Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Pentecostalism: The Palin Doctrine


Why is the Pentecostal Religion important to the 2008 election?

Because Sarah Palin may be your next Vice President, and you owe it to yourself to know how she views the world. In a White House in which a 72 year old with a history of skin cancer would be President, the odds are against John McCain seeing the end of his term. The McCain/Palin ticket is heavy on the Palin.



Speaking in Tongues
The magic phrase for this article is: "Speaking in Tongues". If you are not familiar with the term 'Speaking In Tongues', then you are not alone, and you are in for a delightful lesson.

A core tenet of the Pentecostal religion is that you should be possessed by the Holy Ghost, and as a sign of this possession, you will utter mysterious words; words which are of a tongue foreign to you and foreign to those around you. These words may be of an earthly language, or they may be of an angelic language, but they are not gibberish. This communication is defined as your spirit corresponding with God on a spiritual level that is higher than your conscious self can comprehend. Sometimes, speaking in tongues is merely a one-on-one between the speaker and God. At other times, when 'the Spirit gives the utterance', the words are directed to the entire congregation of the church, and after a brief and silent intermission, a different person in the congregation will be gifted by God with the message that was given in an incomprehensible tongue just moments prior.


Note: The following video clips are not extreme examples. Occurrences such as these happen regularly at your local Pentecostal church. Sarah Palin grew up experiencing this!



The Gift of Tongues
Here is an example of someone displaying 'the gift of tongues', and this scene is a not at all uncommon after a Sunday night sermon:





Slain in the Spirit
Speaking in tongues is but one of the interesting aspects of the Pentecostal doctrine. I grew up seeing grown men break out in a full-speed run around the isles of the church. Here is a clip of folks being 'slain in the Spirit', and this is by no means an extreme example of a Sunday night service (it is the norm):




Here is a clip of "Holy Laughter". This is less common, but I've seen it happen a number of times at different churches:





Revelations
Growing up in the Pentecostal Church was extremely terrifying for me as a child. The second coming of Jesus Christ is central to the doctrine of Pentecostalism. I grew up absolutely terrified that tomorrow the skies would part, trumpets would sound, and I might fail to measure up to God's expectations and be 'Left Behind' to meet with an extremely bad fortune and ultimately be cast into a lake of fire.

It is not surprising that Bristol Palin is a pregnant teen. My sister was pregnant at 16. In my teenage years, I was dumfounded at the number of virtuous girls in my church who wound up pregnant. The kids in these churches want to experience life, yet they are taught that life may end at any second with Christ's return. With a twist of the blade, the poor kids are also told to wait until they are married before having sex. Having been taught that the blood of Christ will hide their sin's from the eyes of God if they beg Jesus to forgive them... (queue the porn music)

How would you feel as a young child if this message was bleached into your mind? Do you have any idea how extremely terrifying this is to a child?

The Second Coming of Christ:


Scare the Hell Out of Your Children:


I cannot embed this next clip, but if you have watched the above clips, you can probably guess why these kids are praying as if their very souls depended upon it:



The Gift of Prophecy
Prophecy plays a big role in the Pentecostal Church. This is far to broad a topic for me to even begin to broach here, and prophecy isn't exactly set in stone from preacher to preacher.

The words of Pastor Kalnin of the Wasilla Assembly of God church:
What you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode." Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war.

Perhaps government subsidized beef?
The New Yorker(1998), 'Letter From Jerusalem: Forcing the End'


Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin is a Pentecostal Christian. I wonder if she has spoken in tongues?

Here Sarah Palin addresses members at the Wasilla Assembly of God


What does the worship service look like at the Wasilla Assembly of God? I bet this is a slow night.
source





In Conclusion
You must decide if you can accept that someone whose logic accepts the tenets of the Pentecostal doctrine is of sound mind to serve as President of the United States of America.

If you are a Pentecostal, then you are dancing in the Spirit, knowing that the hand of God will put Sarah Palin into the Oval Office. Because Sarah Palin is a Pentecostal, surely God will exude his will upon the world through her.

However, if you are not a Pentecostal, then this stuff probably seems rather unsettling and odd.

To me, by defining herself as Pentecostal, Sarah Palin has defined herself as a religious extremist. In my view, Pentecostals are to Christianity what Islamists are to Islam. Regardless of political persuasion, I prefer not to see extremists in positions of power.

4 comments:

Debra said...

This is terrifying. Unbelievable.

juxtapostle said...

Thanks Debra,

It is especially terrifying at the tender age of 3, when your riding home from church one night, and look out the window to see a dark orange moon.

You close your eyes in complete and silent terror, and you wait for the blast of a trumpet and the violence of a night sky ripped open by a fearsome and wrathful God. And wait... wait...

Yes, me at 3. Kids live in a massive little world that their parents barely comprehend.

Anonymous said...

When we we young my brother and I went with our housekeeper to church one night. Yep, you guessed it, it was pentecostal.

All seemed well until, a woman jumped up and started screaming sounds. We thought it was Spanish. Then the roof came off! People were jumping around, hitting the floor, shaking, rolling,screaming in what I was sure was extreme pain and discomfort.

We were afraid. Very afraid. We jumped up and bolted out the door. I was crying. When we got outside, we were smack in the middle of downtown Orlando. Two very young, (can't Remember...must be getting old), boys alone in the big city. So naturally we took refuse in a near by Dunkin' Dounuts. Where we called Mom and told her tearfully, where we were and we we not going back into that church and get our housekeeper,no way , no how, and even the threat of switch could not convince us. She had to come and get us, we were not leaving the dough nut shop.

I'll never forget the wailing I got, for leaving our housekeepers supervision. Raising 6 kids on her own meant she could not afford to be light-handed.

My brother, 2.5 yrs older, is a pentecostal turned jehovahs witness. I have no religious afflictions that I currently suffer from. I am a recovering christian, on my 12th step and helping others in need to shed their addiction.

juxtapostle said...

Brother Timmy, ;-)

Great story!

Oh, my dad loves it when a Jehovah's Witness knocks on the door. Bible study time!

College philosophy courses and a liberal education are not smiled favorably upon by the Pentecostal crowd, but they work wonders to unleash the mind from tethers imposed from birth.

Keep doing your good work!