# "Pentecostalism is the last step before no religion": True? If so, why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008 "2014-05-08T21:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/41 "2014-05-11T12:15:19Z")
I think I understand (maybe) what he might be getting at in a general sense. Most Pentecostals (or non-denominational, fundamentalist, evangelical types) that I know turned to that for harder core reasons… they needed something really strict to keep them in line, they needed the emotional high / energy that only something that extreme could provide, they needed to feel closer to God, and less constrained, than more traditional churches could provide. As such, once any of that wore off, anything not as intense, equalled a fail on the religious scale for the most part. And for myself when I was this self-described, that’s exactly how I slid into agnosticism. All that juxtaposed against waning belief was simply too much and I lost my increasingly tenuous hold on my faith. Now that I’ve returned, I’ve found something more true and honest (for me) in a more liberal outlook. Just one anecdotal observation. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/42 "2014-05-11T12:19:46Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > He is just like any professor trying to sound like he knows what he’s talking about, when he knows that he doesn’t. For his statement to have any meaning, he would have to show some society in which that was true. Or, basically, any evidence that Pentecostalism is the last stage… > He’s got nothin. Your accusing an unamed Professor of not knowing what he’s talking about based on a second hand paraphrase of a two sentence quote on an un-named radio show? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/43 "2014-05-11T13:01:30Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Your accusing an unamed Professor of not knowing what he’s talking about based on a second hand paraphrase of a two sentence quote on an un-named radio show? On the facts that I was given, and the additional fact that the statement was an alleged quote which has NO proof/citations to go with it, and which is incredible as well as incorrect, Yes! I do! Call me bold! Daring! Mad! Yes, Mad! Holy Moses-Who peed in your cornflakes this morning??? A quote allegedly by an unnamed professor makes a doltish statement, I say he’s full of it, and you get your underwear in a bunch? WTF is with you??? If the professor is related to you, I apologize. Please understand, on a message board, given X information, one cannot get to the heart of all truth. On an IMHO message board, it is quite alright, QUITE ALRIGHT, to make a statement expressing one’s opinion. I didn’t say that I had in my hand positive proof of the man’s communistic leanings, or being a fellow traveller. I did not swear in open court. I stated an opinion. It is the way message boards work. Life is hard. But, again, Yes! I do! ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/44 "2014-05-11T15:19:06Z")
If I had to take a stab at it, he’s implying that a religion based on an emotional, personal connection with God isn’t really religion…it doesn’t really have religious trappings, it has spurious theology, it don’t really have anything concrete to anchor it. Emotions are ephemeral and changeable. Catholics may not always feel emotionally connected to God, but there are tangible things that connect you to not only God, but the community of believers and keep you involved in the religion. People often say they have a personal spirituality, but they are not religious…I think that’s what he’s driving at. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/45 "2014-05-11T15:26:13Z")
I’ve got a question for the OP. You state the professor said the following: > [@jsgoddess](#): > > I was listening to a radio program this afternoon where a professor of theology was discussing new stats that say that many Hispanics in the US (it might have been specifically people of Mexican descent) are turning away from the RC church toward Pentecostalism. > > The professor said, paraphrased, “We’re starting to see, though this needs more research certainly, that Pentecostalism is the last step before, well, nothing. People go from Pentecostalism to no religion at all.” For the later, was he specifically saying the Hispanics were leaving the RC church, becoming Pentecosts and then leaving or were the two not directly connected in the people in general who leave Pentecostalism go to no religion, and that this may happen for the Hispanics as well? As an ex-Mormon, I see this movement to no religion and atheism much higher in former LDS than in the population as a whole. This phenomenon is frequently discussed on ex-Mormon boards. After deciding that an extreme religion is false, I think it’s easier to conclude that there is no god and deciding you aren’t happy with one mainstream Protestant church and switching to another. > [@Erdosain](#): > > I can only speak to my personal experience of baptizing many Latin Americans into Mormonism (which also has a very proselytizing and devout reputation). Almost all of those people were previously (nominally) Catholic. Some of the people I baptized have gone on to become super-devout Mormons with all their extended family; many, many more have lost all interest in Mormonism. And some are probably speaking in tongues in a Pentecostal church somewhere right now. [hijack, sort of]You know this, but for others, the retention rate for Mormon converts is particularly bad in South America and the Philippines, with something like only 20 to 30% remaining after the first year. Worldwide, it’s about 30%, with higher rates in the US. There hasn’t been any real growth in the number of active Mormons in many Central and South American countries despite the large number of baptisms. Other evangelical religions are experiencing a similar trend of lower real growth.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/46 "2014-05-11T18:26:28Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ve got a question for the OP. You state the professor said the following: > For the later, was he specifically saying the Hispanics were leaving the RC church, becoming Pentecosts and then leaving or were the two not directly connected in the people in general who leave Pentecostalism go to no religion, and that this may happen for the Hispanics as well? I don’t believe he was singling out Hispanics for this “X religion”-\> Pentecostalism-\> “no religion” trend that he thought he had noted. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008/47 "2014-05-12T15:57:30Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I don’t believe he was singling out Hispanics for this “X religion”-\> Pentecostalism-\> “no religion” trend that he thought he had noted. If that is the case, then he’s probably right. It does fit the same trend as ex-Mormons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pentecostalism-is-the-last-step-before-no-religion-true-if-so-why/688008.md?page=2)