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Yoga: Religious or Spiritual? Priest Bans Yoga From Church as ‘Incompatible with Catholic Faith’

in YD News

Religious or Spiritual? Anyone can do prayer pose.

Not that this holy can of worms needs to be reopened, but really, stories like this have us believing the damned thing will never be closed. If this continues, yoga teachers renting space at your local church, you may run into a Mary Mother of a problem. Also, people of faith, we hope you like zumba. A church in Southampton, England kicked out a yoga teacher and cancelled classes because they were deemed “incompatible with Catholic faith,” stirring up the Hinduism debate yet again.

Said Father Chandler who put the kibosh:

”Yoga is a Hindu spiritual exercise. Being a Catholic church we have to promote the gospel and that’s what we use our premises for.

”We did say that yoga could not take place. It’s the fact that it’s a different religious practice going on in a Catholic church,” he explained.

“On one hand we say to our parishioners ‘be strong in your faith’, and on the other hand there’s this other religious belief that’s not part of our faith. It’s not compatible. We are not saying that yoga is bad or wrong.”

But yoga teacher Cori Withell argues that she was doing the community a service. And besides, yoga is spiritual, not religious, she explains:

”I had never heard about any religious issue with yoga before but I have looked into it since and found that some other religions feel that when people meditate it could let the devil inside them,” she said.

”But there was never any meditation in my class – it was just exercises. Yoga is not religious: spiritual, but not religious.

”I do not object to anyone having a religious viewpoint, but it seemed terribly petty to cancel the classes.

”As a nation we have an obesity epidemic. I was trying to bring some exercise to the community and coming across blocks like this is frustrating.”

While this is not an overall Catholic rule, and each priest can make the call, a spokesman for Portsmouth Catholic Diocese said: ”It’s not possible for Catholic premises to be used for non-Christian activities and there is a dilemma with yoga as it can be seen as Hindu meditation or as relaxation.”

Well, we’re glad that’s clear and settled.

Ravindra Parmar, president of the Vedic Society Hindu Temple of Southampton, responded via the BBC and said yoga was “a form of exercise” and “not a religious type of activity” and offered the temple as an alternate space.  He also shared his disappointment over the news since the Southampton Council of Faiths does to “get all the faiths talking to each other”.

It’s not just England you’ll find a king-sized kerfluffle between yoga and religion. Why, even the Chief Vatican Exorcist believes it’s evil, and many have wondered if yoga is actually a threat to Christianity. Meanwhile, Christoga practitioners who spend time “stretching and toning” AND “worshiping with Jesus Christ” end up seeming like the most practical out of the bunch.

Exercising the right to question is a wonderful thing. We just hope everyone can make an informed decision for themselves. Namaste!

What do you think? Have you seen resistance in your religious communities?

[via]

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Earlier

38 comments… add one
  • I have come across this dilemma as well. In fact, I actually wrote my blog on this same topic this morning. A preacher, here in the states, said that yoga AND martial arts goes against the Christian faith, which I think is a bunch of hoopla. It amazes me how ignorant and closed-minded people can be.

    • angel

      This pretty much has been my experiene too. It makes me great ashamed to believe in the christain faith and have people who believe the same make such poor judgements regarding yoga. I have also experienced that these same people have NO idea what yoga is about. I believe they are just afraid of something that it not labeled “christian”.
      I have studed some of the yogic philophy and found that if undersood properly can complement the christian faith, or any faith for that matter.

      Namste to all my fellow yogis!

  • I am a Christian in the process of getting certified to teach yoga. My husband is in seminary, studying to become a pastor. I have had several people ask me how I, a future pastor’s wife, could teach yoga. I find that confusing. In my teacher training class, we are studying Ashtanga, the Yamas and Niyamas, Pranayama, and Asanas. I have come to view yoga as an avenue for faith. You can use a yoga practice in the Hindu faith or in the Christian faith. The Yamas and Niyamas are a lot like the 10 commandments. If you wanted, you could just replace the study of yamas and stuff with the study of scripture and the practice of living a God-fearing life. That’s how I like to think about it. Pranayama is just breathing. Meditation can be prayer to God or a focus on positive thoughts, on lifting others up. I’m not into the chakras, but in my mind, that isn’t necessary for a yoga practice. You can be a good person, take deep breaths, spend time in thought and prayer, relax, improve your flexibility, and tone your body and glorify God through it all. I plan to teach a class at my church’s women’s retreat on Oct 14 and then a weekly class at my church starting in January.

