Pentecostalism‘s Dark Side

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I knew somebody who spoke with a combination German/African accent when she "spoke in tongues." She might also use a German prefix with a Yoruba (Nigerian ethnic group) base word.

She never got past the fifth grade in school---but when she was "in the spirit," she could read difficult philosophical tracts.

She was involved with the Shango religion, also known as the Spiritual Baptists. They use components of Christianity and of Yoruba religion.

Interesting phenomenon.

I think Pentacostalism's heightened focus on supernatural manifestations and its more charismatic approach to worship, makes it more vulnerable to exploitation by kooks and con artists than other mainstream protestant denominations.

That's true...but my friend was no kook. I don't believe in that stuff--but I learned a lot from this person and her friends.

Speaking in Tongues seems to me like a perfectly reasonable way to access the subconscious mind. Some friends of mine dragged me to The Healing Explosion in Austin, one time. They found it highly amusing, while I observed the ritual in a more or less detached manner. However, when they started speaking in tongues, we all got caught up in the emotion of it. I found it confusingly profound in an unexpected way.

I suppose that people who practice the ritual religiously avoid psychological exploration of the phenomenon, but their fervor should not stand in the way of scientific inquiry. They could be onto something, despite the problems with authoritarianism noted in the first linked article.

At least democratic institutions have a way to overrule the central authority when that person goes off the rails. It also seems likely that unquestioning loyalty and obeisance increase the chances of a leader losing touch with reality. This pertains to our current political situation in the US. The Cult of Trump shows the same symptoms.

"And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?" --Acts 2:8

The important point of the first occurrence of "tongues" is that everyone present clearly understood everything said because his or her own language or "tongue" was being spoken by others who did not actually know it for themselves. There was absolutely no mere babbling in any incomprehensible "tongues". Many years ago I was part of a congregation where "tongues" took place, but *never* more than one-at-a-time or without being immediately followed by an interpretation from someone else speaking in clear English. I was usually still rather skeptical because too many "interpretations" were coming from too few people and sounding too similar even when the initial utterance had been much different than any other, but there were also times when I was quite convinced something had just been sent from the figurative "Throne Room". So overall, here is what many people miss today:

"If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret..." --I Corinthians 14:27

Per Acts 2