This – praying in tongues – is one of the multiple theological reasons why, after 35 years of Christianity were finally over for me, I can never go back. Ever.
To put it briefly, among those Christians that believe in it, praying in tongues is a function of the Holy Spirit, given at the will of that portion of the trinity, not to be mocked or taken lightly any more than the Holy Spirit is to be mocked or taken lightly. I wasn’t into it but it never even occurred to me to mock or denigrate those who were, because it’s a big deal to them, a very serious thing. And I still don’t want to.
But every single time I have ever seen it done publicly, like this (and even in some churches) it has been a circus sideshow and a mess, accompanied by extremes in personal behavior, not undertaken with any kind of seriousness but with arrogance and frivolity, even hysteria, and in such a way as to invite outsiders to make a mockery of it.
It doesn’t track, and it never did. Put it this way. When you personally – yes, you human reading this, whether you are religious or atheist or none of the above – have a sense of something that is truly special to you, truly set apart, you do not parade it around like Eddie Murphy with an ice cream cone, lol. That’s what holiness is: a state of being set apart. That’s what the gift of tongues is supposed to be, according to classical Christianity. But you’d never know it by these public displays of sanctimony.
To put this into historical context, communion is also considered holy – the holiest of the holy – and for centuries was conducted in solemnity behind closed and locked doors, after non-believers were ushered out. There is still a nod to this practice in Eastern Orthodox liturgies even now, two full millennia later, and to this day I have never been in any church anywhere that treated the practice of communion with the level of disrespect that now surrounds speaking in tongues.
But these days you get to speaking in tongues as a function of the “Holy Spirit” and its release of this “gift” upon select humans, only to see that apparently the Holy Spirit is now picking the absolute worst of humanity, the most overtly profane people it can find, so that this holy and not to be taken lightly divine “gift” – and by extension the Holy Spirit itself – can be made into a political show in places like the floor of the Arizona State Senate for the rest of humanity to look at, point, mock, and then wonder:
Matt 6:5-8 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
It’d be nice if they would read their own text and get back in the closet. I agree with the poster up there - if it’s truly a sacred thing, this sickening display would absolutely sully the whole thing.
I think that preacher screaming about gays and liberals did a lot of damage way back when (used in the trailer for The God Who Wasn’t There). Pretty sure that was around the time the xtianists made a conscious movement to ally themselves with politics to forge a theocracy.
Whirling, I thought your original strikethrough for the actual text was perfect – seeing as how they’ve pretty much nixed that section from their own Reader’s Digest Condensed versions. I thought you meant to do strikethrough, lol.
Do people not realize that “speaking in tongues” was just 1611 language’s way of saying “they spoke in one language but everyone heard them in their own language”? It literally said that in the passage. Anyone who performs “speaking in tongues” in the “modern way” is lying to you about believing in their religion and about taking it seriously.
Yeah, I specifically avoided all that, seeing as how I now believe the entire religion is false.
But for anyone willing to hold their breath long enough to see these Christofascists stop making it up as they go along and actually give two shits about their own holy book, that’s definitely a point for consideration.
Honestly thats a semi believable part of the bible. Hear a language enough and ya kinda start to get ahold of it. Mind you it requires a base to work with, but given the whole Rome thing I suspect ya could pick up quite a bit at a market or port. Hell Ive experienced it myself, ive on multiple occasions have read Dutch or a Nordic language only to realize I dont know said language and promptly cant read it anymore.
I also watched a Dutch candle making video, that was a weird day overall though.
It depends on the denomination and church you grew up in. Some of them— like the Baptists I grew up with— tend to know what the eff is happening when it’s in the Bible. No, their problem is they keep adding conservative bullshit into their religion and it’s a 50/50 on whether or not they say it’s in the Bible. As bad as Baptists are, I respect a denomination that says “gays are bad because [KJV translation imperfect]” and “guys can’t wear earrings” (even though they do in the Bible), more than one that rolls around on the floor spouting complete gibberish and saying that’s what Biblical speaking in tongues is (even though the passage was super clear about what it actually was). It’s a whole different level of stupid, is all I’m saying.
My favorite part is that I’ve been an atheist for 8 years and can still speak in tongues. If it were what they say it is, I’d have lost the ability to long ago.
But every single time I have ever seen it done publicly, like this (and even in some churches) it has been a circus sideshow and a mess
Hey! As a circus sideshow performer, I’d like you to know most of us are professional about what we do and running a show requires a shit ton of coordination
This – praying in tongues – is one of the multiple theological reasons why, after 35 years of Christianity were finally over for me, I can never go back. Ever.