  • I’m wondering why this relatively small, private affair made the news.

    Either, A, they decided to no longer rent the space to teachers for that purpose — their choice and no big deal — or B, they decided to no longer host/promote yoga classes in their church (if they hired the teacher in, for example, and provided the space for her).

    No big deal; the church decided to no longer have yoga on their premises.

    Yoga will continue to go on elsewhere, without barriers. Community classes at the local hindu temple? Sweet. Community classes at the local anglican church? Great. Community classes at the local synagogue? Very nice indeed.

    Catholic churchy-poo isn’t the only venue for yoga classes. Teacher can find another. No bigs.

  • I guess the time is right for me to share again YD’s post on me highlighting yoga ban for Muslims in Malaysia http://yogadork.com.s157905.gridserver.com/news/hot-malaysian-yoga-star-banned-from-tv-for-f-word-fatwa/

    The ‘lawfully unenforced’ ban took place in November 2008 for almost the same reason, ‘Muslims do not know their ultimate goal in yoga. They have to / will be Hindus one day’ and it hit us hard because Malaysia population is 60% Muslims.

    Four years later today, I am STILL banned from appearing on national TV if I insist on putting my credit as ‘Ninie Ahmad, Yoga Teacher’ as I look Malay (Malays are automatically deemed Muslims in Malaysia) and I carry a Muslim last name. They offered “we can put you as ‘Fitness Professional’ instead?”, thank you but no thank you.

    But at least I still have my freedom of running my own yoga studio (although I chose to drop ‘Yoga’ behind my studio name and registered it as a fitness studio instead to protect my business) and ‘preaching’ yoga online.

    Most Malaysians now see the ban as a joke (CNN interviewed in 2008 and the headline was ‘Malaysia bans exercise for Muslims’, how apt ;D) but local media is still not on our side as they are mostly owned by the government http://ninieahmad.com/tag/yoga-ban-in-malaysia/. Oh well. Not my loss 🙂

    Love and light from Malaysia.

    • Chris

      Ninie Ahmad,

      How did the Malay-people ever succumb to the Arabic Plague ?

      Deep in their hearts, the Malay people must know that they are NOT Arabs. So, why do they even bother with a Cult that had to be spread by the Sword of Islum, even among the Arabs themselves ? ( For the good people of Mecca had rejected the lunatic PedoMo altogether, and had exiled him to Medina. It was only when PedoMo had gathered together an army of brainwashed converts, and started menacing the people of Mecca, that he was able to “convince” the people of Mecca to convert to Islum ).

      The ancestors of the Malay people were Hindus and Buddhists . Probably time for the Malay people to return to their ancestral-religion.

  • I actually spoke to a priest who performs the rites of exorcism and he told me that :

    “see people might be thinking they’re doing yoga, especially here in the West, for “fitness reasons”. But those postures were not initially developed for “fitness reasons” in India, they were developed to attract certain qualities and induce certain states of mind. By doing them, you’re inadvertently playing with magnetism again and by doing so, how do you know for sure “what” you’re attracting to yourself?”

    I disagree with him.

    http://earthenergyreader.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/interview-with-an-exorcist/

    • This priest is right, and Iyengar and all the rest of the “top influencers” in yoga agree with him. Read his book. They all say you need an experienced teacher to guide you in the esoteric side of yoga. Yoga CAN be dangerous if you are doing it seriously — which in my opinion means at least 3 hours a day including extensive pranayama and meditation.

      The author of this post is also right. It seems she is teaching a form of asana as a fitness program to lose weight, with no pranayama or meditation, that probably lasts for an hour or so. It is almost impossible to get much more from this sort of class than some physical conditioning and the occasional emotional release. I would suggest that, like the woman in Malaysia, she start calling this sort of class something other than yoga.

  • Chris

    It was the German Indologist, Max Mueller, who propounded and propagated the fallacious theory that the 5000-year-old Ancient Vedic (Hindu) Civilization of India was founded in India, by white-skinned “Aryan” tribes that emigrated into India from the Caucausus region of Europe, via Iran, and into India, via its North-West boundary.

    The motivation for propagating this fanciful theory was to stake claim for Europe to the extraordinary intellectual, scientific, and philosophical and artistic treasure-trove that was the ancient Hindu Civilization of India. By claiming that it was the white-skinned emigrants that gave birth to the ancient Hindu civilization of India, Max Mueller disingenuously attempted to plant the European flag on the stunning achievements of an extremely advanced, non-European, Hindu civilization.

