'Harry Potter and yoga are evil', says Catholic Church exorcist

[Catholic90]

Did you watch Star Wars when you were younger? Did you sometimes pretend you were Luke or a Jedi and could use the Force?
The Force has the same similarities to occult magic as HP magic has to occult magic. The point is that HP does not portray occult spells in a positive light.

The Force be with you.

And with your Spirit.

So many people with so much fear…so sad.

With that, I am out of here. Thinking it is time to read the series again…maybe over Christmas break!

 

[mlz]

No one in the Vatican has made a definitive statement regarding HP. The Pope has not said one word about HP. AND for every spokesperson making statements against, there are spokespeople making statements for. They’ve been discussed ad nauseum on various HP threads on these very forums.

The spokespeople are not infallible! They are not HP or literature experts.

I never said they are infallible, however what they say should be respected and not given a look the other way. Seriously and prayerfully considered, not dismissed due to our own way of looking at it. The man given the warning is the head exorcist or at least highly regarded in this area. THAT should be considered when prayerfully considering this. A man respected in this area.

In His love,
mlz

 

[Mark_David]

Did you watch Star Wars when you were younger? Did you sometimes pretend you were Luke or a Jedi and could use the Force?
The Force has the same similarities to occult magic as HP magic has to occult magic. The point is that HP does not portray occult spells in a positive light.

Sure it does. Star Wars portrays The Force in an extremely positive light;, it’s the central focus of the ‘Jedi religion’. One difference, though, is that The Force is entirely fictional, while sorcery does exist. HP may not be faithful to the details of real sorcery, but it’s the appearance that is problematic. “From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.” 1 Thes 5:22. HP fails to pass this test; the protagonist uses witchcraft. No one is saying that everyone who reads HP ends up getting involved in witchcraft, just as people who watch ridiculously violent films don’t necessarily end up serial killers. But does this justify the work itself? No. If something promotes sin, it promotes sin. End of story.

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

I am calm. I’m not being defensive. I just choose to stand up for myself when talked down to.

I didn’t mean to talk down to you, sorry. But you do confuse me. You say that the Harry Potter series are spiritually harmful to some children, yet you dismiss the cautions by Fr. Gabriel Amorth, and get upset at people like me that say that the HP series introduce children to the world of sorcery and casting spells.

Do you think it is a good thing for movies to show kids doing something that the Bible condemns? What’s more, what do you think of this eHow article I linked earlier? Here is how the article starts out:

***In this day and age, many young people are becoming interested in the craft. *Teens often feel that their parents and other mainstream religious groups do not understand them. Some turn to the Goddess for strength. Some witches refer to this group as the “new generation of the craft”. Silver RavenWolf is an excellent author on the topic of the craft and younger generations. One of the most difficult hurdles that the younger generation must deal with is the lack of room to perform their newly chosen spiritual path. . . . There are a few simple alterations one can make to her ritual to ensure a solid ritual for spell-casting, while abiding by the rules set by mom and dad, or school authorities. Let’s take a look at the few basic steps in spell casting and some simple ways to overcome the obstacles you may face.

Here is the link to that article

Question: Why are there many more many young people becoming interested in the occult? Do you think the HP series, which has been consumed by millions of children over the years, has had any influence in the increase of dabbling with the occult?

 

[Sonic]

I’ve gone through Toni Collin’s article in the past. This paragraph has caused so much contention in discussions. I thought I’d point something out.

Does this have anything to do with Harry Potter? You bet. Though it’s all dressed up as sweetness and light, the first Harry Potter book has rituals (for example, “the Sorting Ceremony,” pp. 117-122); spells (Hermione cast the full Body-Bind spell on Neville, p. 273); spirits and other non-human entities (Voldemort inhabits Quirrell’s body, pp. 293-295, and the myriad ghosts of Hogwarts); candles (thousands floating above the tables at Hogwarts, p. 116); and brews (Professor Snape’s potions class, pp. 136-139).

source: catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4624

This paragraph clearly doesn’t say the examples given are real. It just cites them as examples from the book that coincide with the terms noted (in a very loose way).

Following up on this for either side of the discussion is just a red herring. Collin’s clearly doesn’t state these particular examples coincide with real occult practices. To be fair to all reading, contending for or against the authenticity of these examples should be dropped from the discussion. It’s really a dead end and out of context of the author’s actual intended meaning.

