Praise the Lowered

It would be all too easy to characterize this assertion that yoga leads to satanism as exactly the sort of extremist ankle-biting buffoonery that should be ridiculed. And it probably should be ridiculed.

But the thing is, when mainstream American Christianity is considered not as a system of spiritual thought and reflection, but as a uniquely political business model, it makes more sense, and is in fact intellectually consistent from E. W. Jackson's point of view. And why not? The spiritual component of yoga, at least as far as I've read of it, seems to revolve around clearing the mind, eliminating as much clutter as possible, freeing oneself of pre- and misconceptions about anything and everything, observing what (if anything) remains. It is not at all about hewing to a particular doxology, but rather about putting the individual into a spiritually and intellectually clear position to determine their own path. That and some stretching and pose-holding for physical conditioning.

Jackson's disciplined megachurch brand of Christianity, on the other hand, is the diametric opposite -- surrender and obedience are emphasized, not to the Gnostic ideal of finding the spirit within and without, but only to the selectively vengeful sky-daddy the pastors prescribe to their faithful flocks. The idea of opening one's mind in order to experience perception unfiltered and unchanged is heresy to them. To us godless hedonistic sybarites, the whole thing comes across as a big [makes overt "jerkoff" hand motion]. I mean, what is the deal with these goofballs, amirite?

But by the rules and logic they have already put forth in their dogma, they're correct in their assertions. Say what you will about these people, but they don't deal in ambiguities. There's not a lot of room for interpretation. And the most ironclad rule they have is that the deity, infallible in his wisdom, has made himself clear on what his expectations are. Asking questions or clearing one's head with eight-armed eastern claptrap is worse than unnecessary, it's sedition bordering on treason. When one's rules are absolute, extreme logic on contrary opinions and positions is entirely expected.

Then again, which god are they talking about? The one Wolf Blitzer wants to praise during his grief-porn segment after a devastating tornado (but before the other one that showed up two days later), who gets credit for "saving" a dog under a flattened house, but no blame for the schoolchildren killed? That's handy.

Or is it the god of Stephen Fincher, who shamelessly invokes Thessalonians out of context to excuse cutting the already measly food assistance to his poorest constituents, even after spending over a decade sucking more than $3 million off the farm-subsidy teat?

No wonder they don't want anyone asking questions or approaching them with clear minds.