I also watched the episode with my granddaughter on a Dallas/Fort Worth affiliate; I agree, there should be NO mention of meditation.

Did you just see it today Patricia? I pray that parents will respond to PBS with their comments.

You guys are idiots. This is a country for all religions, not just christianity. Why should the show slant toward one religion or another? Get a life.

Ben,

Why should the show slant toward one religion or another?

Thanks for agreeing with me.

I'm sure the themes are intentional.

I wouldn't mind if PBS aired any shows it wanted as long as it wasn't supported by tax dollars. I wish it were truly "viewer supported" -- Very few will pay for it. It's nice to have but nobody would miss them.

I always love guys like Ben that go straight to name calling.

The reality is that if you don't have a Christian world-view, then you will have another world view all together. They are supporting and showing their world view. Yes, it is anti-Christian, but apart from Christ, they will never see that.

I'm glad you wrote the producers of PBS nonetheless.

EI, right on. Is is a travesty that our taxes are stolen from us to pay for so-called "public" broadcasting.

Timothy,

Whatever do you mean? I found Ben's "you guys are idiots" arguments well-thought out and provocative.

The logic is flawless, and it's clear he's put years of study into perfecting his rhetorical skills. "Get a life" is an instant classic. That's one for Bartlett's. I don't know how he could come up with something so creative.

How is something that doesn't agree with Christianity ANTI Christian. It doesn't defame Christianity in any way. I doubt your kids would have known any different if you hadn't made a big fuss about it. Why not burn some Harry Potter books with them too?

"Meditation" per se, is nothing to do with ANY religion, it just about clearing your mind and focusing your thoughts and energies on something inparticular. That something could well be Religious, but in the case of Karate, it is on the excercise you are about to do and it stops people getting carried away and hurting someone.

If THIS is the kind of thing that bothers you, then you've got your prioities all wrong mate.

"Meditation" per se, is nothing to do with ANY religion, it just about clearing your mind and focusing your thoughts and energies on something inparticular.

That's the point. Christian meditation is focus on something in particular. Eastern meditation is about emptying the mind.

WOW!! Worst case of paraphrasing EVER. I said,

"clearing your mind AND focusing your thoughts and energies on something inparticular."

How do you focus on something, without clearing the way first? When you meditate for Jesus do you also think about whether the Yankee's will make the play off's? Whether you've left the bathroom light on? If your car is due a service? No, you clear your mind to focus solely on the subject of your meditation.

I saw the same exact episode, wow! People really look into things WAY too much! Also, I am a Christian and I do yoga! breathing a bending and keeping myself healthy, you can look into ANYTHING way too much and find something wrong with it.
Totally rediculous, anyway, my daughter is watching Sesame Street right now...oh no!!!!

You are just looking into my article "WAY too much". You can look into anything way too much and find something wrong with it. Someone is reading this website right now. Oh no!!!

Yoga is not Buddhism. Yoga is not a religion at all. And the yoga presented on Sesame Street is in the context of exercise, one facet of yoga. Totally harmless.

Yoga is a place where anyone of any religion can go. You can believe in God or Jesus and still practice yoga. You misunderstand.

Meditation allows you to focus on what you want to focus on, after you sit and empty your mind of the clutter that you don't want there.

Please don't let your fear of what you don't understand guide you. Instead, learn.

By the way, why do you think Buddhism is a "false" religion? Do you think Christianity is the only religion, that all other "religions" are "false"?

Dan,
Do you think it is wrong for Christians to do yoga or participate in Karate classes?

med·i·ta·tion [ mèddi táysh'n ] (plural med·i·ta·tions)
noun
Definition:
1. emptying or concentration of mind: the emptying of the mind of thoughts, or the concentration of the mind on one thing, in order to aid mental development, contemplation, or relaxation
2. pondering of something: the act of thinking about something carefully, calmly, seriously, and for some time, or an instance of such thinking
3. serious study of topic: an extended and serious study of a topic

You say I looked into your article too much, but you can't accept that maybe you looked into sesame street too much.

Also, so you don't agree with sesame street. Not everyone agrees with everything, but to say that it needs to be taken off the air because it offended you in some way is rediculous. My advice to you, you don't like sesame street no one says you have to let your kids watch it, that's your decision and OPINION.

Yoga yes it's wrong. Karate no.

Your first definition details the problem. Emptying the mind is not Christian meditation. Number 2 is the Christian version.