Just so everyone knows, I’m not arguing for or against the authenticity of real spells or rituals in Harry Potter by saying this. I would suggest that those who do take mentioned warnings seriously to put some serious scholarship into the subject and surpass those that they are in disagreement with.

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

Do the Harry Potter series introduces children to the world of casting spells and mastering sorcery? According to Fr. Gabriel Amorth, who has performed exorcisms for decades states:

*“Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil. Fr. Amorth warned that Rowling’s books contain innumerable positive references to magic, “the satanic art.” He also noted that there is no distinction between black and white magic, “because magic is always a turn to the devil.”
*

img43.imageshack.us/img43/2846/powerbr.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Tenofovir]

Yoga should be avoided by Catholics, simply because it is contrary to our faith. Most do not realize that the bodily positions in Yoga exercises are poses of the different Hindu gods. In Hinduism worship is done through bodily poses, and each pose represents the different gods that are being worshiped. In Yoga, a pose is held for 20-30 seconds at a time, and then switches to another pose. Thus an hour of Yoga is an hour of bodily worship of the different gods represented in many of the poses, so I can see why Fr. Amorth might tell people to avoid Yoga…
http://yogaworldtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Yoga_2.jpg

You can’t worship something by not doing it consciously. If the positions during Yoga are of Hindu gods, and you are not conscious of it or care not for it, it is not worship of the Hindu gods. It may happen to be convenient to sit that way and perhaps from thence the Hindu practices emerged. On the other hand if you’re a closet Hindu convert and you pray or worship their deities in your mind but are too cowardly to do outright, you are then doing anti-Catholic things.

Many people wear crosses these days but these are ornaments. If they don’t wear them with some pro-Christian meaning, they are not worshiping God in any way.

 

[twf]

I’m going to summarize points that have been raised multiple times on this thread but not yet adequately addressed by those arguing against Harry Potter…

1. Harry Potter magic does not in any way resemble real world magic. It is no more the occult than the magic of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings… both written by devout Christians… Why is HP condemned by certain Christians while Narnia and the Lord of the Rings are praised by virtually all Christians I have come across? Fantasy magic is not real world magic… the only thing in common between them is the word magic… if you doubt the value of fantasy, read Tolkien’s On Faerie Stories where he defends the genre from both a Christian and literary perspective.
2. The wizards of Harry Potter (including Harry himself) are not ordinary children. They are not even ordinary humans! It is made very clear throughout the serties that orindary human children can not under any circumstances perform magic. They are essentially a distinct species with natural powers…like the Elves of the Lord of the Rings… Harry was BORN a wizard… his non-magical cousin Dudley could never ever perform magic no matter how hard he tried… so how does this promote the Occult?
3. No invocations, no calling upon higher powers is involved in any way whatsoever…as noted above…the “magic” of Harry Potter is simply the natural abilities of a distinct race of beings (wizards)…not a power that regular humans can call upon. How is this even remotely similar to the Occult?
4. Harry Potter is FULL of Christian values, symbolism, and metaphors from start to finish. In the last book, the Christian allegory is so obvious that I don’t see how anyone with half a brain (who has read the last book start to finish) could miss it. Rowling herself, as already demonstrated on this thread has strongly implied that the Christian allegory is deliberate. She is a practicing baptized Christian. She has made it clear in public statements that she does not support or promote the Occult. Self-sacrificial love, courage, loyalty, humility…these are the virtues promoted by the books again and again and again… the ultimate form of “magic” in Harry Potter is laying down your life for your friends…in the last book Harry does just this and by doing so overcomes Voldermort (the “Satan” figure of the allegory)…throughout the series it is made clear that Harry’s mother, by laying down her life for him, by shedding her blood (a very similar expression…clearly a Biblical reference…is used by Dumbledore in the series), protected Harry from the curses of Voldermort. It is a fantastical story with many Christian allegorical elements…like Narnia or the Lord of the Rings. Other posters have pointed out many more very specific Christian symbols and allusions found throughout the series… none of the detractors have adequately addressed any of these points. I have read the books multiple times… they do NOT promote the Occult… I find them more explicitly Christian than Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

That being said, could some children become obsessed with the series in an unhealthy way? Could some children be tempted by the Occult? Sure… that is true of any number of books or movies, which is why parents must be prudent and ensure that their children are properly educated. If some parents don’t want their kids reading Harry Potter…that’s fine… but it is false to suggest that the books are intrinstically evil or that they promote the Occult… and it is downright silly to deny the very obvious Christian symbolism as confirmed by the author herself…

 

[karaleigh]

In the Dec 9th issue of the magazine The Week it says the former chief exorcist of the Vatican has denounced yoga as a tool of Satin. Fr. G. Amorth ,86yrs, who is Pres. -for-life of the International Assoc. Of Exorcists, says the increasing popular Eastern discipline and breathing can lead devotees to Hinduism and thus to a “false belief in reincarnation and a unholy worship of the body”. Practicing yoga is Satanic", said Amoth.". “It leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter”.
I find this hard to believe. I think he should retire.

