Texas "Christian" Taliban taking down yoga instruction

[boutons_deux]

SB 1176, which recently passed both the Senate and the House committee on Economic & Small Business Development, would exclude yoga from the definition of “post-secondary education,” thus exempting yoga teacher training programs from career school licensing requirements.

in January of 2010, The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) informed the program directors of yoga teacher training programs in Houston and Dallas that they may be running career schools as defined by Chapter 132 of the Texas Education Code. They had already sent such letters to directors in Austin. Arguing that the regulation of career schools benefits consumers by monitoring programs, ensuring that they are legitimate businesses, and providing an avenue for student complaints, the TWC requested directors to choose one of the following: apply and secure a career school license at the cost of up to $3,000 per year, close training programs altogether, file for an exemption and secure it, or face a $50,000 fine. The directors were given 14 days to comply.

concerned that the TWC’s requirement will have undesirable effects on the Texas yoga community, many yogis oppose it. They argue that this is the first step toward requiring all yoga teachers to obtain state licenses. Most importantly, they argue that smaller, locally owned studios and programs would not be able to survive under new restrictions and costs imposed by the TWC, which they suggest will result in higher costs for teacher training and classes, less diversity in the community, and the corporatization of yoga.

Opponents argue that the law makes no difference with regard to public safety or public good; that states seek to regulate yoga for the sake of revenue alone; and point to the fact that, like yoga, practices deemed avocational or recreational, including martial arts, sewing, and physical fitness, are exempted from state regulation.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4624/%E2%80%98soul_of_yoga%E2%80%99_at_stake_in_texas_r egulation_push/

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Yoga thanks you, boutons. It really does :toast

[TeyshaBlue]

Hey, bot. ‘Soul of Yoga’ at Stake in Texas Regulation Push is probably a more accurate title, since it's, you know, the title of the article.

[ElNono]

It's the VRWYC!!!

[TeyshaBlue]

It's the VRWYC!!!

:lmao

[boutons_deux]

"Christians" are very much a key part of the VRWC. :)

[TeyshaBlue]

Thanks for your continuing legacy of non sequiturs. It's amusing.

[TeyshaBlue]

Barely.

[boutons_deux]

I didn't bring up VRWC, y'all did.

[TeyshaBlue]

No, bot. We were mocking you with the new VRWYC.
















*edited to correct VRWYC. Kill me now.*

[TeyshaBlue]

Live by the VRWC, die by the VRWC.














*edit le sigh*

[TeyshaBlue]

But, keep moving the goal posts. It's expected. *Insert coyote_geek's bouton's debate outline here*

[clambake]

Live by the VWRC, die by the VWRC.

i think its VRWC.

sorry teysha. i think the worm is planted.

[TeyshaBlue]

Dammit! I can't even type it correctly.:lol

[ChumpDumper]

I'm confused as to what this law does now.

[boutons_deux]

Read past the very first sentence.

" They argue that this is the first step toward requiring all yoga teachers to obtain state licenses. Most importantly, they argue that smaller, locally owned studios and programs would not be able to survive under new restrictions and costs imposed by the TWC, which they suggest will result in higher costs for teacher training and classes, less diversity in the community, and the corporatization of yoga."

And why yoga, and not tai-chi or karate or sewing classes, etc, etc?

If yoga teaching/practice were being helped or left alone by this bill, then the TX yoga teachers wouldn't have hired lawyers to fight the bill.

Some "Christians" detest yoga as an un-Christian religion and want to restrict yoga, as seen in this discriminatory bill by the TX bubbas. Freedom of "Christian" religion is how they read the "original intent" of the Constitution.

[TeyshaBlue]

Yeah, the TWC is a Christian front. GFY.

[ChumpDumper]

Read past the very first sentence.I don't know if I have to. Doesn't the law just passed exempt yoga schools from the regulations the TWC sought to put them under last year?

[boutons_deux]

TX SBOE, and its bastardized, compromised textbooks, are a "Christian" front. GFY

The "Christian" Taliban is insinuating itself into govt at all levels. As TX SBOE shows, there's nothing paranoid about seeing beyond the "revenue" angle to find "Christians" in Austin pulling the strings.

[TeyshaBlue]

Oh ok. Another strawman. Got it.

[fyatuk]

I don't know if I have to. Doesn't the law just passed exempt yoga schools from the regulations the TWC sought to put them under last year?

That's what it looks like. It defines "postsecondary" schools as restricted to those that require HS diploma or equivalent, and specifically exempts yoga studios from postsecondary.

Of course, I love that buttons is pushing the whole Republican/Right-Wing/Christian plan to suppress non-Christian religious elements when New York and Michigan were 2 of the first states to try to use this exact thing.

[TeyshaBlue]

That's what it looks like. It defines "postsecondary" schools as restricted to those that require HS diploma or equivalent, and specifically exempts yoga studios from postsecondary.

Of course, I love that buttons is pushing the whole Republican/Right-Wing/Christian plan to suppress non-Christian religious elements when New York and Michigan were 2 of the first states to try to use this exact thing.

TX SBOE, and its bastardized, compromised textbooks strike again! Dammit!

[ChumpDumper]

Texas yogis hired an attorney and a lobbyist to work on their behalf. Conversations culminated in the formation of a coalition, the Texas Yoga Association (TYA), to advocate against state regulation of yoga. They also wrote letters, made calls to their legislators, and collected over a thousand signatures for a petition in opposition to the TWC’s actions. Their efforts resulted in the introduction of two bills in the Texas legislature. The first, noted above, excludes yoga from the definition of “post-secondary education,” while the second amends the definition of a “career school” to exclude anyone who provides recreational classes that do not lead to an educational credential. This bill has been introduced in the House.


TYA supported bill SB 1176 (as amended) seeks to protect yoga teacher training from regulation as a career school by specifically excluding 'a program of instruction in yoga or that trains persons to teach yoga' from the definition of a 'postsecondary program'....

The TYA is also supporting HB 1839.... HB 1839 amends the definition of 'career school' to exclude a provider of recreational classes that do not lead to an educational credential from regulation as a career school or college.http://www.texyoga.org

I doubt any of this had to do with religion in the first place. More likely it was a revenue grab by an agency that was seeing its budget getting cut.

[fyatuk]

http://www.texyoga.org

I doubt any of this had to do with religion in the first place. More likely it was a revenue grab by an agency that was seeing its budget getting cut.

Many state's have budget shortfalls, and many states have started trying to regulate yoga classes in recent years.

There's no connection, though. It's all Christian prejudice ;)

[ChumpDumper]

At best, this thread should have been a celebration of a victory over the Christian Taliban in Texas.

Should I GFM now?

[TeyshaBlue]

At best, this thread should have been a celebration of a victory over the Christian Taliban in Texas.

Should I GFM now?

:lol