credit: Hayne Palmour IV — UT San Diego
Since evangelical re-engagement with social and cultural issues in the mid-1970s, symbolized by the 1976 election of a self-professed born-again, Southern Baptist (Democrat) from Georgia to the White House, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, against the background of the Moral Majority and other such organizations there has been persistent and vocal worry from some quarters (typically from the social left) about the rise of a “theocracy” in America. Bill Moyers, once a Baptist pastor and later Lyndon Johnson’s press secretary, broadcast, on PBS, a 1987 documentary about the rising threat of the Christian Right and Christian Reconstuctionism. Baptist historian Bruce Gourley has also issued such a warning in which he lists a number of organizations, several of which are avowedly deconstructionist, theonomic, or dominionist in their ideology but some of which one might not expect to be on such a list. In 2014 Steven Miller wrote of President Reagan’s “dangerous” relationship to the Christian right. Theocracywatch.org cautioned, “Before the midterm elections of 2006, dominionists controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress, the White House and four out of nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court.” That’s an extraordinary claim. Even a quick survey of the justices sitting in 2006 suggests the utter implausibility of such a claim but such rhetoric is commonplace. In 2014 The Huffington Post warned of “The Christian Right’s Plan for a Strategic Theocratic Mid-Term Takeover.”1 It seems reasonably clear that did not happen. It’s easy to document the pervasiveness of this rhetoric.
To be sure, there was a time when Christianity was the de facto state religion. Fifty years ago the mainline denominations were home to some of the most influential political and cultural leaders in the US. Prayer in public schools was not ruled unconstitutional until 1962. There is still a chaplain in the United States Senate and sessions are opened with prayer. Since the early 1960s the Court has created a messy patchwork quilt of decisions such that Justice Scalia has been moved to mock the Lemon decision as a “late-night ghoul.” In Lemon v Kurtzman (1971) the Court held:
- “The statute must have a secular legislative purpose”
- the “principal or primary effect” of the statute “must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion”
- “the statute must not foster an excessive governmental entanglement with religion”
Then, of course, there is the First Amendment to the constitution of the United States, which says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Laws are to be examined using the so-called Lemon Test to see whether they violate the establishment or free-exercise clauses of the First Amendment.
In light of the controversy over Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and expressed concern about excessive entanglement between state and religion the ruling Friday by the 4th District Court of Appeals that the Encinitas Union School District may, as part of their regular curriculum, teach students Ashtanga Yoga is remarkable. The court held that the teaching of Ashtanga Yoga does not violate the Lemon Test and expressly used the very language used in Lemon v Kurtzman:
We conclude that the program is secular… (and) does not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion, and does not excessively entangle the school district in religion….
The district began teaching Ashtanga Yoga to students after receiving a 2 million dollar grant from the “Sonima Foundation.” The San Diego Union Tribune hasn’t done a great deal of investigation into the foundation funding this grant but a local UT columnist does concede that the Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) superintendent is also on the board of the Sonima Foundation. As Arsenio Hall says, this is something that makes one say
The foundation is the brainchild of some influential and wealthy local figures. The UT reports:
When Salima Ruffin, a veteran operator of concierge services here, joined forces with yoga instructor Sonia Jones, wife of billionaire hedge fund operator Paul Tudor Jones II, they created the Sonima (a combination of Sonia and Salima) Foundation. Its goal is to incorporate yoga in public school activities.
The foundation has invited among its first guest speakers is Depak Chopra, whom PBS concedes to be a teacher of religion. Their stated goal is to promote “health and wellness” via Ashtanga Yoga. On their blog Chopra writes about the wonders of Ashtanga Yoga:
Here’s where the wisdom principle comes in. Self-care is selfish because it benefits the person who adopts it. But self-care based on Yoga and meditation has a chance to benefit the world’s collective consciousness. If you cherish your own existence from the level of inner peace and joy, caring for other people and eventually the entire human family will develop naturally.
It seems reasonable to interpret “the world’s collective consciousness” as a religious doctrine. Is this not the very sort of publicly-funded prayer against which the Court ruled in 1962 and 1963? The students are being taught how to achieve “balance” and “peace” in what seem to be religious terms.