I located this book in Google’s eBook that I think is something to read if you’re interested in the Church and witchcraft. Entitled 'The Devil’s Dominion: magic and religion in Early New England. Very enlightening! Seems both Christian and witchcraft were sitting together in the pews of the early american churches. :tsktsk:

 

[Farsight001]

I didn’t mean to talk down to you, sorry. But you do confuse me. You say that the Harry Potter series are spiritually harmful to some children, yet you dismiss the cautions by Fr. Gabriel Amorth, and get upset at people like me that say that the HP series introduce children to the world of sorcery and casting spells.

I never said that HP is spiritually harmful. I said it can be, just like almost everything else can be if used in the wrong way. As for dismissing Fr. Gabriel’s cautions - that is because I see no reason to conclude that he knows the first thing about HP or the occult. He’s also 86, and the mind fades. Plus he claims an average of 10 exorcisms a day, a logical impossibility, so I find his claims suspect from the get go.

I get upset at people like you who say that HP introduces children to the world of sorcery because the two don’t even remotely resemble each other, we have explained this several times, and no one listens, choosing instead to repeat themselves over and over that HP introduces one to the occult.

Do you think it is a good thing for movies to show kids doing something that the Bible condemns? What’s more, what do you think of this eHow article I linked earlier? Here is how the article starts out:

It’s not “good”, but it’s not necessarily bad. Depicting sin is not wrong, or we would have to throw out the bible which depicts many, many sins. And again, the bible condemns witchcraft and sorcery, which, despite the same names, are not even remotely similar to what goes on in HP.

*In this day and age, many young people are becoming interested in the craft.*No, they become interested in HP, not real witchcraft. They are not even remotely similar.
​

Teens often feel that their parents and other mainstream religious groups do not understand them.

Well, obviously based on the posts here where people keep equating HP with the occult, they aren’t understood.

Question: Why are there many more many young people becoming interested in the occult? Do you think the HP series, which has been consumed by millions of children over the years, has had any influence in the increase of dabbling with the occult?

There aren’t so many more young people becoming interested in the occult because HP IS NOT THE OCCULT. Vampires and werewolves and sparkles are not the occult. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve explained that already.

 

[jilly4ski]

Sure it does. Star Wars portrays The Force in an extremely positive light;, it’s the central focus of the ‘Jedi religion’. One difference, though, is that The Force is entirely fictional, while sorcery does exist. HP may not be faithful to the details of real sorcery, but it’s the appearance that is problematic. “From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.” 1 Thes 5:22. HP fails to pass this test; the protagonist uses witchcraft. No one is saying that everyone who reads HP ends up getting involved in witchcraft, just as people who watch ridiculously violent films don’t necessarily end up serial killers. But does this justify the work itself? No. If something promotes sin, it promotes sin. End of story.

No you are wrong. Harry Potter does not portray sorcery as how it is defined in the Bible or the Church. The magic of Harry Potter does not exist anymore than the “magic” of the force exist. They both use innate powers to control the natural world around them. Harry Potter uses some of the same terminology, as real magic, but the terms mean completely different things. A witch/wizard/sorcerer in Harry Potter are a subset of humans who have an innate gift to use “magic.” In real magic, these terms apply to actual humans who use or try to use occult powers, which anyone can use or learn to use. See the difference. Even the magic they use is different, they draw on it differently, Harry Potter uses wands and fake latin phrases, and occult uses long incantations, with drawn symbols. The results of the magic are different, in Harry Potter, the make things come to them, or levitate, or fill in any number of impossible things in the natural world

It is like saying an iron will take the wrinkles out of clothes, and I pull out a tire iron. Of course you are going to give me a funny look. See it is a Homonym, words sound the same, spelled the same, but don’t mean the the same.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Sorry, Harry Potter arguments make me mad.

