# Speaking In "Tongues" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177 "2010-01-24T00:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/21 "2010-01-24T14:16:16Z")
I grew up in the Baptist church, where speaking in tongues was considered sort of “outlander” and not acceptable. But from time to time I would be in an assembly, such as at an outdoor festival or a Christian concert, where people would speak in tongues. Once I was at a concert in a large church, a church I’d never been to before, and at the end of the concert one of the musicians prayed (Phil Keaggy; my husband at the time and I loved him) and suddenly he and basically everyone else in the audience started speaking in tongues. My ex and I turned to look at each other, our eyes wide, and then we turned and high-tailed it out of there. It not only freaked me out–it scared me. Now I’m an unchurched agnostic and have a more live-and-let-live attitude. But I still think speaking in tongues is pretty . . . freaky, for lack of a better word. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/22 "2010-01-24T14:21:57Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Here I believe is the pertinent quote, regarding Gifts of the Spirit — > > > [@The Bible](#): > > > > Originally Posted by The Bible > > Corinthians 12:8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues… …and One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie… ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/23 "2010-01-24T14:28:43Z")
…“to **rule** them all, and in the darkness _bind_ them” I THINK that’s right, anyway? Anal Quasi 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/24 "2010-01-24T14:48:29Z")
As someone who went to the trouble to learn a couple foreign languages, this kind of behavior makes me wince. It’s like whole churches full of Joey Tribbianis, thinking that just because they make some mouth noises it means something. A friend once told me that Christian missionaries at some point in history thought that God would magically give them the ability to speak and understand foreign tongues, so they hied themselves off to a foreign land to bring the word of Christ to the natives and were shocked! and dismayed to find out that making mouth noises isn’t the same as speaking a language. Unfortunately, no cite. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/25 "2010-01-24T16:22:41Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > **T** , I clipped that one because I wanted to answer it first, okay? > > The answer is “yes” I do understand that concept as it relates to a person’s relationship with his “higher power”. Person = Person_al_, meaning it’s between you and the Big Guy, not grovelling in front of an altar in front of everyone in the congregation, and _again_ (I cannot stress this enough), I’m not out to hurt anyone’s feelings with my post, okay, it’s just Quasi being Quasi and I tend to go to the satirical when I don’t understand something, sue me! ;)) > > My best friend from high school likes to preface some of his remarks with the phrase, “Back when I first got saved…”. > > **Huh?** > > I had asked him if he’d show me a G7 diminished on the guitar, and that’s just _one_ example! He tends to wear it as a _badge_ fer… (sorry, **T** , getting satirical again, buddy!:rolleyes:) > > It’s _personal_ (being saved, I mean), Dude! To my way of thinking, anyway. > > Please don’t come to my door or stop me on the street asking if I have been saved, okay? If I have been, it’s between me and my “higher power” and does not concern _you_! (Not _you_, **T** - the "collective"_you_) > > I have more to add, but my sweet wife is telling me it’s time to get ready for church (she is Methodist, btw), and I do like our pastor at our little church out in the country, so I need to leave the thread for a bit. > > Yes, despite my satirical outlook on life, I do go to church, I close my eyes and I pray. What’s it gonna hurt? (:smack: - dammit, Quasi). > > I will come back to this thread, **T** , and thanks for not being “holier than thou” (:smack:dammit!) with me. > > Thanks > > Bill I was just wondering because a lot of my Catholic friends don’t. I agree with you that salvation is personal, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked someone if they are “saved.” If they aren’t, chances are they wouldn’t know what I was talking about, anyways. And, even if they are, merely asking the question can be offensive, as you pointed out. I’ve actually been asked once by someone I really respected, and it did hurt a bit. Fortunately, I wasn’t too shy to let him know this. Turns out it was a misunderstanding. He just thinks it’s important for a Christian to declare they are saved to other people, which I really hadn’t done yet. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/26 "2010-01-25T00:48:24Z")
Where’s **olivesmarch4th**? She’s written about her time in a fundamentalist church where speaking in tongues was common, and that she used to speak in tongues. Her description of how it felt - especially how easy it was to tap into - was really fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/27 "2010-01-25T01:41:55Z")
I had a friend who used to do this before he left his church. He told me it was really hard to do for long periods of time – as in, it took effort. I did it for a while. He was impressed. I was speaking French. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/28 "2010-01-25T03:05:48Z")