Candy Gunther Brown, PhD is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University and author of The Healing Gods: Complementary and Healing Religion in Christian America (Oxford University Press, 2013) and served as an expert witness in the trial. She describes Ashtanga Yoga thus:
Ashtanga, or eight-limbed, yoga was developed by Krishna Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009) from the Yoga Sutras, a sacred text for Hindus. The eight limbs are (1) yama: moral restraint, (2) niyama: ethical observance; (3) asana: posture; (4) pranayama: focused breathing; (5) pratyahara: calm mind; (6) dharana: attention; (7) dhyana: meditation; (8) samadhi: union with God (Brahman).
Ashtanga emphasizes postures and breathing on the premise that these practices will “automatically” lead practitioners to experience the other limbs and “become one with God,” in the words of Jois, “whether they want it or not.”
The Superior Court judge who first heard this case ruled that Ashtanga Yoga is indeed religious but that it does not violate the Lemon Test because the students would not perceive it to be religious. Brown criticized the initial decision:
I found the decision inconsistent in its internal logic, as well as with legal precedents and facts in evidence. Courts have found that practices such as prayer and Bible reading cannot be taught in public schools because they are religious. If yoga is religious, it should not be taught in schools. Courts ask whether a reasonable, informed observer would consider practices religious. Children may not have enough information to determine whether less familiar practices are religious.
She notes that even though the EUSD modified some yoga practices they still begin and end with
“Opening Sequence” (Surya Namaskara) and end with “lotuses” and “resting” (aka shavasana or “corpse”—which encourages reflection on one’s death to inspire virtuous living), and teach symbolic gestures such as “praying hands” (anjalimudra) and “wisdom gesture” (jnanamudra), which in Ashtanga yoga symbolize union with the divine and instill religious feelings.
According to Brown, the very term Yoga means “union with the divine.” Yoga is inextricably bound up with Hinduism. She says, “The ruling sets a precedent for public schools to offer religious yoga programs.” It seems difficult to see how one could reasonably disagree with her. Just as advocates of Hinduism (here is a Hindu statement on the court case) have an interest in seeing that their religion is not denatured so too J. Gresham Machen opposed religious instruction and teacher-led prayer in school long before the Supreme Court rejected it. He opposed it on the ground that it does damage to Christianity.
The Hindu American Foundation seems to say two contradictory things. In their statement on the court case they that yoga “is a spiritual discipline” but they also say that asana (posture) may be practiced by itself. There seems to be a tension inherent in their claim that yoga may be practiced in a secular way but that way is inherently spiritual. Further, in their earlier explanation, written before the EUSD court cases they described asana as a gateway to spiritual enlightenment. They vigorously asserted in their earlier statement that asana only is not yoga. It is “unyoga.” In their statement regarding the court cases the HAF opposes state-funded religion but they also concede that yoga is a religious act. Can reciting the Westminster Shorter Catechism be secularized?
It seems as if, in this case anyway, the cultural elite have not given up on a state-established religion. They have simply changed horses from mainline liberal Christianity to Ashtanga Yoga. If the secularist and religious left are worried about the next theocracy perhaps it’s time to stop worrying about Jerry Falwell (who has been dead since 2007) and start worrying about Depak Chopra, after all, no one of Falwell’s ilk is on publicly-funded television but Chopra is and there is serious money in Encinitas pushing catechetical instruction in yoga.
NOTES
1. The latest, and perhaps most substantial contribution to the investigation, may be Michael J. McVicar’s new (2015) book, Christian Reconstruction: R. J. Rushdoony and American Religious Conservatism. The HB introduced readers to McVicar’s work in 2012. I wrote a brief history of reconstructionism in the New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, eds Campbell Campbell-Jack, Gavin J. McGrath (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006).
The Real Danger of Astanga-yoga
Samadhi
“The yogi has now reached the state called samadhi, the final goal of meditation, and is ready to leave the body through the process sometimes called raising the kundalini. The yogi pushes the soul out through the top of the skull and goes wherever the consciousness is fixed at that moment. Histories of yogis described in Vedic literature show that the energy thus released is so immense that the body is sometimes consumed by fire. We learn from the Srimad-Bhagavatam that when King Dhritarashtra went to the forest to leave his body in this way, he started a forest fire. It was into this fire that his wife, Gandhari, and Queen Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, entered together to gain release from their mortal bodies.”