Not everyone agrees with everything, but to say that it needs to be taken off the air because it offended you in some way is rediculous. My advice to you, you don't like sesame street no one says you have to let your kids watch it, that's your decision and OPINION.

My taxes are paying for Sesame Street. That's the problem. If my money weren't being stolen to pay for it, no problem. Thanks for your OPINION.

why is yoga wrong (in your opinion) and karate is not? wasn't your argument they both were upsetting you because they had meditation?
it's clear that we will just have to agree to disagree b/c you think that repeating yourself is making your point when it is your points that are being questioned in the first place.

why is yoga wrong (in your opinion) and karate is not?

Eastern-style meditation is wrong, for the reasons mentioned above, and it's wrong regardless if used in yoga or karate.

wasn't your argument they both were upsetting you because they had meditation?

I don't think I mentioned anything about being upset, but I did specifically single out meditation. There are other problems with yoga I mentioned briefly (Eastern worldview that's antithetical to a Christian one).

t's clear that we will just have to agree to disagree b/c you think that repeating yourself is making your point when it is your points that are being questioned in the first place.

Not sure how you came to this conclusion. Elaborate if you wish.

This is why I left Christianity because of Ignoracnce & Meglomania. I am A Karate Master of 30 years I am a Buddhist & I meditate. so far the imaginary horned demon with a tail & goatee has not sprung up out of the ground & cast my genitals on fire. If you do not understand meditation it is bacause you have not meditated in this way, sorry but christian prayer is a form of meditation. Yoga, Buddhism , & Meditation are all about peace, not control. Christianity is all about well.... sorry as a meditating Buddhist I have taken a vow not to speak ill of other peoples religions. Your Religion is Beautiful to YOU! My Religion which is not false to Billions BTW is Beautiful to me. PEACE

This is why I left Christianity because of Ignoracnce & Meglomania.

I'm sorry to see you were ignorant and megalomaniacal, but that's no reason to leave Christianity. We'll take you back.

so far the imaginary horned demon with a tail & goatee has not sprung up out of the ground & cast my genitals on fire.

If not from a demon, you might want to get that burning sensation checked out.

sorry but christian prayer is a form of meditation.

I'm glad we agree :)

Dan perhaps if you posted a video of this Sesame Street clip we would have a better understanding of the context and the problems you had with this show...just a suggestion!

As a supporter of my local Public Broadcasting Station, I have access to the full catalog of material.

Not really.

This isn't the clip to which I was referring, but here's an example of something we need to examine in light of Scripture. What does this posture mean? What are the origins of yoga, etc.?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTVpUmIIykg

"What does this posture mean?" What because she called it a snake? So it wasn't about having a healthy body and a calm spirit, but allowing children to be guiled by The Serpent. ?? please. Get a grip on reality. The pose is named for a creature it resembles. Would you feel better if they named it the log? Somehow, I can't imagine you'd be satisfied.
You even have a narrow-minded SPAM filter. "What color is grass?" at this point in the season where I live, brown is the best answer. Sure enough "Grass is green. Try again."

Suzanne, that "narrow minded spam filter" bit was pretty funny. As the web admin here, I must say: lol

Suzanne I think the spam filter is referring to marijuana

We all have different opinions about it..Relax people..Be at peace..Just a suggestion.

lol. This one is a keeper. Best spam comment since it's awfully close to what some bleeding-heart libs would say.

Great post full of useful tips! My site is fairly new and I am also having a hard time getting my readers to leave comments. Analytics shows they are coming to the site but I have a feeling “nobody wants to be first”.

I am really thankful to the author of this post for making this lovely and informative article live here for us. We really appreciate ur effort. Keep up the good work. . . .

Folks, I am glad that my tax dollars are going to pay for a show that teaches my child about other peoples way of life. I would not want my tax dollars teaching my kid to be a christian. They don't teach kids to be anything but themselves, and as a parent I appreciate that along with their message of tolerance and understanding. Believe it or not this is NOT a christian country, you will have to accept that eventually and not be offended by healthy practices like yoga or meditation. I am glad my kid has something healthy to put in her head from this box in my home that seems to have so much negativity coming from it. I wish you all the best.

Blake, thanks for the comment.

What makes you glad is not a basis for determining where tax dollars will be spent, or at least it shouldn't be. Since the Constitution does not grant the federal government the power to propagandize, using our money, over public airwaves, this shouldn't even be a discussion.

