Is Yoga a Religion? The Taxman Wants to Know.
Yoga: religion or fitness regime?
Is yoga a religion? Tax implications hang on the answer. As a story in the Post-Dispatch reported last Tuesday, the state of Missouri wants to tax yoga studios as it does other fitness centers, despite the studios’ claims that yoga, as a form of religion, should be exempt from such taxes. This raises at least a couple of interesting questions.
First is the issue of what, exactly, constitutes the legal definition of religion. Is it a strongly held belief in the absence of evidence? A moral code? A philosophy? An exploration of spiritual concerns? An established organization with a certain set of rituals and/or doctrines? The answer is more complicated than one might ever imagine, and as I read through a pile of court cases that proffered a cavalcade of definitions, I fell asleep several times.
Try coming up with one. It’s hard.
The IRS poses a fourteen-point test for religion-hood (stuff like having a distinct religious history, an ecclesiastical government and a literature of its own). Each of the fourteen points, however, excludes recognized religions of one sort or another.
A pretty good, two-part definition opens a bigger umbrella: (1) a sincerely held belief in a sacred or transcendent reality and (2) an organization whose purpose and practice is to express that belief.
So is yoga a religion? Yes, say many practitioners, who associate yoga with meditative practices in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Some members of other recognized religions agree. In fact, on a website cataloging “Biblical Terminology of the Occult” Dr. Ken Matto describes yoga thusly (italics are mine):
“Sold to us as a stress reducing exercise but is Hindu right to the core, with all its chants and meditations. Yoga will invite demon possession. Every position and chant is worship of one of the millions of Hindu gods. Christians must avoid yoga. Yoga is really designed for suicide. It is for a person to go into such a deep trance that their heart stops. This is so they may reincarnate and hopefully to a higher spiritual being.”
Yikes.
But unlike, say, Islam, yoga is marketed primarily in the U.S. as a fitness regimen. Although the Marbles Yoga Studio, for example, mentions a spiritual dimension in its description of Kundalini Yoga, it mainly promotes yoga’s health benefits: sound sleep, allergy and asthma symptom relief, lower blood pressure, lower heart rate (but not actual stoppage), increased strength and flexibility among other bodily effects.
Competitive yoga: that doesn't sound very religious.
Some enthusiasts have even made yoga into a competitive sport and are hoping to have it recognized by the International Olympic Commission in time for the 2020 Summer Games. You can’t say that for baptism.
I have for years been intending to give yoga a try, purely for the health benefits. I like the idea of increasing my flexibility, which can accurately be compared to that of Pyrex. Praying to Hindi gods holds no interest for me, but if the ability to adjust earphones with my foot comes with demon possession, I can’t say Dr. Matto didn’t warn me.
In general, religious institutions are granted tax breaks for activities which are predominantly religious, as opposed to commercial, in nature. One way to think about the problem is to ask with what other institutions are yoga studios competing. The Catholic Church or water aerobics?
The second interesting question is this: Why should religions get tax breaks at all? Part of the answer is that we have a long history of granting such tax exemptions, but much court time has been consumed over exactly what kind of activities and goods should receive those exemptions, which, by the way, are granted by legislatures and are not constitutionally protected. In a certain sense, religion finds itself in the same boat with a myriad of not-for-profit arts organizations who are allowed to solicit tax-exempt funding presumably because their product or service accrues to the public good. But one might wonder (without necessarily advocating such action) what would happen if we cut everybody—art and religion alike—from the public dole, and let the free market take its natural course.
David, OK, OK, you weren’t exactly advocating it. I think tax exempt status for organizations that accrue the common good is money well spent. If and when the capitalists have all the power, then it will be the end of civilization and the beginning of survival.
Mr. Lancaster -
I think you’re looking at this from the wrong angle. Religious institutions typically also operate accredited schools and hospitals, shelters, pantries and other social outreach activities which - if the churches were not providing this services - the government would have to provide (and pay for.)
That’s why churches get tax breaks.
(I’ve often suggested churches get together and agree to close for one calendar year every school, hospital and other social agency they operate. The resulting chaos, deprivation and unemployment would teach scoffers a much needed lesson.)
Why should religions get a tax break? There is a short and very democratic answer that defies debate, because we say so.
Anything, after all, can become a religion. This has been proven many times throughout history.