“Only when one has reached the state of samadhi can one begin to raise the kundalini. The yogi pushes the life airs (prana) from the mula-chakra, the lowest chakra, gradually up through the other chakras of the body until it reaches the heart chakra. From its seat there, the soul rises to the highest chakra, at the top of the head. Pushing the prana up through the different chakras constitutes a kundalini rising. As the kundalini is rising, the pressure inside the body becomes so great that the yogi must use the mastered asana and pranayama techniques to block all the holes in body lest the soul should escape through any one of them. The Vedic literature calls the body “the city of nine gates” (anus, genitals, mouth, two nostrils, two ear holes, and two eyes)….This type of yoga is extremely difficult to practice in the modern age. The yogis of yore would go to the forest to practice ashtanga-yoga and leave their bodies. ” (Ashtanga-yoga, Kundalini, and Bhakti, Jahnudvipa Dasa, btg.krishna.com)
Muktanada, Raising the kundalini, & Possession
The popular Tantra Kundalini yoga is based on the occultic chakra system which teaches that a universal evolutionary energy (Kundalini Shakti, the Supreme Power; serpent power; collective; the divine) coiled at the base of the spine flows through human beings and through all of creation, uniting everything above and everything below, thus acknowledging divinity in all things and all people. Through strenuous yoga and other occult techniques outlined in ancient and modern texts, Kundalini Shakti uncoils and rises through seven “chakras” or power centers within the human body. During so-called kundalini arousal, which may last for months or even years, protracted insanity and/or demonization must be endured. In the words of power yogi Muktananda:
“I was assailed by all sorts of perverse and defiling emotions….my breathing (became) disturbed…my abdomen would swell with air…my mind was sick with fear….(my) thoughts became confused, meaningless. My limbs and body got hotter and hotter….Then I felt a searing pain…I wanted to run away, but my legs were locked tight in the lotus posture…..Then…a moonlike sphere…came floating in (it) struck against my eyes and…passed inside me…I was terrified (but) still locked in the lotus posture (with) my head forced down and glued to the ground….I started to make a sound like a camel, which alternated with the roaring of a tiger….(I went) completely insane (and jumped and hopped) like a frog (while) my limbs (shook) violently. (Later) I learned that this was a Hatha Yoga process effected by the Goddess Kundalini in order for Her to move up through the spinal column into the sahasrana (upper psychic center.)” (Play of Consciousness, Swami Mutananda, pp. 75-81, 84-85, 88-89)
With continued practice, surrender, and preparation, one day kundalini current will reach full voltage and there will no longer be ‘anybody home’ but an ancient evil spirit residing in an empty shell of a body:
“The moment of power transfer had come….Muktananda (adept of Nityananda) was about to make the timeless journey….of the power yogi (the Siddha), but it required the catalytic power of the master guru, Nityananda…who was God to Muktananda, therefore worthy of worship as the supreme Deity. The voyage of consciousness, prized by the ancients, would split Muktananda into fragments…Sometimes (his) body would writhe and twist like a snake’s while a hissing sound would come from inside (him).” Finally it happened—Explosion, the point of no return where Muktananda “as an individual” would be obliterated. Superconscious states would take control of him, and his consciousness would be kicked out to more and more remote levels.” “In place of the former person was the walking void, the Unself, the hollow shell filled with the soul of the universe…” (Riders of the Cosmic Circuit, Tal Brooke, pp. 36-45)
I’ve noticed people who describe themselves as atheist and secular that have what seem like religious elements associated with their thinking and practices. Like atheist who also claim there is some kind of connection between all things, but it sounds more than simply an exchange and recycling of atoms when they express such things; some sound like they are expressing spiritual beliefs. Even a rabid atheist like Bill Maher has some ideas that do not comport with scientific consensus, like vaccinations. It was interesting listening to him expressing objections to vaccinations and having a medical doctor tell him gently how ridiculous his objections were. This was back when the swine flu was big news.
It seems that just as a Christian society is an elusive thing, so is a secular society free of religious elements and expressions. One way or another, religious expressions of some sort end up being included in public areas. If religious elements are deemed useful, many secularists are willing to embrace such elements. An example would be that of communists who placed Thomas Muntzer on their money.