    The facts are otherwise. It was the native inhabitants of ancient India that gave birth to the very advanced Hindu civilization of India. Certainly, these inhabitants of India were not fair-skinned ( The sun-burn will get ya in India, you know ! ) Certainly, the emigration into India of Europeans barbarians did occur . These European barbarians came into contact with the advanced, peaceful, Hindu civilization of India, and were assimilated, peacefully and without coercion, into the grand Hindu civilization.
    Hinduism did spread, OUTWARDS however, from India to Europe.
    Can you even visualize that the vile Taliban (who do not hesitate to behead men and stone women, at the drop of a hat) of today’s Afghanistan were once peaceful Hindus, until they unfortunately succumbed to the “Arabic Plague” of Islam ?

    In 300 BC, the arrogant Emperor Alexander the Great invaded India to conquer her, only to himself become humbled by the profound Hindu and Buddhist philosophies of India, where Alexander was moved to lay down his arms and become a student of Hinduism and Buddhism. Many of Alexander’s nobles and generals in India adopted Hinduism and Buddhism. When Alexander began his eventual overland retreat from India to Europe via the Middle-East, he fell mortally ill, and passed-away en-route. However, Alexander’s vast army and his nobles and generals carried back to ancient Europe the Hindu and Buddhist learnings and philosophies that they had acquired in India.

    Some centuries later, the world’s first Semitic-Hindu, JC, journeyed to India in his youth (the missing years of JC’s life, that the Bible won’t talk about), and apprenticed himself in the Gurukuls and Ashrams of the learned Hindu sages (Rishis) of India. There, the excellent pupil JC imbibed the ancient Hindu philosophies from his Gurus, and himself became an enlightened, self-realized soul – a Mahatma, a true Yogi. The enlightened JC then traveled back to the Middle East to preach to his people the wisdom he had acquired in India.

    JC’s teachings are very much in consonance with Hinduism :

    (1) “As you sow, so shall you reap ” —> This is JC’s exquisite way of stating the Hindu law of Karma.

    (2) ” Let him throw the first stone, who has not sinned ”.
    This is JC’s recognition of the fact that all souls (Aatmas) present on this earth are present on the earth, only because these souls are as yet, not without sin.
    The Hindu philosophy of Reincarnation (Punar-Janam) believes that the soul (Aatma) is indestructible, and undergoes several cycles of Birth, Life, Death and Rebirth. Properly guided, the Aatma attains a higher-state-of-being in each successive life, until that Aatma ultimately becomes self-realized and sinless, and attains Moksha ( Liberation from the cycle of Birth, Life, Death and Rebirth). Thus, any Aatma that is actually present on this earth, is, as yet, not without sin, and is at only some intermediate point along this Great-Journey towards becoming a self-realized soul.

    (3) There is much evidence to suggest that JC was a vegetarian, which would be in tune with the Principle of Ahimsa.

    (4) After surviving the Crucifixion, JC sought save-haven in India, and once again journeyed to the Kashmir region of India, where he then lived to a ripe old age. JC is buried in Kashmir. ( Kashmir is the land of the ancient Hindu sage, Rishi Kashyapa. The name Kashmir comes from the Sanskrit “Kashyapa-Meru” ( Kashyapa’s Lake) ).

    (5) Being a self-realized Soul, JC recognized that there are several different Paths to Enlightenment. Thus, JC never said peevish things like, ” I am the ONLY WAY” ( meaning, I am the only ticket to Heaven). These mean-spirited statements were disingenuously inserted into the Bible, after JC’s passing, and falsely attributed to JC, by the Vatican (the Marketing Department of the Unholy Roman Empire) as part of its Empire-Building-Strategy, via the Giant Pyramid Scheme of Catholicism.

    Thus, it is clear that the white-man has certainly had prior contact with the ancient Hindu civilization of India. It is therefore not surprising at all that today’s white-man should feel some nameless, ancient, stirring in his soul, whenever he comes into contact with any facets of the Hindu civilization, for many millenia ago, the white-man had already embraced these philosophies as his own.

    So too was Adolf Hitler not entirely misguided in his attempts to seek a connection between European-civilization and Hindusim.

    • Golly Gee, Chris, merits of you argument aside, what has this got to do the topic at hand.

      • Chris

        Radrave,

        I’m saying that the White-Man was most likely Hindu, long before Christianity came to him.

