • Anonymous

    Yoga does have some woo aspects — but if you ignore those fake health claims it can have positive benefits

  • Vanessa

    I went to one of his churches once to watch him speak. On that special occasion he was talking about the evils of pantheism. It was hard for me not to laugh out loud at some bits, but I was comforted by the fact that there were a lot less people attending than I expected, and very few of them were from the younger generation. A lot of people my age think he’s bat shit crazy.

    • Anonymous

      You should’ve laughed out loud.  

  • Jcompasio

    I had a relative tell his teenaged daughter that yoga was a religion and that’s why he wouldn’t let her take yoga classes.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/FDGYHBEWVNGUG763L5X4TON3JQ Nazani14

    And this is exactly why I only teach raks sharki (bellydance) privately and am careful where I advertise.
    http://nazani14.livejournal.com/

    It doesn’t do much good to say that this art form is persecuted by some Muslim sects, or that it goes back to the Silk Route or maybe even to the “gypsy” metalworkers of Northern India brought into Egypt by Alexander the Great.  It’s got that ‘slinky’ music and you move your torso, therefore bad.  Of course it is just fine for a Xian cheerleader or ballerina to show her crotch to everyone.

  • Chris Slaby

    “A faithful Christian can no more say they are practicing yoga for Jesus than they can say they are committing adultery for Jesus.” If I recall, Newt Gingrich is apparently a faithful Christian who said that his adultry was a result of his love for America, and as we all know America=Jesus, so by the transitive property of wackos everywhere, Newt Gingrich, a faithful Christian, committed adultery for Jesus.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      Funny, but you gotta think. At least I do, before following any man

  • Tinker

     Trust me: no Christian has ever walked out of a yoga class thinking, “That whole Jesus thing is *such* horseshit.”
    They will now.

  • http://thestir.squarespace.com Servaas Hofmeyr

    I don’t understand how the FA got from Driscoll’s article on yoga being anti-Christian, demonic, etc to what he wrote? It’s like he didn’t read a word Driscoll wrote and just started typing with the sole aim of ridiculing him. It’s common knowledge (or not apparently) that according to Christian (biblical) beliefs all worship not unto the ‘One true’ God as depicted in the bible is engaging in sinful activity and having communion with dark instead of light. Scholars of the Hindu faith movement will tell you ‘there can be no yoga without Hinduism and no Hinduism without yoga’, the two are interlinked. So, as a Christian, Driscoll’s stance on the matter is totally legit.

    I’m not sure where the FA got the stuff about people stop believing in Jesus after doing yoga about? Once again ignorant of what the Bible teaches and Christians belief regarding getting involved with Satanic things. And also, if the FA and his readers didn’t know according to Christ all other inspiration apart from the triune God is Satanic in essence, their are only two sides according to Biblical teaching, so if you insist on mocking Christianity, or any other faith movement for that matter, do at least some research. But I guess this is a lobby site, it has goals to reach and ideas to push, the search for truth is secondary or irrelevant.

    • Rich Wilson

      I’m not sure where the FA got the stuff about people stop believing in Jesus after doing yoga about?

      Do you mean?

      Trust me: no Christian has ever walked out of a yoga class thinking, “That whole Jesus thing is *such* horseshit.”

      That is, Yoga has never converted anyone from Jesus.  You don’t agree?

      according to Christ all other inspiration apart from the triune God is Satanic in essence

      It’s not that we don’t know that.  It’s that we find that hilarious.  In particular when the things being grouped in with ‘Satanic’ are things that have no belief in the Biblical Worldview.  Things like pagans, and atheists.  Satanists, in fact, do believe in the Biblical Worldview.  So, actual Satanists believe in God, and reject him.  Atheists and pagans don’t believe in God (or Satan of course) so of course it makes perfect sense to include them as ‘Satanic’?  I get that Christians think our source of disbelief in God is Satan.  But from our point of view, not believing in either one, it’s really funny.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        Its not the stopping, I think that is what he meant. If I had to guess, and judging by my own experience firsthand at messing around with the occult; it made me (while I was practicing, I didn’t know Jesus back then). Anyway, to me( not everybodys experience I’m sure) But it has to be others.