Theocracy? The word means “rule by God”, not rule by clerics. The term was coined a bit after 70 A.D. to describe the constitution of the Jews prior to the destruction of their state. Josephus needed a term that would cover everything from a tribal gathering in the desert under Moses Our Teacher; a tribal federal republic under the judges; an independent monarchy; a satrapy of another power; and an independent state under the Hasmonean priestly dynasty.
@Alberto: interesting point about Thomas Munzer on the late, unlamented DDR’s currency. Fridrich Engels himself praised Munzer to the skies in some articles he published early in the Communist movement’s history. My own guess about a lot of “scientific atheists” is that they’re really either nihilists, for whom any stick is fine to beat the dog of the people they’re rebelling against, or incognito idolators either too lazy, too dishonest, or too stupid (or some combination) to name their little god. The Communists’ deification of historical necessity is a case in point, as is Carl Sagan’s deification of the cosmos.
G.K. Chesterton: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.”
Which necessitates the modern Enlightened Escape Clause: What “we” believe in is expressly not a religion, just good public policy. Deal with it… (Corollary – He who makes the rules rules.
Here’s the link to Dr. Albert Mohler’s long-form interview program Thinking in Public from May 5, 2014, “Are We All Syncretists Now? – A Conversation About Evangelical Christianity And Alternative Medicine With Historian Candy Gunther Brown”:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/05/05/are-we-all-syncretists-now-a-conversation-about-evangelical-christianity-and-alternative-medicine-with-historian-candy-gunther-brown/
The Interview Transcript is also available on this page.
Mohler and Brown cover the topics discussed above, and a lot more. If you ever had a doubt about the theological basis of yoga and other practices, listen to or read this interview. Too much is quotable at length even to give a sample.
Dr. Clark:
The Court of Appeals decision says that the school program changed over time. That is, parents complained about the classes then the classes were scrubbed of religious elements. So the Court said:
_______
the District’s yoga classes consist of instruction in performing yoga poses, breathing, and relaxation, combined with lessons on building positive personal character traits, such as respect and empathy. We see nothing in the content of the District’s yoga program that would cause a reasonable observer to conclude that the program had the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.
______________
Earlier in the decision there was more detail:
_________________
“There is a physical component . . . and there is a character component. And there is a famous person and quote that is to be focused on. The quotes are not religious. As examples, one of the famous persons is Babe Ruth and his quote was, ‘Every strike brings me closer to my next home run,’ and that’s for the subject of ‘Perseverance.’ Another quote is: ‘The time is always right to do what is right,’ by Martin Luther King., Jr. For the subject of “Collaboration,” Phil Jackson is quoted as saying, ‘The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.’ The Reverend Jessie Jackson is quoted on the subject of ‘Empathy’: ‘Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.’ “Then the curriculum indicates a breathing exercise. The teacher can choose a couple. Dragon breath, belly breathing, floating arms, connect breath with movement, kite, cat, cow. And then the posture is 20 minutes. The opening is Opening Sequence A, the kangaroo and the warrior. And then the standing pose is big toe, volcano, elephant, and mouse pose, seated fold, butterfly, half butterfly, back-bending, boat, mouse pose, optional is the windmill, and there’s a candle pose. And then five minutes of relaxation. The curriculum suggests to the teacher, ‘Before the closing sequence, take a moment to check in with your students.’ That’s the direction to the teacher. ‘How are you feeling? How are you breathing? How did you show respect in class today?’ And then the closing sequence: Telephone, pretzel, butterfly, flower, turtle, criss-cross applesauce, and rest.”
________________
If this is what was happening, do you find it to be a religious practice?
Mud,
Did you read Brown’s response? She had some criticisms of the court’s analysis.
There may be conflicting reports about what was being practiced but I have a more general question: is there something inherently religious in yoga such that the very striking of the poses in a class structure is tantamount with worshiping a god?
Dr. Clark,
At the risk of sounding cynical or pessimistic, I must say that I’ve been wondering how long it would take before other public school districts in California would follow in the footsteps of San Francisco. Here’s a short news story about meditation from this past December: http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/meditation-curbs-violence-at-san-francisco-schools-378464323951
Our current, cultural climate is rife to embrace something “spiritual” or “religious” that offers a form of godliness that denies its power. Yoga and transcendental meditation (TM) are a perfect match for our nation. I commend you for writing this post and taking the unpopular stance that yoga is a spiritual practice. I have one set of parents who not embrace yoga and TM, but they are members of the Hindu sect called Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF). They were the ones who told me about the San Francisco story with excitement. BTW, SRF has a temple center in Encinitas.
