While I can’t speak for everyone, I can tell you why I’ve never seen it happen (and likely never will). For reference, I’m a member of an LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) church. I also teach the high school Sunday school class, so I do a good deal of reading both about what my church and others believe.
The verses of the Bible that describe speaking in tongues depict it in a couple of ways. One instance is when an entire crowd started going at it, and people passing by thought they were drunk. It’s debatable whether that event was actually speaking in tongues as we know it today. In other verses it is described as a personal experience with God. This is how I believe this gift should be used today, for a reason I’ll hit in a minute. Either way, I personally see it as a gift from the Holy Spirit, and not something that you can do on command, like most Pentacostals I’ve spoken to maintain (side note: some churches believe that you’re not a true Christian unless you can speak in tongues - kind of like a secret handshake I suppose).
From what I understand in the ol’ Good Book, tongues were originally meant as a sign to the unbelievers that God was out there. Let’s face facts here - if this was the intention then, speaking in tongues is obsolete now. No one in this day and age is going to be converted by a person walking up to them while babbling incoherently.
Aside from that, Paul (I think it was Paul, I don’t have my Bible with me at the moment) repeatedly states that he’d rather us speak five words that everyone can understand than 1,000 that they can’t. Speaking in tongues edifies the speaker, but spreading God’s word in a language that anyone can understand edifies everyone. It’s for this reason that I’m not seeking out this gift. And even if it did happen to me I don’t think I’d tell anyone. After all, it’s supposed to be a personal thing, not proof of my Christianity.
I grew up in the Assembly of God church, where speaking in tongues was commonplace. Sometimes it was the pastor. Sometimes it was someone in the congregation. Most times it scared the holy crap out of me.
One memorable occasion was when a 13 year old female friend sitting next to me began speaking in tongues during the pastor’s sermon. Needless to say it was a bit disruptive. The service “ended” and the pastor went right to the altar call.
Often, the pastor would provide the “interpretation” after a bit of time. A few times the interpretation came from a member of the congregation. At the time I was impressed, but now I believe the interpretations were just made up.
At any rate, the “gift” was meant to be shared. It was not a private affair.
I left the church long ago (for reasons too numerous to mention) so I don’t know whether or not it is still commonplace.
I’m not for a moment defending the actions of these people but this phenomenon is not confined to a few religious nutjobs. It has also been a problem with secular “clinics”. Even state licensed therapists have gotten in on the madness. Google ‘rebirthing’ or ‘compression therapy’. From http://www.healthwatcher.netthis article.
Well, if they do get off on religious grounds, I’ve got another method of perfectly legal infant-murder to add to my list, in case I should ever want to murder an infant and get away with it:
Leave it in a hot car for 6 hours. “Oops!”
Tie it up and cast out its demons by sitting on its chest until it suffocates. “Goddiddit!”
CNN’s report states that the EMTs did not arrive until nearly 11:00 PM. What time was this service? How long does it last? Just seems awfully late to have an 8 year old out, is all.
if only ‘universal translators’ (like the one in Star Trek) existed, we’d know for sure…
But on serious note, doing anything to jeprodize and/or kill an innocent person/animal in the name of whatever, is seriously sick.
Didn’t Law and Order already do an episode on this?
That’s what makes this REALLY disturbing. The more the boy panics, the more the exorcist is convinced that he is making progress and should redouble his efforts. There is litterally nothing the boy can do other than a) die or b) struggle and die faster for all his efforts. It’s like engaging in an S&M rape/murder fantasy without setting up a safe word.
This is manslaughter by willful negligence at least. The fact that this asshole would try to hide behind God is stone COLD. Let’s say that God commands Abraham to kill his son. Abraham does so, and his son manages to live only because Abraham missed a major artery. Is Abraham guilty of attempted murder? Hell yes. The end. The fact that someone thinks God may or may not say it was right is utterly beside the point. God didn’t write the penal law, and he has no civil authority to just wave the statues on murder and manslaughter when he feels like it.
Though, hey, thank goodness he doesn’t actually read the Bible veyr closely, or else he’d have stoned the unruly kid to death.