        I was starting to hate all things Godly, or any of his followers. But as soon as I turned from Yoga, and followed and trusted in Jesus alone; things became clear. And that feeling of hate, became a feeling of warmth and compassion I had never felt before. I couldn’t explain, but I do know it was all Jesus Christ and the sacrificial death and the blood He shed on the cross that I have eternal life now because I believe Him to be my Lord and Savior now. The Bible says- if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

    • Anonymous

      Poe.  Right?

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        One of my nicknames was PO back in The Marine Corps. Why?

    • http://thestir.squarespace.com Servaas Hofmeyr

      That’s the problem with most atheist arguments: he makes fun of Driscoll while his actual issue is with the credibility of the Bible. What he (FA) should do is explain why he believes the claims about the functioning of the spiritual realm made by Jesus is false or otherwise why he believes the Biblical version of what Jesus said about the spiritual realm, life, etc. is incorrect – that is what it all comes down to. Or on the other hand why Driscoll misinterprets the Bible. Making fun of Driscoll is pointless. As you said, we all know already that atheists don’t agree with Biblical teaching as truth but then again as I said, this is not a site for intellectual arguments but rather a lobby site so the trend is to make your opponents look bad and avoid the actual issue at hand?

      • Rich Wilson

        Making fun of Driscoll is pointless.

        I think most of us had fun.  Which, depending on your doctrine, could be considered a sin, I know.

        this is not a site for intellectual arguments

        Bingo!  It’s actually a site for whatever Hemant and a few guest bloggers feel like talking about.  Which turns into the occasional honeypot.  Thanks for dropping by!  Feel free to stick around.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Slade-Foster/1549538442 Slade Foster

    His analogy fails spectacularly in a delicious fashion.  People frequently attend church without believing in all of the ridiculous claptrap – they go for the social aspect.  So yes, you can practice yoga as a purely physical exercise without any nod to the religious/spiritual side.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      I am glad to see you have had better luck at it, but while I was doing it; I couldnt help but be mad at my creator, and I kept hearing a voice telling me to hurt people.

      Now that I have turned away from the thing in Yoga, and focused my reading of the scripture of the Lord; I am now much better. But only through the Lord was this and only is possible. Put down the false religions, and follow Christ Jesus only. One day we will have to come back to Him and answer for our transgresses towards Him. And when we cant answer for our own iniquities, and we don’t have Christ we will be turned away. In the great judgement.

      “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

      A Tree and Its Fruit

      “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. [l]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
      “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

      Don’t answer for any body else’s mistakes, but your own. Long live Jesus Christ. He is your only way.

  • Rainierrod

    All that Downward Dog does feel pretty demonic after a while

  • Anonymous

    Actually, I believe Christianity is the work of the Devil…..  Poisoning minds and ruining lives, around the World

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PDHVNAPDFOXH42XM6XXY6GDDUU Chris

    Thank you, Pastor Driscoll, for doing your bit to make religion ever more marginalized in modern, secular society. Every time you and your fellow irrational zealots open your mouths and make such patently nonsensical statements, the gap between you and the rest of us widens. The less people take you and your beliefs seriously.

    Even moderate Christians feel comfortable laughing at you. And they should! Such deluded, superstitious nonsense deserves ridicule. Not only that, but the more people find humor in religious extremism, the less power it has over them.

    So keep it up, Driscoll! Become more irrational, more blatantly detached from reality! As long as you refrain from harming others, I will cheer you and those like you on. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      He sounds a bit like a hippocrite. I wouldst follow a man who twists his words to make them fit the culture. I would follow the truth, which is only found in Jesus Christ. God so loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, that he who believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.

  • http://www.facebook.com/scott.j.jordan Scott James Jordan

    Unthinkable.  Yoga would never move to the Dark Side!!

  • Sware

    I have a season of Namaste on DVD (FitTV’s yoga series).  It has pleasant music and serene visual settings.  I stretch and breathe along with an episode and feel quite refreshed and even invigorated after….Oh, the humanity!!!!

  • Ashton

    At my religious college, the on campus gym wasn’t allowed to call its yoga classes “yoga.”  They had to rename it something dumb like “body stretching.”  I knew the woman who taught the class and she told me that at the beginning of every new class she would tell the people that it was a yoga class even though it wasn’t named that.

