A Republican running for in Secretary of State Michigan named Kritina Karamo has been endorsed by the state GOP and has made the news by saying that Beyoncé, Cardi B, Korean drama, and yoga are tools of Satan.
I have a friend who has been teaching yoga for 50 years so this caught my eye and I sent copies of articles about it to her. She told me that decades ago when she taught yoga there were people who accused her of being an agent of Satan. This exchange prompted me to write this diary.
I am fascinated by stories about ordinary people who make the news because their fringe beliefs go public. I wrote about one such person yesterday in “Trumper thinks Princess Diana and Jackie O. alive helping rule the world, believes in gematria. Huh?” (here www.dailykos.com/… )
I think the media gives too much credence to these people’s delusional beliefs. They should be studied by mental health experts who may be able to find effective ways to treat them. They should not be encouraged by the media which promulgates dangerous beliefs. The exception to this is when someone is a politician which is why I think media attention to Karamo and her delusional beliefs is justified.
Despite this, the Michigan GOP has given her their endorsement, and that she has connections to QAnon they saw fit to support her candidacy. (ref: www.rawstory.com/...) Consider that “the most common, and arguably the most important, function held by secretaries of state is to serve as the state's chief elections official. en.wikipedia.org/... This is all Michigan, and the rest of the country, needs is someone who is not only hyperpartisan but also delusional having any authority over elections.
Here’s an article about her from Media Matters: www.mediamatters.org/…
Excerpt:
If you start studying other cultures, art, what we consider to be art oftentimes, [unintelligible], “Oh, they're doing this ritual, this dance.” These are all satanic rituals. This is not just dance to dance. It is to summon a demon. Even yoga. The word yoga really means yoke to Brahman. So people are thinking they're doing exercises, no, you're doing actual, a satanic ritual and don't even know it. And that's becomes from our very materialistic worldview that's crept into every corner of our life that someone could be practicing an open, demonic ritual in front of our faces and we’ll be like, “Oh wow, this must be just some kind of cultural dance.” Like, it's not a cultural dance, it's a demonic ceremony. What's wrong with you? But people don't understand that. It’s because our worldview is so skewed.
I think the academic study of why people believe outlandish things is a worthy endeavor but sometimes an effective way to deal with the pronouncements coming form these people is to mock them with satire. This won’t change any of their minds, that would require extensive psychotherapy if not medication. The purpose as far as persuasion goes is to make it more difficult for sane Republican politicians to distance themselves from these people.
On to my stepping onto slippery slope of satire:
I reviewed numerous pictures of Satan and noticed that if you are predisposed to believing such things you could find him depicted doing yoga himself as in my diary illustration of him doing the famous Devil Dog or leading his demons in yoga:
The Devil’s version of chair yoga has him sitting on a two headed serpent while devouring a demon who couldn’t master the Formidable Face Pose.
Consider this article about how to do yoga and worship Satan: thehardtimes.net/...
thehardtimes.net/...
Excerpt: Many only consider yoga to improve their flexibility, regulate digestion, and create a stronger connection to the core. But some practitioners find that the tranquility of yoga makes it easy to forget about their devotion to Lucifer, The Fallen One. To express your connection to the ruler of darkness, try renaming some yoga poses during your sessions. Instead of “sun salutation,” you and your peers can perform “burn the revelations.” Instead of “triangle pose,” you can perform “pentagram point,” and downward dog is now “sleeping hellhound.”
In addition to renaming the movements in glory to the Serpent Of Old, here are some common practices that we’ve found helpful in promoting a more perfect union between the soul and all that is unholy and vile:
– Kick things up a notch by performing your entire routine in backward Aramaic
– When choosing a location to practice yoga, pick a spot that prevents a baptism from happening
– Try using the still-warm blood of your vanquished enemies, instead of a mat.
This is from The Temple of Satan website: templeofsatan.com/...
It is important that Satanic Templars be physically vital and charged with Vi Diaboli if they are to become members of our Satanic race. This Trial requires you to demonstrate your Vi by performing some of our Satanic Templar Yoga exercises. After you have practiced them daily for some time, perform the “Devil’s Kriya” set of yoga poses described in “Temple of Satan: The Devil’s Disciples.”
These beliefs are a wrinkle in the convoluted world of conspiracy theories which has permeated the era of Trump whose own conspiratorial beliefs mostly had to do with “The Big Lie” and his really winning the election. There re those who have beliefs suggestive of their having a delusion psychiatric disorder. They run the range from space lasers and dangerous pizza parlors, to all the beliefs held by adherents to the QAnon which have recently gone somewhat mainstream what with Gov. DeSantis implying that Disney promotes abusive child indoctrination and worse.
There’s little chance Trump or DeSantis will disavow the claims made by people who hold beliefs that those like me who worked with severely mentally ill patients used to hear expressed when our patients stopped taking their medications. After all, they represent enough of their base to swing elections in some states.
Tuesday, Apr 26, 2022 · 3:18:42 PM +00:00 · HalBrown
After doing more of a web search for Satan and yoga I came up with a fair number of websites (some in the first comments). This has led me to wonder just how fringe a fringe belief this is. It is easy enough to construct a website which promotes delusional beliefs but it would take a scientifically conducted survey to determine how many people in a given population hold these beliefs. Much more rigorous study would be needed to determine whether these people meet the criteria for having a psychiatric disorder.