        Knowing this fact would help one to view Yoga as the beautiful thing that it, instead of as some dangerous, foreign, alien Cult, from “over there”.

  • Sam Louise

    Dear Chris,
    You’ve written this purely fabricated “history” before on this site. I can’t figure out if you’re just a deluded soul who overly romanticizes Hinduism, yoga, and India or a fanatic spreading nonsense at every opportunity.

    Provide some reputable sources for your fancy story. Oh…I forgot, you don’t have any. I asked you this at an earlier date and you came up with nothing.

  • Chris

    Sam,

    I’ve done my research, and invite you to do some research yourself.

    • Sam Louise

      Not sure where my post from yesterday went so here is it again:

      Chris,
      I’m a theologian with my past doctoral research and much post-doc research under my belt. I can assure you and anyone reading this that your claims are junk science.
      In addition, I also am a professor of world religions and your “Dan Brown” type “research” is laughable nonsense.

      BTW: I am not a Christian. I was many a year ago and would love to present radical info about Jesus of Nazareth to Christian theologians. Alas, there is very, very limited proof that there was indeed a Jesus of Nazareth let alone wild tales that he shmoozed in India.
      Also: your description of Islam as the “Arabic Plague” is disgusting and bigoted.

      • Chris

        Sam, Bill Cosby got it right !

        Excerpts from his ” I’m 83 and Tired” :

        ” I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

        I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund Mosques and Madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia , New Zealand , UK, America and Canada , while no one from these countries are allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach love and tolerance.”

        • Sam Louise

          Chris,

          You come from a place of great ignorance (not to mention bigotry). There are over 2 billion Muslims in this world. Your generalizations and fear-based conclusions are awful.

          Sam Louise

          • Chris

            The Arabic Plague has no followers, only victims. These victims are known as ‘Moslems’ ( the victims choose to describe their affliction as “The Religion of Peace” ).

            These victims, rather than getting cured themselves, become brainwashed into spreading their affliction to unaffected healthy individuals. That is the very nature of this affliction – this affliction that has been spread by the mechanism of ‘The Sword of Islam”, since the 6th-century, and has brought Mankind nothing but Misery.

            As a Professor of religion, Sam, you are doubtless aware of all of this.

  • So, all you teachers who are facing this problem because you are teaching in a Christian based church, check out your local Unitarian Universalist Church. I am both a UU and a yoga teacher and have taught weekly now for three years at my church. If you read the UU principals, you’ll see why they aren’t threatened. If the other churches don’t want to deal with yoga, just move along to a group of people who will welcome you!

  • Sam Louise

    Chris,
    There is no “Reply” button after your latest post so I will post here instead.

    No religion/theology professor worth his/her weight would ever write or teach such disturbing, hateful propaganda such as what you continue to write. I will not even enter a debate with you on this issue as your skewed and ignorant a view is beyond reproach. I invite you to try spewing your nonsense with other religion professors and see what you find.
    Clearly you have absorbed and understood nothing from yogic philosophy. Shame on you.

    • Chris

      Sam,

      You, Professor of Religion, should know better.

      It is the sacred duty of the Awakened-few to save Mankind from the Arabic Pl.., er, from the ” Religion of Peace “. It is the Moslems themselves that require the saving, for they themselves are the victims, bent even as they are, on spreading their affliction.

      Ask any American serviceman / servicewoman, who has ever served in Iraq or in the Afghanistan. He / she will tell it like it is.

      During my several visits to India, I have devoted time to the in-depth study of the history of India. I have realized that the brave Hindus of India have, for the last 1500 years, been single-handedly waging a valiant battle against the Arabic Plague of Islum. During these 1500 years of battle against the savage, primitive Islumic barbarians, the corpses of the peaceful slaughtered Hindus of India have, literally and actually , been stacked in towering heaps by the Islamic barbarians. Yes, after each war-victory, the Islamic barbarians would massacre the entire civilian populations of the vanquished Indian cities, and would build spectacular towering pyramids, in which the skulls of the beheaded Hindus, embedded into the tower. For example, the Mughal barbarian Akbar (who is considered the least barbaric and most civilized of all the Mughals) built just such a Pyramid after his victory over the Hindu emperor Hemu. Later, Akbar carried out the massacre of the 30, 000 civilians of Chittor in the Rajasthan region of India, and erected similar pyramids of human-skulls after his victory. The atrocities committed by Islam upon the people of India, over the last 1500 years, dwarf the horrors of the Holocaust committed by the Nazis upon the Jews, by several orders of magnitude.

