Raleigh, USA - Called2Action, an activist Christian group, says stress-reduction classes at a Raleigh elementary school promote "New Age" beliefs, providing school-sponsored religious activity barred by the Constitution.
But Emily Diane Gunter of the Rites of Passage Youth Empowerment Foundation says she merely enhances students' learning practices and "I don't do anybody's religion."
Called2Action said children at Partnership Elementary School were asked to do breathing exercises, chant and use their "life forces," The News & Observer reported.
The Christian group wrote Wake County Schools Superintendent Bill McNeal and school board members asking them to bar such a "spiritual and religious program." School attorneys are reviewing the request.
Christian parents are concerned that "they're teaching things opposite to your faith," said Called2Action chairman Steve Noble, and that violates the First Amendment's ban on public "establishment of religion."
A Web site says Gunter's foundation seeks peace through "the personal empowerment and spiritual development of the youth." It notes Gunter's spiritual pilgrimage to Tibet and Nepal, where she wrote "A Rite of Passage to Spiritual Enlightenment: Living with Compassion."