CA Court: Yoga Doesn't Violate Religious Freedom

California parents Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock were upset that the Encinitas Union school district offered yoga to good Christian children. The idea that the their two children would have to perform Hindu rituals and bow down to the sun (or something) led the Sedlocks to sue the school district, claiming that the optional yoga classes infringed on their religious practice by promoting Hinduism.

The Sedlocks lost their original lawsuit and yesterday a San Diego appeal court confirmed the ruling. The court wrote in a 3-0 opinion:

“While the practice of yoga may be religious in some contexts, yoga classes as taught in the district are, as the trial court determined, ‘devoid of any religious, mystical, or spiritual trappings.’”

But the Sedlocks aren’t accepting that a little downward facing dog could be anything other than religious coercion. The family’s lawyer, Dean Broyles, issued the following statement:

“No other court in the past 50 years has allowed public school officials to lead children in formal religious rituals like the Hindu liturgy of praying to, bowing to, and worshiping the sun god.”

The family plans to appeal the decision because simply opting out ~~of ritualized prayers to the sun god~~ yoga isn’t good enough.