Why is there a dilemma at all? People can watch Harry Potter and Christian things (“good Christian books and movies” is also nearly an oxymoron).

The time we spend watching or reading things like Harry Potter is time you could have spent growing closer to our Lord by watching or reading something Christian. We only have so much time in our lives for reading and watching movies. We have decided to put Christ first in our lives. Each moment of our lives should reflect that, IMO.

Sure, there is benefit to being well-rounded and knowing something about the trends in non-Christian culture. If enjoying Harry Potter fits into your Christian life in that way, then you don’t seem to have a dilemma. On the other hand if you’re overly attached to it to the point that you get mad when priests warn about it, that may mean there is a dilemma. It’s a judgement call.

 

[jilly4ski]

The time we spend watching or reading things like Harry Potter is time you could have spent growing closer to our Lord by watching or reading something Christian. We only have so much time in our lives for reading and watching movies. We have decided to put Christ first in our lives. Each moment of our lives should reflect that, IMO.

Sure, there is benefit to being well-rounded and knowing something about the trends in non-Christian culture. If enjoying Harry Potter fits into your Christian life in that way, then you don’t seem to have a dilemma. On the other hand if you’re overly attached to it to the point that you get mad when priests warn about it, that may mean there is a dilemma. It’s a judgement call.

So you don’t watch any TV then besides EWTN? You don’t read any book that is not explicitly Christian or Catholic. I hope you didn’t watch Star Wars or read Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. Because you could be growing closer to God instead.

I think the problem is that Harry Potter falls under the prudential judgment category. I, curlycool, and everyone else on this thread who has read the books, have already made the prudential judgment that we could read Harry Potter and not suffer any harm, and indeed found very Christian elements in the plot line. We have suffered no harm from reading (or watching) Harry Potter, (though I must say the movies are pretty terrible, and if I had actually paid to go see them, I might have suffered some harm.)

So to say or argue that these books are evil is in my opinion a stretch. If it is evil, it is everywhere are always evil. It cannot be good for some people if it is evil, it would be bad for everyone. But people who are against this book cannot say it is bad for everyone. They must be content that the books might not be prudential for some people to read while they are fine with others reading it.

Also if I might be allowed to speak for curlycool, it is not Fr. Amorth’'s statement which makes us mad as we just roll out eyes. (He is old and focused on one thing). It is people who try to defend his statement without fact or knowledge of the books and claim that because the books use the words sorcery and magic that is must be what was condemned by the Bible and the Church. This is blatantly false and lacks any sort of rational thought behind it.
(There are real and rational objections to the books. They are not great works of literature. They became rather boring and repetitive to me. They are not always internally consistent. And a parent might judge that their child or they themselves are too tempted by the occult to read any fantasy or cannot grasp the difference between fiction and reality clearly enough to be reading such books, or that the themes of death are too old for one’s child).

 

[michelleds]

I never said that HP is spiritually harmful. I said it can be, just like almost everything else can be if used in the wrong way. As for dismissing Fr. Gabriel’s cautions - that is because I see no reason to conclude that he knows the first thing about HP or the occult. He’s also 86, and the mind fades. Plus he claims an average of 10 exorcisms a day, a logical impossibility, so I find his claims suspect from the get go.

I don’t really have a dog in this HP fight, the only reason I came to this thread was because of the Fr. Amorth reference.

I do think that you should be more respectful of someone who was the Chief Exorcist of Rome and is considered one of the pre-eminent experts in this field. I would venture to go so far as to say that he has forgotten more about the occult than you will ever know.

have you read the accounts of exorcisms and exorcists? during the classic exorcism, the demon(s) are queried and provide information–including how the afflicted person came to be possessed.

argue all you want about HP and the magic/sorcery therein; but please show respect to Fr. Amorth. Your blatant disrespect destroys your credibility and makes you seem ungracious and petulant.

thanks

 

[Neil_Anthony]

So you don’t watch any TV then besides EWTN? You don’t read any book that is not explicitly Christian or Catholic. I hope you didn’t watch Star Wars or read Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. Because you could be growing closer to God instead.

I tried to explain that I think learning about popular culture can have a place in a life devoted completely to God.

And no, I’m not claiming that my life is 100% devoted to God, not even close. But reaching 100% is a goal I think we should all work towards.

So to say or argue that these books are evil is in my opinion a stretch. If it is evil, it is everywhere are always evil. It cannot be good for some people if it is evil, it would be bad for everyone.

