Can someone accidentally worship another god?

[mommaforbes]

I have a concern about yoga. The poses are actually worshiping their Hindu gods whether you do the mantra or not. Yoga has tax exempt status in some states as it is practicing a religion. Why would Catholic answers say it is OK to do yoga when it breaks a Commandment about other gods? If you made the sign of the cross just because it is a good exercise for your arm, would you still be honoring the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in doing so? Thank you.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

The issue of yoga has been addressed numerous times here and I don’t have much to add to their answers. What I would like to address is your question: “If you made the sign of the cross just because it is a good exercise for your arm, would you still be honoring the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in doing so?”

There is no such thing as accidentally worshiping or giving honor. As the Catechism notes:

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

If someone makes the sign of the cross just because it is a good exercise for his arm, he would **not **still be honoring the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in doing so.

If a new religion sprung up that had the bicycle as part of its worship, Catholics would not be forbidden to ride a bicycle.

For further reading:
Can Catholic practice yoga?
Is yoga contrary to our faith?