The "Christian country" statement is a red herring. I don't even know what that phrase means anyway.

Yoga is "healthy"? So is Christian prayer Blake. Does that mean you will change your mind and support it? If most taxpayers in this country agreed that it made them glad to use tax money to proselytize Christianity, based on your logic, you would have to go along with it. Since Christianity is the only healthy lifestyle for eternity, you would be forced to use PBS to evangelize. We don't even advocate for that.

Perhaps you shouldn't be so extreme in your fundamentalist views, imposing your personal values on the rest of us.

Fellow visitors,
We're NOT dealing with religion here. We're observing psychopathology.
Wikipedia's article on Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) defines it as " a personality disorder which involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization. People with OCPD may feel anxious when they perceive that things are not right. This can lead to inflexible routines and rules for ways of doing things, whether for themselves or their families.

The primary symptoms of OCPD are a preoccupation with details, rules, lists, order, organization, and schedules; being very rigid and inflexible in their beliefs; showing perfectionism that interferes with completing a task; excessive focus on being productive with their time; being very conscientious; having inflexible morality, ethics, or values."
Life, under the control of such a person in authority, is nightmarish. Argument is pointless. Nuance is absent. All is black and white. They are good, you are bad. They will not compromise. The only way to effectively deal with someone like this is to get away from them. If you can.

I'm not what you call a hard core christian but I do beleive god is out there. I've just had a few experiences with churches using hypnotism to make people fall down etc and it turned me off church.

However. Harrasing these tv shows will not really get you anywhere. Sesame st if I remember is all about diversity etc. Not everyone is christian. You can't force a religion on people. However you can educate them. I hate pushy christians it gives all christians a bad name.

When I was in church I was about 18 when I started. (I grew in a great family with money but had bad misinformed friends you might say) I went from being a pot smoker, smoking a pack of the strongest smokes you can get here and getting in fights etc. To being a christian. I didn't push my friends away because they were really there for me despite their background. When I said I'm christian they let me hang around still. They would still ask me if I wanted pot and only asked once I said no and they accepted. We sometimes had discussions about Christ etc but never instigated by me. It would usually start with someone asking what my fascination was because the ycould see I had changed.

I eventually got some of them there.

Point is you can't force them to change only inform. Don't focus so much on changing tv shows it's a lost battle on the world. Focus on informing the people and the people will change. The reason alot of people hate religion is because they have had that pushy christian at their door.

Be freindly to everyone. Don't tell them they are a bad person because they sare a sinner. "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone". Befriend every non christian you can. They could be pot smokers and cocain addicts. Go visit them regularly. Never push them to talk about god just on rare occassions let them know that you are christian and "don't feel the need to do what they are doing" they will eventually inquire.

Anyway been waiting to vent that for a while. The church I was with and a few I've seen are so in your face that a non christian gets overwhelmed.

Actually to sum up what I said before and it's an oservasion from the affiliate marketing world.

People don't want to be sold they want to be informed. It seems like to many christians are trying to sell it. Say "yeh I'm a christian and leave it at that. Most people are so used to being poked and proded by a christian to join them that a simple comment makes them get curious. They might try to see just how serious you are since you only gave a short answer. Play the mind game. Don't get over excited just casually talk about it. You may be able to invite them to join you one night just to see what it's like.

Hi David,

Sounds like we agree on most things.

We need to remember the power of the gospel. Paul didn't wait for people to ask.

Also the quote about casting the first stone--not in the Bible

So It may not be exactly as I quoted it but I think you will find that quite about casting the first stone in:

John 8:7

So when they continued asking him, He raised himself up and said "He is without sin among you, let him through a stone at her first."
******************************

So My memory of it was a little vague thanks to others repeating the phrase and my exact quote was not in there. Took a whole 2 minutes to find that one in the bible using google as a quick reference to find the verse. Sorry haven't been to church in about 6 years so not up to date on the bible as much as yourself.

The bible I used was:
Nelson Designer Series
Royal Reference
Snap-Flap Bible
With Concordance
New King James Version.

Made By: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Just in case you would like to look it up further.

Sorry just bugs me when someone says something is wrong without first checking it themselves. My boss found that out once when he tried to tell me something against the law wasn't. He got all the links and a live chat script with someone from that department who knew the law and a massive email about it on what I had found.

David, I urge you to take your own advice regarding the pericope adultery, and spend more than two minutes.

Maybe you can tell your boss what you find.