There’s a local modern church where the whole group does this. I found out that a few people I thought were crazy ended up belonging to this church. It’s a church of nut cases. Let them all start speaking a foreign language fluently at the same time and I’ll stop my laughing at them. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/29 "2010-01-25T03:42:31Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > I THINK that’s right, anyway? Nope.. cymk’s right. > [@](#): > > Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, > Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, > Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, > One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne > In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. > One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, > One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them > In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. **Ají de Gallina** , the link’s already been posted to the charistmatic Catholics, but I just wanted to mention that a longtime friend of the family, nearing the age of 70, prim, proper, big-time Catholic, has recently been branching off into speaking in tongues and other ‘fringe’ practices within her otherwise mainstream Roman Catholic church. It’s utterly confusing the heck out of my mom, who thinks the woman’s gone off the deep end. Not sure if it’s symbolic of a deeper shift in the church or just a few offshoots, but the Catholics aren’t immune. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/30 "2010-01-25T03:55:29Z")
They used to do it at my dad’s church. I always thought it was just people looking for attention. The movie “Saved” has a good scene about this. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/31 "2010-01-25T04:38:26Z")
I used to do it as a child. Those kids going crazy in _Jesus Camp_? Yea, not too far off the mark. It’s complete and utter bullshit, and the comparison to getting high is apt (although the no chemicals claim is hilarious and the side effect is being a fool). It’s simultaneously performance, really being happy (ecstasy, really) that you’re special and saved and touched and going to heaven, and the cathartic release of doing something clearly insane in public. The desire to do it is also fundamentally juvenile imo–I went and sang and did all that crazy shit in church because I thought I was scoring hella points with my man up in the sky, and at the same time wanting to let everyone around know it. [QUOTE=BigT] This video is pretty good sample. And, as a bonus, it covers the scientific study often used by believers to credit it. And, Quasi: It’s kinda hard to explain. Do you understand the concept of “being saved”? It’s the process where one confesses all their sins to God and asks and receives forgiveness, and God rewards them by sending his Holy Spirit to live inside of them, granting them access to heaven upon death. This process is considered being “baptized” in the Holy Spirit.\* My church believes there is a further step. This is where you let the Holy Spirit, who is already dwelling within you, take complete control over your body. The first evidence of this is when you are no longer speaking in your own language. This is formally called the “Infilling of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” or, more colloquially, being filled with the Spirit. Like I said, I’m not here to spiritually defend the practice. But I will offer this: the main two views are that it is either a profound gift from God, or just a way of getting high without chemicals or side effects. Either way, it can be really therapeutic if you’re feeling bad. And it’s not like the snake thing which is inherently dangerous (and unscriptural, as you aren’t supposed to put God to the test.) If you’re really curious, being Catholic doesn’t prevent you from trying it. There’s always the Charismatic Catholic Renewal (video). \*This gets confusing because being “baptized in the Spirit” is also used as a shortening of being “Infilled with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Heck, some churches hold that the process is one and the same–one is not saved (from Hell) unless one speaks in tongues. [/QUOTE] Oh please, spare me your condescending ass proselytizing. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/32 "2010-01-25T04:43:12Z")
I have been around people speaking in tongues a few times. I’ve spent considerably more time around improv comedians who speak gibberish. I think they’re pretty much the same thing. Sadly, I’m too self-conscious to have ever gotten the hang of doing either. It looks like fun. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/33 "2010-01-25T05:04:12Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > They used to do it at my dad’s church. I always thought it was just people looking for attention. > > The movie “Saved” has a good scene about this. Well, I was sticking with the doctrine. But even books I’ve read by Pentecostal authors admit that this is not uncommon. They say there’s usually one or two in every church. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/34 "2010-01-25T05:06:30Z")
> [@Silvorange](#): > > I have been around people speaking in tongues a few times. I’ve spent considerably more time around improv comedians who speak gibberish. I think they’re pretty much the same thing. Sadly, I’m too self-conscious to have ever gotten the hang of doing either. It looks like fun. I’ve rarely heard gibberish people do it well. There’s this element of sing-song that is missing. And the syllables are often wrong. There’s a lot of “shonda my honda” type stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/35 "2010-01-25T05:29:57Z")