  • Rudolfzoltan
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Francis-Miville/1330628616 Francis Miville

    I perfectly agree that yoga is demonic.  I am myself a great devil-worshipper in the tradition of Aleister Crowley and classical hindu yoga had been of paramount importance in the development of my voodoo powers to wreak havoc on people and societies.  But nearly all Christians who concentrate against yoga as the prime demonic bodily exercise just pinpoint the straw in the stranger’s eye without remarking the rafter in their own, as their own master would elegantly put.  Far more dangerous to the Christian soul are the olympic sports, all of them, but especially the pentathlon, which is the celebration of Prometheus the robber of divine fire and inspirer of human pride.  Olympic games have nothing innocent, they are the celebration of demons far more wicked and dangerous than all those of India, especially as regards the number of Christian martyrs they have made.  Pierre de Coubertin who reintroduced those disciplines and games the first Christians had such a hard time to suppress and condemn, was an avowed enemy of everything Christian and a pioneer of nazi ideals, and the heads of state that have been most favoring these kind of competitions have always turned out to be totalitarian communists or nazis (Berlin 1936). 

    • oambitiousone

      Shoot. Now I want to be  a devil-worshiping, Olympian-advocating, Nazi sympathizer too! 

      Oh well–I’ll have to be just a plain ol’ skeptic who does yoga.

    • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

      At least you know where you stand, I am a Christian- a God worshipper. At least this man stands up or his prefrances, and even he agrees that there is a war going on. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.- I am glad to see you have picked a side for now. But repent, for the Lord Jesus will come back at a moment when nobody but the Father in heaven knows. Ill be praying for you Francis.

      • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

        I dont want you to get caught up in something to mean or powerful for you to handle, hope you have a great day

  • cute_pink

    yeah yoga is from hell.

  • Gmamama

    You are all blind, he’s telling the truth lol. Maybe if you do some research every once in awhile instead of thinking everyone is just a “Bible Thumper” or “Crying Satan” your eyes would be open. Research it, and then tell me its not Satanic?

    • hoverFrog

      It’s not Satanic.

    • Random_acct

      Unfortunately, there appears to be very little in the way of “thinking” going on based on the comments I’ve seen from most. So “research” will not help.

  • Lisa Barrow

    If you believe that yoga is demonic, then you are right. If you believe that it is good for the body and mind, then you are right. I love god but I also see the value in yoga. What ever we are looking for, we will eventually find.

    I personally do not see the “harm” in yoga if one is using it to develop a better relationship with self in order to become more intune with their surroundings.

    Maybe we should be more afraid of religion instead of demonds, but then again, this is just my personal opinnion.

  • Electronicsguru234

    religious people are crazy. they even tell us that “not hitting our kids for discipline” is demonic too.

  • Random_acct

    My question is why call it yoga then? Yoga certainly has religious constructs. Ask a follower of Hindu if you doubt me.

    I have no problem as a Christian with stretching out and breathing exercises, but let’s not wrap those actions up in a not-so-veiled attempt to also infuse the mind with Eastern Religion. Unless, of course, that is exactly what one wants to do. But at the very least be honest about it.

  • Catholic 5

    Just because you can’t see some things in the supernatural realm does not exclude their effect on you. It is in fact the opposite of your atheist delusion. Beg for the grace to repent your rejection of the Living God and to obtain the gift of true faith. Picking atheism is picking the standard of Satan.

    • hoverFrog

      Tell me, what is the difference between the invisible and the imaginary?

  • http://www.facebook.com/jon.m.blanchard Jon Marc Blanchard

    This guy does push for things far too much, but please do not follow anything that a man outside of the Bible that was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit, which is God manifested in different forms. Please only look to follow Jesus

    • http://squeakysoapbox.com/ Rich Wilson

      Please only look to follow Jesus

      I think he’s dead, right? And I’m pretty sure I’ll be dead some day too.

      So, ok, I’ll follow Jesus into the grave.

  • Mel

    It doesn’t take religion to give a person enough vocabulary to be able not to speak with filth. It only takes an education and a little bit of respect those who may be reading your blog.
    Christianity is a religion. Yoga is a religion. Do a little research and you will find that the words I write are true. That makes this little blog post just a silly hate rant with no point.

    • hoverFrog

      Oh the irony.