Welcome
to Friday. The International Day of Yoga offers an opportunity to
reflect on debates around yoga in the U.S., many of which hinge on
religious questions that go beyond a boiled-down binary of Christian vs.
Hindu, says an NCR commentary writer. And NCR CEO/Publisher Bill
Mitchell says we were able to play a leadership role in the
groundbreaking 1985 coverage of clergy sexual abuse as a result of two
attributes that remain central to our news organization all these years
later.
Tuesday,
June 21, will mark the eighth International Day of Yoga, offering an
opportunity to reflect on some of the last year's public debates around
yoga in the U.S., many of which hinge on religious questions.
In
May 2021, Alabama lifted a 30-year ban on teaching yoga in public
schools. The bill was introduced by certified yoga instructor and
Democratic State Rep. Jeremy Gray. Some Christians felt that yoga
classes in public schools violated First Amendment rights around
religious freedom, and worried that yoga encouraged students to convert
to Hinduism. This prompted an "opt-out" option for the classes (which
are not mandated).
"But
the debate around yoga is far from this boiled-down binary of Christian
vs. Hindu," writes NCR commentator Vani Kannan, adding that it is
important to critique the blatant racism in these debates around yoga in
school while also understanding the grassroots uses of yoga for health
and healing outside of institutional religious spaces.
Read more of this commentary here.
NCR
CEO/Publisher Bill Mitchell was present at a June 4 gathering of
survivors of clergy sexual abuse to mark 20 years since the Boston Globe
exposed the cover-up of predatory priests by the Boston Archdiocese. At
one point during the program, an NCR front page from 1985 appeared on
the screen at the front of the room. The headline above the Page 1
editorial read: "Priest child abuse cases victimizing families; bishops
lack policy response."
"NCR
was able to play a leadership role in the sex abuse story as a result
of two attributes that remain central to the organization all these
years later: our independence and our focus on stories that matter to
our readers," Mitchell writes.
Read more of Mitchell's column here.
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