-- Baptist Press articles mentioning New Age Movement and yoga:

New Age blends eastern religion, paganism, humanism, the occult

Hindu beliefs include a god who is ultimate but unknowable

Christian worldview is shrinking in significance, Mohler tells pastors

-- The SBC's position on the New Age Movement and yoga:

-- Documentation featuring Susan Mason, yoga instructor:

"Susan is sort of an anti-Miguel. Middle-aged and happily married with two teenage kids, she discovered that she had lymphoma. Despite living in an area that's not exactly a yoga hotbed—where, in fact, yoga is regarded with a good deal of suspicion—she resolutely began taking a yoga and meditation class. Initially at least, she hoped the practice would counter the deleterious physical effects of chemotherapy; eventually, she discovered that yoga, far from being a pagan religion lying in wait to entrap unsuspecting Christians, was an effective means of intensifying her already powerful faith and moving her closer to her version of God" (Richard Rosen, Yoga Journal, "The Fire of Yoga: A Documentary Film by David Conway, narrated by Ali MacGraw, Samudra Pictures; www.samudrapictures.com; DVD; 42 minutes"). 

"BABY, CAN YOU LIGHT MY FIRE? A yogini since the age of 16, Rebecca Laney, owner and director of The Center for Yoga and Health in Clinton, is proud to be featured in an internationally acclaimed documentary, 'The Fire of Yoga.' The film recounts the spiritual journeys of an ex-inmate from the Bronx, N.Y., a recovering alcoholic from Los Angeles, and a Southern Baptist cancer patient and student of Laney’s, Susan Mason. It has received especially rave reviews from the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Journal, who calls it a 'beautiful and inspiring testament to yoga’s reformative, regenerative, and transfiguring power.' In the film, Susan Mason addresses one of the many uncertainties that those not familiar with yoga may have questions about—religion. 'That is why I do yoga. Not because it is a religion but because it helps me get back to MY religion.' Visit the film’s Web site at www.fireofyoga.com To get information on the Yoga Center in Clinton, call 924-7298" (Jackson Free Press at http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=4884_0_12_0_C ).

"Susan Mason-A dedicated Christian, Susan’s first venture into yoga was through Rebecca Laney’s Therapeutic Yoga class at the Women’s Center of Baptist Hospital in 1998. Finding the class to be both beneficial and non-threatening , Susan immediately adopted a regular yoga practice, pursued her yoga teaching certification, and now teaches a weekly yoga class at First Baptist Church of Jackson, in addition to offering our first Christian yoga class at CFY&H. Susan continues her yoga education by attending various workshops and classes, and is featured in the new yoga film 'The Fire of Yoga'" ("Susan Mason," Staff Biographies, CENTER FOR YOGA AND HEALTH; bold print theirs).

Faith, healing and...yoga (a revealing article about Susan Mason, the "...yoga teacher at Jackson's First Baptist Church," who "integrates Christian spirituality into a physical art with Hindu roots." Article includes pictures).

-- SBC Resolutions on the New Age Movement and the Threat of New Age Globalism:

WHEREAS, The philosophy proliferated by the New Age movement is as old as the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), where Satan perpetrated three of the false beliefs of the New Age movement, promising you will be wise; you will be as gods; and you will not die; and

WHEREAS, The New Age movement gives people false hope by its beliefs (1) in reincarnation, (2) in endeavoring to reveal a person's future through astrology, fortune telling, and palm reading, (3) in Universalism, the belief that there are many ways to eternal life, and that all will be saved, (4) by secular humanism, which testifies by its own manifesto, no deity will save us, we must save ourselves; and

WHEREAS, The media and entertainment industry gives the New Age movement widespread acceptance and credibility, helping it find its way into every facet of American life (i.e., literature, movies, television network programming, and music); and

WHEREAS, The New Age movement has become a powerful political, philosophical, and economic force in our contemporary culture and is exerting its influence into every facet of American life.

Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in San Antonio, Texas, June 14-16, 1988, acknowledge the New Age movement's aim to become a one-world religion is diametrically contrary to both New Testament Christianity and our American heritage; and

Be it finally RESOLVED, That we encourage our Convention agencies, local associations, pastors, and church staffs to warn and educate our Baptist constituency of the deception and critical dangers of this movement.
 

San Antonio, Texas

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