And here I’d always been told it was harmless.
Just being in a church makes me a bit uncomfortable. (except for weddings, where I’m there for a reason) Seeing folks running up and down the aisles would be pretty unpleasant. I’d be a bit sad, as well, that people were wasting so much passion on something that’s so false and useless.
Well, I laugh pretty hard when I see it being made fun of in certain movies, so I expect I would have a downright hissie fit if I actually saw somebody doing it for real. Maybe I should sneak a flask of Wild Turkey into a Pentacostal service just for kicks. Would probably be a real hoot. 
Seriously, I wouldn’t be able to restrain my laughter, despite being raised as a Christian and generally being a very respectful person in public.
Jammer
I’d be very, very disturbed.
In fact, this is why I am reluctant to attend funerals in churchs. Here in the South, you never quite know what you’re grabbing hold of, 'til it’s in your hand…
I’m an atheist, and I find that stuff disturbing and sad. I don’t mean sad in a condescending way, I’m just sorry that people go into such states over literally nothing. And this stuff reinforces their false beliefs. I feel sorry for them getting caught up in it so deeply. Then I realize these folks are generally pretty happy, and my sympathy turns to jealousy…
I grew up going to a church that had frequent incidents of “speaking in tongues”. Then, somebody would becomes “touched by the Lord” and start translating. Funny thing, one time somebody was translating and was supposed to be speaking for Jesus, and said something that was clearly in contradiction with the Bible. Something like Him saying that He committed sins in moments of weakness too, or whatever. The pastor then had to say a week or two later that it was obviously not a real “translation”, and although the person who did it had good intentions, please nobody fake any more Holy messages… I feel for this poor shmuck to this day, he or she was just as “touched by the Holy spirit” as anybody, but just hadn’t studied the Bible as well as the others.
Ex-Catholic, and I would find it somewhat amusing, but more disturbing and scary. But I’m also a person who would probably never participate in something like that, and feel awkward when in that sort of situation, religious or not.
I might find it amusing at first, but then I’d be shell-shocked at the realization that these people are allowed to vote. :eek:
I’m agnostic if that’s close enough.
I have seen this at Pentecostal services.
The first time, I thought someone was having an epilectic seizure. Sure as heck what it looked like–some guy got up and became to jerk and twist about. Suddenly the pastor and a few others were surrounding him, talking to him in low tones. I thought they were aware of a medical condition and taking action. Then he flopped to the ground and began to convulse and grunt gibberish, and the people put their hands on him and began to pray loudly. At that point I realized what I was seeing.
Pretty much half the membership were convulsing and hollering eventually. I was acutely uncomfortable and couldn’t believe they were doing this with all their children present and the non-convulsing adults looked quite complacent about it, too. Oh man. So, it wasn’t funny. It was incredibly disturbing. It’s not god, it’s mass hysteria. Or else this would happen in every church, every time a religious group gathered.
rjung beat me to it.
Religion is a subject that’s fascinated me on an academic level, so I’d find it interesting to actually witness something like it first-hand. This would probably give way to creeping nausea at the thought of how much influence people like this have in the US.
Unfortunately, they look at it conversely. As in, other churches that don’t have this happen aren’t really praying to God.
The scenario you described was kinda funny. I know Pentecostal people.
Now; if you taped the whole thing, sped it up a bit, and dubbed “Yakkity Sax” from the Benny Hill show as the soundtrack… that would be hilarious.
WTH does the “Rev” mean if not “Reverend”? You people and your confusing names…
It does indeed mean Reverend. The ULC ordains anybody, even atheists.
Heh! I did the online ordination thing a few months ago. Agnostic and such, but still one.
I’m a pagan deist Jew, and I honestly had no idea that this sort of stuff actually happened.
It would freak me the hell right out.
I’m an atheist. To me, all forms of worship are pretty much the same. They’re all without scientific merit, yet they’re all extremely important and valuable to the people doing them.
I know many people who take a lot of strength in their faith. And though it’s silly to me, I’d never tell them that. It’s important to them, and that’s enough for me.
I’ve seen this kind of ecstatic worship and heard about it as well.
Personally, I hold nothing against them but feel it is staged and contrived. I’m certain that these people are feeling something but they seem to be motivated by indoctrination and expectation. I feel slightly embarassed and a bit disturbed when I’ve seen this kind of display because it feels to me like they are lying in church. Certainly, there are truly spontaneous ecstatic moments of religous experience but the installation of this practice as a part of every service seems to make the supernatural… well, mundane. Rather than God working through the people I feel it is more likely a projection of the people onto God. I might do it under the group dynamic and play my part if I were in such a situation, but I’m afraid I’d feel a bit fraudulent and experience guilt later.
(I have however had true spontaneous, ecstatic, religous experiences from time to time but they weren’t between the sermon and hymnal at 10:15 every Sunday morning. Mine usually happened on the dance floor ala Napoleon Dynamite 
)
If they would attribute it as a practice and remove it from hypocrisy I might be able to get into something like that… The Hare Krishna thing seems pretty groovy and it just seems a bit more honest.
Lapsed Catholic, practicing theist here. I like to THINK I’d be embarassed and disturbed, but knowing me, I might get a serious case of the giggles.
My mother told me that she and a friend used to peek in the windows of a local “Holy Roller” church and watch people doing this shit, just for a laugh.
It’s funny to hear all these reactions because this is nothing strange for me, I used to sit back and draw pictures in church when I was a little kid while my parents and other people in the church “got excited” and even then it was just a normal thing, so it’s funny to read that people would actually be uncomfortable or scared in this situation.
The other thing is that you are probably thinking that these are uneducated, “crazy” people well the guy that was running around screaming “I love you lord” was an Elementary School Principal and their were other people doing the same thing that I know to be a small business owner, a police officer, and even a College Professor and other careers that you couldn’t do if you were crazy and uneducated.
Anyway this one kid that was only about 14 really “got into the service” and he thought we were all going to make fun of him but just the opposite happened we all gave him props because he was brave enough to let go and not care what anybody thought as for every other “Youth” it is rare to see us get into a service like that certainly not because we don’t believe in it because we do but because honestly we are regular 12-19 year olds that still care about looking “cool”.
It freaked me out the first time I saw it, since no one saw fit to warn me. I thought the person was having some kind of fit. I don’t put much stock in it. I consider it showing off.
That point remains in dispute.
If I had a college professor who spent his Sunday mornings wriggling around on the floor, blubbering his love of God, and speaking in tongues, I’d be making a beeline to the registar’s office to change classes…