      It is only in the last 10 years that the US is doing its bit towards Mankind’s long struggle against the “Religion of Peace”.

      • Sam Louise

        Chris,

        Playing the “you’re a professor of religion…” card only illuminates your ignorance. NO theologians nor religion professors buy your propagandist nonsense. You are clearly a bigot. I’m not sure if this is the result of being seduced by a cult and/or conspiracy theory nut or whether you have a paranoid personality – or both.

        Again, I will not engage in dialogue on your ridiculous comments about Islam or any other subject you have spewed forth on. There is no point having a dialogue with an irrational person and/or viewpoint. It would be like engaging in a dialogue with someone who believes the earth is flat; the conversation can go nowhere.

  • Chris

    No propaganda here. Just historical facts, every bit as real as the tragic Holocaust itself. My thesis is based on facts – facts that we in the West may not be aware of.

    • Sam Louise

      Chris,

      No, your “information” is not fact – based. You obviously lack proper critical thinking skills. Critical thinking would help you sort through fact from fiction, fact from conspiracy, fact from propaganda. Ever heard of a peer-reviewed work? Again, produce your sources! Oh yes, you can’t. Wonder why, eh?

      • Chris

        Sam,

        Consider this :

        Akbar the Great, the Mughal Emperor, considered to be the most benign of the several Mughal barbarians that overran medieval India, has to his credit the following atrocities :

        1) As a 14-year-old boy-king, beheaded the Hindu emperor Hemu, as Hemu lay unconscious and imprisoned before Akbar.

        2) Carried out the massacre of the Hindu civilians of Hemu’s kingdom, then had the beheaded skulls of the Hindus embedded in giant towers built specifically for this purpose.

        3) Had the Hindu guards of his harem executed by means of trampling-beneath-elephant’s-foot, because Akbar suspected that his own Moslem relatives may have dared to enter his private-harem, during his brief absence from Delhi.

        4) Carried out the massacre of the 30,000 Hindu civilians of the kingdom of Chittor in the Rajasthan region of India. Again built victory-towers with the skulls of the beheaded Hindu civilians.

        And this was just Akbar, the most benign Mughal of them all !!! The other Mughals make Hitler seem like an amateur school-boy !

        Sam, did I just dream up all of that ? Maybe a visit to the History Department of your own University will help convince you about the true nature of Islum.

        • Sam Louise

          Chris,

          Enough already. I encourage you to examine all the hate that is in your heart. Have you always been such a black and white thinker? Have you always divided the world between “us” and “them”? Or did you pick up your awful religious fundamentalism on your trip to India? Whatever the case may be it is troubling.

          And no, universities are thankfully not bastions of such fundamentalist thought.

          • Chris

            In 5000 years of Hinduism and Buddhism, there has never been a “Sword of Hinduism” or a “Sword of Buddhism”. Meanwhile, the “Sword of Islum”.

            In 5000 years, there have been no Hindu or Buddhist Conquistadors, or Hindu or Buddhist Inquisitions. In 5000 years, there has never been a Hindu or Buddhist terrorist. Meanwhile, Islumic Jihadists are sprouting everywhere.

            In 5000 years, no Hindu or Buddhist woman has been stoned to death for the crime of adultery.

            In 5000 years, no airplane has ever been hijacked by a Hindu or Buddhist terrorist. Meanwhile, 9/11 …

            They must know something out East, that we don’t.

  • Chris

    Sam,

    We are not talking about “fundamentalist thought” on my part, we’re talking about Historical Facts.

    I’m a student of History, and I have done my research.

    It is very clear that if Nazi-ism was a bad thing, during its 20 years of existence, then Islum, in its 1500 years of existence is a very, very bad thing.

    If Hitler was a bad-guy, then what to make of Pedophile-Mohammed (PedoMo), who exhorted his followers (victims ? ) ” Kill the Unbelievers, wherever ye might find them ” ?

    If Nazi-ism exterminated a few Million innocent humans during the Jewish Holocaust, then Islum has on its hands the blood of BILLIONS of innocent Hindus !

    If the civilized World studies Hitler and Nazi-ism, in order to ensure that those terrible events are never repeated, then it makes sense to study Islum, so that Mankind can be saved from this Arabic Plague. We cannot afford to keep sweeping the truth beneath the rug, by mindlessly repeating, ” Islam is a Religion of Peace ! ”

    I am not hating Muslims, but I see them as the Vectors ( carriers ) of a terrible disease, the Arabic Plague. The disease-vectors need to be cured to stop the spread of the Disease.