Maybe that’s the misunderstanding. I would say that if these draw even a small number of souls away from Christ, they’re evil. I don’t think anyone, including Fr. Amoth, would say they are a danger to everyone.

We should be asking “How does Harry Potter further God’s plan?” If something doesn’t further God’s plan in any way shape or form, it’s not worthy of our interest. All the more if it actually harms God’s plan for some souls.

 

[curlycool89]

The Harry Potter series is about a young boy who discovers he is really a wizard. “Wizard” is another word for sorcerer. Harry is a character who is learning the arts of sorcery and witchcraft. Thus, any children’s book set in an occult environment offering a hero who practices the occult is what has exorcists cautioning parents. Why is this so hard to understand?

That would be an F. F-.

You failed to prove why “wizard” is equivalent to “sorcerer” within the context of the story, nor did you give a definition of “sorcerer”. Nor did you define what “witchcraft” is within the context of the story. You gave something that was close enough to the definition in the real world.

Wizard in the Harry Potter world does not mean the same thing as the real definition. In the real world, a sorcerer is someone who tried to acquire power by invoking demons (or something like that). In Harry Potter, there are no invocations because magic is an innate ability. There’s a huge difference, in one someone tries to get power apart from God, and in another a person already possesses power from their birth. They’re not wizards, they’re X-Men.

Get it already?

Harry Potter attends the “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” and what is really being described in the book is sorcery presented for children…

So basically you’re just taking words and assuming it’s bad. Because it contains the words “witchcraft and wizardry” that makes it bad, despite the fact that you have not proved that it in fact has anything to do with it.

Keeping with the explanation above, Hogwarts isn’t a school for “witchcraft”, it’s basically Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. People are not taught to tap some unknown external power, they learn to refine their own innate gifts.

Don’t be silly. All you have sjhown is that you have an opinion, which I respect, but don’t agree with. Especially when your arguments are contradictory and dismissive of people who deal with real demons. Demons are behind sorcery and the occult…

No, you simply showed us how flawed your logic is.

By your logic, Moses is a grave sinner because he turned his staff into a snake. “But God told him to do it” you say? Well, under your definition it’s sinful because you’re only counting the actions. The Pharaoh’s aids were also able to turn their staffs into snakes after all, so turning a staff into a snake must be magic, right?

The trick itself, the turing the staff into a snake must therefore be neutral. The Pharaoh’s people were sinful because their power didn’t come from God, while Moses’ power did. Are you following still?

When looking at Harry Potter, you must use the same analysis. What matters is where the power came from, not what it does. There are no invocations in Harry Potter, so it doesn’t come from some satanic place. Not only that, wizards in Harry Potter are able to do magic from birth, which means that it is not an ability they ever needed to ask for, it’s an innate ability (again, like X-Men).

Tell me you understand this already.

 

[Fone_Bone_2001]

So what’s the difference? The actors in HP are acting out sorcery and casting spells. It sounds like you are rationalizing a defense, and that can be done for anything.

With our fornication example, characters are fornicating, though actors who portray them are not truly doing so.

In Harry Potter, not even the characters are practicing sorcery.

Waving a stick with unicorn hair in it, shouting Latin, and blasting your enemies to unconsciousness is not sorcery. It’s made up. The only reason the series calls it “magic” is because, well, explosions that don’t use identifiably scientific/material ingredients seem magical. But it has nothing to do with actual magic: sorcery, invocation, witchcraft, etc.

If you can’t understand this, then you simply do not understand this issue at all.

I’ve noticed that those arguing against Harry Potter in this thread haven’t even attempted to address the many well thought out arguments, presented earlier in this thread by a few posters, that the series does in fact promote Christian values and is full of many deliberate and even explicit Christian metaphors, allegories, and symbolism. As illustrated in this very thread, Rowling herself is a Christian and has implied in public that her books include allegorical elements. The wizards of Harry Potter are not ordinary children…they are, as other posters have pointed out, a distinct subspecies born with innate abilility…it is a natural talent…not a power ordinary children can learn through invocation… it is NOTHING like real magic… no more so than the magic of Aslan in the Narnia series. It is emphasized again and again throughout the series that the greatest form of magic is self-sacrificial love…what Christians would call agape love… laying down your life for another is explictly shown to be the ‘greatest’ form of magic, more powerful than any curse or spell… the Christian symbolism is as obvious as it could possibly be. Scripture is directly quoted in the novels more than once!

Well said!