To put it briefly, among those Christians that believe in it, praying in tongues is a function of the Holy Spirit, given at the will of that portion of the trinity, not to be mocked or taken lightly any more than the Holy Spirit is to be mocked or taken lightly. I wasn’t into it but it never even occurred to me to mock or denigrate those who were, because it’s a big deal to them, a very serious thing. And I still don’t want to.
But every single time I have ever seen it done publicly, like this (and even in some churches) it has been a circus sideshow and a mess, accompanied by extremes in personal behavior, not undertaken with any kind of seriousness but with arrogance and frivolity, even hysteria, and in such a way as to invite outsiders to make a mockery of it.
It doesn’t track, and it never did. Put it this way. When you personally – yes, you human reading this, whether you are religious or atheist or none of the above – have a sense of something that is truly special to you, truly set apart, you do not parade it around like Eddie Murphy with an ice cream cone, lol. That’s what holiness is: a state of being set apart. That’s what the gift of tongues is supposed to be, according to classical Christianity. But you’d never know it by these public displays of sanctimony.
To put this into historical context, communion is also considered holy – the holiest of the holy – and for centuries was conducted in solemnity behind closed and locked doors, after non-believers were ushered out. There is still a nod to this practice in Eastern Orthodox liturgies even now, two full millennia later, and to this day I have never been in any church anywhere that treated the practice of communion with the level of disrespect that now surrounds speaking in tongues.
But these days you get to speaking in tongues as a function of the “Holy Spirit” and its release of this “gift” upon select humans, only to see that apparently the Holy Spirit is now picking the absolute worst of humanity, the most overtly profane people it can find, so that this holy and not to be taken lightly divine “gift” – and by extension the Holy Spirit itself – can be made into a political show in places like the floor of the Arizona State Senate for the rest of humanity to look at, point, mock, and then wonder:
If this is real, why THOSE guys???
EDITED lightly for clarity
Matt 6:5-8 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
It sure seems like an attention seeking parade.
It’d be nice if they would read their own text and get back in the closet. I agree with the poster up there - if it’s truly a sacred thing, this sickening display would absolutely sully the whole thing.
I think that preacher screaming about gays and liberals did a lot of damage way back when (used in the trailer for The God Who Wasn’t There). Pretty sure that was around the time the xtianists made a conscious movement to ally themselves with politics to forge a theocracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_T_HDXqkMc
Whirling, I thought your original strikethrough for the actual text was perfect – seeing as how they’ve pretty much nixed that section from their own Reader’s Digest Condensed versions. I thought you meant to do strikethrough, lol.
Do people not realize that “speaking in tongues” was just 1611 language’s way of saying “they spoke in one language but everyone heard them in their own language”? It literally said that in the passage. Anyone who performs “speaking in tongues” in the “modern way” is lying to you about believing in their religion and about taking it seriously.
Yeah, I specifically avoided all that, seeing as how I now believe the entire religion is false.
But for anyone willing to hold their breath long enough to see these Christofascists stop making it up as they go along and actually give two shits about their own holy book, that’s definitely a point for consideration.
Honestly thats a semi believable part of the bible. Hear a language enough and ya kinda start to get ahold of it. Mind you it requires a base to work with, but given the whole Rome thing I suspect ya could pick up quite a bit at a market or port. Hell Ive experienced it myself, ive on multiple occasions have read Dutch or a Nordic language only to realize I dont know said language and promptly cant read it anymore.
I also watched a Dutch candle making video, that was a weird day overall though.
It depends on the denomination and church you grew up in. Some of them— like the Baptists I grew up with— tend to know what the eff is happening when it’s in the Bible. No, their problem is they keep adding conservative bullshit into their religion and it’s a 50/50 on whether or not they say it’s in the Bible. As bad as Baptists are, I respect a denomination that says “gays are bad because [KJV translation imperfect]” and “guys can’t wear earrings” (even though they do in the Bible), more than one that rolls around on the floor spouting complete gibberish and saying that’s what Biblical speaking in tongues is (even though the passage was super clear about what it actually was). It’s a whole different level of stupid, is all I’m saying.
My favorite part is that I’ve been an atheist for 8 years and can still speak in tongues. If it were what they say it is, I’d have lost the ability to long ago.
Hey! As a circus sideshow performer, I’d like you to know most of us are professional about what we do and running a show requires a shit ton of coordination
Lol, true enough. I stand corrected.