I heard an interesting, albeit disturbing, program that portrayed yoga as a useless New Age craze. In his radio sermon, Pastor John MacArthur attacked the evils of New Age. He included yogis in his black-list of “the mislead” (and likely demonized) pagans. Heaven forbid an attendee at the Grace Community Church attend a yoga class, visit a naturopath or attempt to heal themselves. He equated this to “playing God”. He likened holistic medicine to witchcraft and yoga to paganism. His fear was palatable; he spewed harshness. I felt my blood boil…his fear spread into my heart. I breathed deeply and listened to his preaching, trying to find common-ground. Why do we reject people who walk along a different spiritual path? Aren’t we all heading in basically the same direction? I was stunned by his ignorance. He scorned yogis for “emptying their minds”, and for trying to create their own reality. According to MacArthur, there is only one reality – and it is solely in God’s hands. In attempting to connect to our own reality (via meditation, visualization, mental-healing) he believes that we are playing God. This is Man’s most grievous sin, stepping beyond his small, unworthy self. Am I deluded to see God in everyone and everything? MacArthur’s heavy hand did not stop at smacking yogis, he also belittled environmentalists who stand in the way of progress and question Man’s dominance over nature. I’m confused. Where in the bible does it say that we are to spread fear and hatred?