Casting spells is not an occult practice?

Bingo!

Not in Harry Potter, because the so-called “spells” in Harry Potter involve only waving around sticks with fictional ingredients like unicorn hair, saying some pseudo-Latin words, and thereby bringing about conspicuously fantastical effects - like blasting the bad guys into unconsciousness, making brooms fly to ride on them, etc.

There’s nothing occult about that - it’s qualitatively distinct from any real sorcery, both structurally and aesthetically.

We should be asking “How does Harry Potter further God’s plan?” If something doesn’t further God’s plan in any way shape or form, it’s not worthy of our interest. All the more if it actually harms God’s plan for some souls.

Harry Potter definitely furthers God’s plan. It promotes great moral and spiritual truths about self-sacrifice, courage, and death and is very Christian in its structure, themes, and imagery. Some details supporting this have already been cited earlier in this very thread.

 

[curlycool89]

I never said they are infallible, however what they say should be respected and not given a look the other way. Seriously and prayerfully considered, not dismissed due to our own way of looking at it. The man given the warning is the head exorcist or at least highly regarded in this area. THAT should be considered when prayerfully considering this. A man respected in this area.

In His love,
mlz

Do you know who has endorsed Harry Potter?

Cardinal Pell of Sydney for one.

How about Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, an expert on New Age and former official at the Pontifical Council for Culture (the actual organ of the Vatican responsible for reviewing these sorts of things), in here for example.

The time we spend watching or reading things like Harry Potter is time you could have spent growing closer to our Lord by watching or reading something Christian. We only have so much time in our lives for reading and watching movies. We have decided to put Christ first in our lives. Each moment of our lives should reflect that, IMO.

How dare you suggest I don’t. I want an apology. And I mean it, that was totally out of line. What a stupid thing for you to even suggest.

Do you even know who I am? No, you know nothing about me. How dare you suggest I put Harry Potter before God. What do you want me to do, list out all the Christian things I do? I’m not going to, because I don’t need to prove myself to a bunch of self-righteous Pharisees (I actually wanted to use another word, but it would definitely get me censored, and this one gets the point across well enough) on the internet.

Believe me, real people know what I do in life. People who actually have a need to know already know (I mean need as in requirement. Yes, I do in fact enjoy dropping ambiguous hints just to mess with people).

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Gabriel Serafin

No, what I did was ask you a question. Here it is again:** if Satanists came up with a great set of exercises which contorted the body into different poses representing the devil, would you do them? Why? Why not?**

Why would I immitate the devil, if that were possible? No, I would not.

But Yoga doesn’t represent the posses of the Hindu god as you claim.

Again, Yoga posses are natural body posses. They are not contortions, as you assert. As I stated earlier, anyone who does the style of Yoga that I do, and that most Americans learn at the local YMCA, will see the posses they do, just watching a child at play.

Even the statue in the pic you posted, the image is sitting in a position which cultures who do not use chairs sit in. Even Native Americans sat in the cross legged position the image the statue is in.

It’s not a contorted position for them, but very natural.

I suppose you could just do the exercises and say you do not believe or intend the “spiritual stuff”. What is the difference between that and doing Yoga, which is the bodily worship of pagan deities?

There are no similarities and the hypothetical situation you’re presenting makes no sense.

I think it would be a rather offensive thing to do toward God, simply because your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Posing the temple of the Holy Spirit in the shapes of pagan gods is not a very wise thing to do. And how do you know it doesn’t offend God?

This is your assertion, which of course is false.

Just because you see a Hindu statue sitting in a cross legged poss, you assume that people sitting in a cross legged posse in Yoga are imitating the Hindu god.

FYI, Hindu’s don’t worship the statues, you as a Catholic should know better.

I would suggest replacing Yoga with some basic stretching exercises and then a nice stroll in the park…

Stretching exercises are what Yoga is.

It’s what they use in various sports.

I don’t mean to be rude, but you seem very ignorant of just what Yoga exercise is, and how it’s separate from Hindu spirituality.

Jim

 

[Neil_Anthony]

How dare you suggest I don’t. I want an apology. And I mean it, that was totally out of line. What a stupid thing for you to even suggest.

You’re reading something into what I wrote that isn’t there. For that, it is you who owe me an apology. No, I won’t waste my time trying to explain it any further. I trust that you and others can go back and read what I wrote and make sense of it.

I’m glad to hear you’re such a wonderful catholic. Keep up the good work.