Personally, I don’t believe there are any credible arguments to advance in favor of the notion that yoga is only physical and not spiritual. Many of the progressive and Emergent & Emerging “Christian churches” view yoga as either harmless or even something valuable to incorporate into one’s walk with Christ. I have close friends and relatives who are ignorant of the roots of yoga and TM. I do my best to steer them away from those practices and toward our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Some of my relatives and friends think that I’m being close-minded about Yoga and TM given the physiological and emotional benefits of these practices. Some call me a Biblical Fundamentalist. I genuinely believe that is the cost of bearing witness to Christ to my relatives and friends. The hard truth is that those who practice yoga and/or TM are worshipping demons. My basis for this view comes from 1 Cor. 10:20-21. I don’t want my relatives and friends worshipping the beast. I want them to worship the one true God.
Years ago I was going through a martial arts routine at the local Y and met a yoga instructor. We talked about my martial art and talked about yoga and she thought it would help my flexibility and balance for Tae Kwon Do. So I tried it. I didn’t have a name for it at the time but now I know it was “power yoga.” It was a very rigorous work out that would leave everyone in a sweat and had a disproportionate number of participants involved in high-end athletic disciplines.
Every yoga move has a physical benefit(s). Mountain helps with posture and back alignment. Down dog stretches hamstrings and the back. Up dog enhances back flexibility, as does cow and cat. Warrior One and Warrior Two work the front quad while stretching the back leg. Balance poses make demands on focus and enhances subtle muscle control for places that may not otherwise be worked. Pigeon and lotus stretch the hips. Plank and side plank tighten up the core. Yoga-style pushups work the triceps. Triangle and reverse warrior are good for side stretches. It just does a lot of positive things without high impact. It’s a lot like physical therapy.
As I have seen it, it’s another class with no more spiritual meaning than pilates. If may have a philosophy, and that philosophy is working with your body rather than opposing it. Football would be an example of opposition to body as unreasonable demands are made of it, pain killers override warning signals, and it is unwisely smashed into other bodies. The price for opposing the body in that way is often a lifetime of limping and creaking body parts. If yoga says anything, it tells you to pay attention to your body’s strengths and weaknesses and enhance its well-being.
Muddy, so power yoga is to Eastern religion what liberalism is to Christianity?
Don’t be so shy, DGH. The answer is “yes, your local PCUSA church probably has a yoga class.” And no one will ever know why you’re going there. Just don’t put on your stretchy clothes until you get there.
Or what Halloween is to devil worshipers. Modernity has a way vacuuming out religious meaning attached to certain activities. That has its down sides, but it also makes a way for Christians to be able to don costumes for candy or participate in stretching routines without much worry.
Through focusing on the spiritual Christians often neglect the importance of the physical. In fact, Christianity is the religion that, overall, most strongly emphasizes the connection between our physical bodies and our spirit. Christ was raised from the dead, His physical body was raised. Yet, we far too often neglect the health of our physical bodies… then pray for healing when we get sick.
There is a lot of truth in yoga; the best lies are mostly truth. Why are we afraid of it? When we know the whole truth? Yoga misses the important truth that physical and spiritual are connected not only in this life but also in the next.
“Namaste,” the customary greeting, means, “I bow to the light that is within you.” What is the light that is within us all? What is its source? “Every knee shall bow” comes to mind…
God gives knowledge and understanding. I enjoy the benefit of what has been passed down and built upon in the areas of medicine and every art form and discipline. I don’t throw out the truth I learn in Science class because I am also taught about evolution…
Because we were made to worship, we will always have idols as long as God is not our centre. Yes, yoga can quickly become an idol, but so can basketball. What is the difference between not believing in anything and believing in something that is a lie? Both miss the mark…
Yoga is popular because it is powerful. People go to yoga studios and find healing, encouragement, and acceptance. The problem is not really about yoga, it is about why people are not being attracted to Christ’s followers and where they gather to find powerful healing, encouragement, and acceptance… as well as love and life!
Nothing new under the sun, they say. I’m inclined to agree with whomever first penned such wisdom..