Imagine the consequences if Yoga was called a religion…would a “Tantra Goddess” suddenly become a law-abiding religious practitioner instead of a highly compensated companion? Think of it. A whole subculture of extra-legal activities would not only become legal, it would become tax exempt!
I was considering Yoga classes because of my love for stretching exercises but the meditation and chanting scared me away. There was no way that I as a Christian was about to participate in such practices as chanting and mediating to any but upon the things of God and Christ because Scripture teaches us that such practices open the door to the bad spirits flowing around in the atmosphere for a Christian that would love nothing more than to bring about a spiritual attack upon a Christian. There are just certain practices that Christians are very vulnerable to and must stay clear of as we learn about according to Scripture and things that we know are true.
Some of the practices found within Yoga, meditating and chanting when such is not on the things of both God and Christ for a Christian invites spiritual attacks within a Christian’s life. There are things that a Christian just can’t participate in that would be harmless for non-Christians. It has everything to do with the only Spirit we are to acknowledge and respond to.
Also, religions operate as non-for profit organizations. In the United States, all non-for profits receive tax breaks and religious based ones should be no different. If you operate as a non-for-profit, you are entitled to tax breaks. If this country want to change the tax exempt statues completely ridding this country of the entity, “Not-for-Profit Corporations”, then change the law but do not discriminate against religions if every entity isn’t required to pay taxes.
But, religious organizations must not be singled out. Most of us don’t know enough about the practice of Yoga to even give a opinion as to if it is a religious organization or not. I feel that what we are seeing is religious discrimination here with lawmakers even suggesting that Yoga practitioners pay taxes and is nothing more than saying, “we don’t approve of your religious practice”.
If this country desires to begin taxing every type of entity then do so. I don’t think it would be a terrible ideal for all entities to have to pay some type of tax back into the society in which they exist. This country also desperately needs such taxes and, who can rightfully believe that a non-for-profit status company should not be responsible for some type of tax? Of course, any organization whose main purposes are not for profits or luxuries should be entitled to much lower taxes than an entity whose sole purposes are for profit and or luxuries.
At hand here, in the present situation, if the practice of Yoga isn’t connected to the practice of a religion such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism or other, then the Yoga is not religious based by health and exercise and should be taxed.
Yoga is not a religion. People of any religion can practice yoga; it is non-denominational. It is a spiritual practice or technique, just as meditation is a technique. The essence of yoga is meditation. But Christians meditate as do Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems and all of the major religions. If it were a religion, then the monotheistic religions would not allow their members to do it. Instead, instead of clashing with their beliefs, they enhance them.
It is a no-brainer. If the lawyers want to cause confusion over a clear issue in order to charge legal fees, then anyone with a brain and experience in yoga has the duty to clear things up before they go too far.
when yoga has been commercialised it can be taxed.
I am actually Hindu by birth. Yoga is not a religion per se, it is a method whereby Hindus can attain enlightenment. Practicing yoga as a fitness regimen is a bit like observing Ramadan just to lose weight. You’ll be missing all the deeper meaning. Some forms of yoga are more concerned with the mind than actual stretching - Raja Yoga for instance.
I would guess it would be OK to practice yoga if your particular version of Christianity allows for a certain amount of open-mindedness. But if you’re Catholic, Evangelical, etc., it’s definitely not for you. In any case, yoga’s not about trying to “convert” anyone - Hindus in general do not proselytize like Christians or Muslims, and most Hindus are either born that way or convert out of convenience for marriage.
I don’t have a problem with churches getting tax exempt status for charitable work or even operating expenses. I have a huge problem when they use tax exempt donations to oppress a sect of people or defend pedophile priest. Yes, I have a huge problem with that.. If they can’t keep their church out of my state then they should lose their status. If they were focused on doing good and helping the down trodden they would not have seen a 37% drop in donations but they just keep acting as if they are the only people on Earth, making no allowances for anyone that isn’t them. It’s Ok to rape children but two adults can’t love who they choose. They have no cred. Yoga is a religion in for many people. There are types of yoga that are just breathing and meditating and types of yoga that are all about prayer. There are Christians and Catholics who get abortions. As far as yoga studios getting tax exempt I would think they would have to open the studios to the public on a donation bases and have to show that they are charitable in the community. You can walk into any church when it is open for business and donate or not. I don’t think this is really what the yoga studio’s want to see as they charge a handsome sum to join. They would also need to go by the existing rules for tax exempt status. Fair is fair.