    • Sam Louise

      Chris,

      Yes, you do exhibit fundamentalist thought. You are unable to separate fact from fiction, lack critical thinking skills, and like other fundamentalists are either unwilling or unable to place what you read into proper historical/social/cultural/religious context.
      And yes, you are full of hate. You seem to like and overly romanticize Hinduism and Yoga. Put some of your “knowledge” of yogic philosophy to work and examine your own heart.
      Alas, like Christian fundamentalists I know who are completely ignorant of Jesus of Nazareth’s message of love, you are unable to understand and apply the tenets of your faith. Rather, you cling to falsehoods and rigid doctrines isolated from their contextual origins.

      **Thursday Fun Fact: Not all Muslims are Arabs.

      SL

  • Chris

    Sam,

    Friday homework assignment :

    Compare and contest Islum and Nazism.

    • Chris

      Sam,

      That should read ( damn you, auto-correct on Smart-Phone ! )

      Friday homework assignment :

      Compare and contrast Islum and Nazism.

  • Chris

    Here is a perspective by Dr. Peter Hammond, author of the book : Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat.

    Islam is neither a religion, nor a cult.

    In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life.

    Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components.

    The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.

    Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges.

    When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well..

    Here’s how it works:

    As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens.

    This is the case in:
    United States — Muslim 0..6%
    Australia — Muslim 1.5%
    Canada — Muslim 1.9%
    China — Muslim 1.8%
    Italy — Muslim 1.5%
    Norway — Muslim 1.8%

    At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs.This is happening in:

    Denmark — Muslim 2%
    Germany — Muslim 3.7%
    United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
    Spain — Muslim 4%
    Thailand — Muslim 4.6%

    From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.

    For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims.

    They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply.This is occurring in:

    France — Muslim 8%
    Philippines — 5%
    Sweden — Muslim 5%
    Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
    The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
    Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%

    At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law.

    The ultimate goal of Islamist is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

    When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions.

    In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings.

    Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam.

    Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:

    Guyana — Muslim 10%
    India — Muslim 13.4%
    Israel — Muslim 16%
    Kenya — Muslim 10%
    Russia — Muslim 15%

    After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:

    Ethiopia — Muslim 32..8%

    At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and on-going militia warfare, such as in:

    Bosnia — Muslim 40%
    Chad — Muslim 53.1%
    Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%

    From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:

    Albania — Muslim 70%
    Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
    Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
    Sudan — Muslim 70%

    After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:

    Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
    Egypt — Muslim 90%
    Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
    Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
    Iran — Muslim 98%
    Iraq — Muslim 97%
    Jordan — Muslim 92%
    Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
    Pakistan — Muslim 97%
    Palestine — Muslim 99%
    Syria — Muslim 90%
    Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
    Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
    United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%

    100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar-es-Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace.. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

    Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
    Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
    Somalia — Muslim 100%
    Yemen — Muslim 100%

    Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.

    ‘Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life.

    It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father ;

    my family against my cousins and the clan ;

    the clan against the tribe ;

    he tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel”. —

    Leon Uris, ‘The Haj’

    It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law.

    The national police do not even enter these ghettos.
    There are no national courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities.

    In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large.

    The children attend madrases.

    They learn only the Koran.

    To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death.

    Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate.

    Today’s 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world’s population.

    But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and all other believers .. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world’s population by the end of this century.

    • Sam Louise

      Chris,

      You should be aware I have reported you and your posts to Yogadork.

      Sam Louise

      • Chris

        Sam, have you reported me, for telling the truth about Islum ? Did you turn in Dr. Peter Hammond too ?

        All my posts on Islum are based on HISTORICAL FACTS !

        If Nazism was bad, then Islum is abhorrent ! Islum has the blood of Billions of Innocents on its hands. ” Billions and Billions Skewered ” is the slogan of Islum.

        The people with the best chance of realizing this truth about Islum is the People who are attuned to the Eastern Philosophies and Yoga ( i.e. Yogadork-People). The rest of Mankind seems unable to see this ugly Killer-Elephant in the Living-Room. It behoves these awakened Yoga-Dork people to save mankind from ” the fastest-growing religion in the world”.

  • V. Yamashita

    Ignorance and stupidity really should be outlawed:
    My friend was once warned about the ‘dangers’ of yoga. The xenophobe was concerned that my friend was going to fall victim to some kind of cult-ish demise if she continued going to the yoga studio.

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