A strong Christian can benefit from the yoga body stuff and not be susceptible AT ALL, to the demonic spiritual underbelly. Others need be aware and perhaps beware.
Matt, IMO I Corinthians 8 is a good analogy.
This from Corinthians as well.
2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Lone Starr: Who hasn’t heard of Yogurt!
Princess Vespa: Yogurt the Wise!
Dot Matrix: Yogurt the All-Powerful!
Barf: Yogurt the Magnificent!
Yogurt: Please, please, don’t make a fuss. I’m just plain Yogurt.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/quotes)
Bruce, nice!
mjabate: Some of my relatives and friends think that I’m being close-minded about Yoga and TM given the physiological and emotional benefits of these practices. Some call me a Biblical Fundamentalist. I genuinely believe that is the cost of bearing witness to Christ to my relatives and friends. The hard truth is that those who practice yoga and/or TM are worshipping demons. My basis for this view comes from 1 Cor. 10:20-21. I don’t want my relatives and friends worshipping the beast. I want them to worship the one true God.
I agree. Christians who practice yoga are playing with strange fire.
According to Dr. Kurt Koch (1913-1987), a noted German theologian and minister with extensive personal experience in counseling and delivering thousands of people held in occult bondage, with twenty thousand cases being particularly terrible, yoga does not liberate; it enslaves and binds. It does not enlighten but brings confusion and insanity. Those who imagine that it is within their power to separate the demonic from yoga fool themselves, for over time it will inevitably make them immune to redemption through Christ,
“Yoga does not open the door for the Holy Spirit, but for spiritist spirits.” (Occult ABC: Exposing Occult Practices and Ideologies, Kurt E. Koch, p. 259)
According to Koch, who counseled and delivered many Christian practitioners of yoga, yoga is a form of occultism and spiritism (sorcery). Thus all who trespass into Satan’s domain by committing sins of sorcery will be harassed by the powers of darkness, irrespective of whether they take the step consciously or unconsciously. Every sin of sorcery (occultism) cuts a person off from the Holy God and opens the door to demonic bondage. Any person who serves the devil (occult), will receive the devil’s wages (Exod. 7:11-12; Lev. 19: 26, 32; Zech. 12:2; Mal. 3:5; Acts 8:16; Acts 16:16; 1 Sam. 28; 2 Chron. 10:13-14; Isaiah 2:6; 8:19; Jer. 27:9, 10; Gal. 5:20; 2 Tim. 3:8; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15). Thus when a person abandons the Holy Triune God through sins of sorcery, he abandons his inner person (mind, will, conscience) at the same time as seen in relation to psychological disturbances having the following predominant characteristics:
(1) Warped, distorted character: hard-edged egoism; uncongenial, dark nature.
(2) Extreme passions: hard-edged egoism, abnormal sexuality (sodomy, lesbianism, sadomasochism, bestiality, pedophilia, pederasty, zoophiles); violent temper, belligerence; tendencies to addiction; meanness and kleptomania; compulsive lying.
(3) Emotional disturbances; compulsive thoughts of murder and suicide, anxiety states.
(4) Possession with destructive urges, fits of mania; tendency to violent acts and crime
(5) Insanity.
(6) Bigoted attitude against Christ and God; conscious atheism; simulated piety; indifference to God’s word and to prayer; blasphemous thoughts; religious delusions.
The ultimate goal of fallen angels and evil spirits is degradation and desecration of mans’ inner person, the spiritual part of him created in the image of the Holy God. So what are systematically defaced and desecrated are the mind, will, conscience and sense of good and evil.
Don’t usually read the neo-con Natl. Review. (Sobran and later Derbytshire deserved to be fired, but not John Yoo, apologist for torture?). Lately though, they have had some good articles on the Indiana hysteria/lynch mob. Yuval Levin says what we are seeing, is the establishment of liberal progressivism as the state church contra the First Amendment in that people are being required to attend a religious function of this church, with which they disagree with, such as a wedding. (Hmmm. I wonder why?)
The Church of the Left
He had written earlier in another article that America as a Protestant country, followed the example of the English when they allowed Romanists freedom of worship, but not freedom to act upon one’s beliefs outside of the church or one’s family. Which is what we are seeing in regard to businesses acting upon the owner’s beliefs and taking heat for it.
An interesting take.