Opposing the bill, conservative activist Becky Gerritsen said that Yoga is a big part of Hinduism. Christian groups say that with the passage of the bill, Hindu religion will be put into practice in schools.
Symbolic picture
The US state Alabama stopped the passage of a yoga bill that was likely to lift the decades-old ban on yoga, a popular Indian practice in government schools. According to a media report, this step was taken after the objection of conservative groups who fear that followers of Hindu Religion may convert.
On pressure from conservative groups, the Alabama Board of Education voted in 1993 to ban yoga as well as hypnosis and meditation in southeastern state government schools. In March last year, the Alabama House of Representatives passed the ‘Yoga Bill’ by 84 votes against 17.
Fear of conversion from yoga
The bill was then brought to the state senate for approval, paving the way for its legislation to be enacted and the 28-year ban in schools. However, the TuscalusNews.com reported that the Senate Judicial Committee vetoed the bill after testimony from other Christian conservatives, including representatives of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s Foundation for Moral Law, claiming that followers of Hinduism This will increase conversions in government schools.
Opposing the bill, conservative activist Becky Gerritsen said that yoga is a big part of Hinduism. It was said in the news that Christian groups are opposing the bill saying that Hinduism will be introduced in schools. At the same time, Democratic Party MLA Jeremy Gray, who introduced the bill, refuted the notion that followers of Hinduism would start converting from it.
‘I do yoga for 10 years, I go to church every Sunday’
He was quoted in the news as saying that I have been doing yoga for almost 10 years. I have taught yoga in classes for five years and I tell you that I still go to Baptist Church every Sunday. The goal of this bill was to give Alabama government schools the option of choosing yoga as an elective subject.
The Alabama State Board of Education banned yoga in government schools in 1993 amid allegations by right-wing organizations that hypnosis and meditation techniques were being used in schools. Meanwhile, there is news that Senate Judicial Committee Chairman Tom Whitley has immediately agreed to consider re-voting and reintroducing the bill, which means the bill could be voted on again.
ALSO READ: Pakistan was isolated, neither John Carrie coming to ‘discuss’, nor Biden calling at ‘summit’
.