> [@Mojo\_Pin](#): > > I used to do it as a child. Those kids going crazy in _Jesus Camp_? Yea, not too far off the mark. It’s complete and utter bullshit, and the comparison to getting high is apt (although the no chemicals claim is hilarious and the side effect is being a fool). It’s simultaneously performance, really being happy (ecstasy, really) that you’re special and saved and touched and going to heaven, and the cathartic release of doing something clearly insane in public. The desire to do it is also fundamentally juvenile imo–I went and sang and did all that crazy shit in church because I thought I was scoring hella points with my man up in the sky, and at the same time wanting to let everyone around know it. Oh please, spare me your condescending ass proselytizing. As much as I want to ignore you for being rude, I guess I can’t. I’m not proselytizing, at least as I understand the term. I’m merely answering the question, explaining that the people who participate find it pleasurable, and inviting him to do more research on the subject. To be proselytizing, I’d have to be trying to convert him to my thought process on the subject, which I intentionally did not even offer. As for being condescending: I don’t see it, and neither did **Quasi**. But, by all means, tell me how I could have given the information in a way that would not seem condescending to you. Oh, and even if I did proselytize, I wouldn’t proselytize you or anyone else in this thread to have anything to do with my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/36 "2010-01-25T05:37:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > As much as I want to ignore you for being rude, I guess I can’t. > > I’m not proselytizing, at least as I understand the term. I’m merely answering the question, explaining that the people who participate find it pleasurable, and inviting him to do more research on the subject. To be proselytizing, I’d have to be trying to convert him to my thought process on the subject, which I intentionally did not even offer. > > As for being condescending: I don’t see it, and neither did **Quasi**. But, by all means, tell me how I could have given the information in a way that would not seem condescending to you. > > Oh, and even if I did proselytize, I wouldn’t proselytize you or anyone else in this thread to have anything to do with my ass. I’ll admit my response was a little overblown (I’m sure I didn’t hurt your feelings though heh) and my moment of irrational outrage has passed. Sorry. I was reading more condescension (the talking down to a child kind, not the sneering kind) than was there. It’s just the subject matter, really. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/37 "2010-01-25T07:41:40Z")
I just got here and BigT’s explanation covered it pretty well. I’ve been into the Charismatic movement since about 1978. I was 16, received the “Spirit-Baptism” and spoke in tongues at an Assembly of God revival meeting. My regular church at the time, Christian & Missionary Alliance, wasn’t thrilled by this but the C&MA allowed for the possibility of tongues, and I behaved myself when I was there so it didn’t become a problem. I got my regular Charismatic fix at an weekly interchurch Charismatic fellowship that met at the… EPISCOPAL CHURCH! (Yep, it used to be really big in TEC in the 1970s & into the early 80s.) The interchurch group fizzled out after that Episcopal rector left & most of the people drifted out of their mainstream churches & into Charismatic ones. I myself joined the Assembly of God about 1984. (Incidentally, that rector then went to pastor a Episcopal church in Florida where he still is, and he & that church are now part of one of the Anglican splits.) Anyway, in the past 30 years, I’ve concluded the most “tongues”, including my own, are more “cathartic verbal outpourings” without any objective meaning than actual languages. I still believe such verbalizations can be the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Also, I’ve heard enough anecdotes of people who have recognized languages in the midst of the babble & heard meaningful messages directed to them. So while my church teaches the doctrine of “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the Initial Physical Evidence of Speaking in Tongues”, I’m more comfortably saying that I believe in the flow of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, among which is speaking in tongues. I also think my cathartic explanation fits well with Romans 8:26 and also, Paul acknowledges the legitimacy of personal unknown tongues used in private prayer in I Corinthians 14. Last comment- I’ve never been to an AoG funeral in which anyone just went off babbling in tongues. In all my Charismatic experience, that would be considered very inappropriate, even if the pastor did it. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/38 "2010-01-25T13:15:13Z")
Thanks, **Friar Ted** , for joining the discussion and thank you, everyone, for your input, positive or negative.🙂 I _wrote_ I’d be back, and here I am with the “Blockbuster” question: What about that “interpreter”? What I’m about to write is **not** satire, okay? WTF, dude!!! So someone in the congregation gets glossolailic. How in der _frigg_ do _you_ know what he/she is _saying_!!! Not done with this one. “I’ll be back!” = Der Ahnold (and that _is_ satire.) Thanks, Der Quas’ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/39 "2010-01-25T14:46:09Z")
As came up in another thread where this speaking in tongues was mentioned, I was taught that the bit from Corinthians is about [Pentecost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost), which is why some of the churches that do it are called Pentecostal. During Pentecost (50 days after the Crucifixion), the Spirit came upon the Disciples, who were together in a locked house. They left the house and Peter adressed the people who were outside, and these marveled because each one heard him in his own language: the Greeks heard him in Greek, the Romans in Latin, the Parts in Partian, and so forth. So it’s kind of the opposite of the current practice, where people don’t understand what’s being said (well, you mention one who did, **Quasi** , but it’s the first time I heard that mentioned). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177/40 "2010-01-25T14:55:23Z")
IMHO, it is a way to gain acceptance as being one of the “Holy Elite” without being questioned and without doing anything of actual worth to yourself or others. If you don’t find it suspicious that this “spontainious gift from God” happens only when 1. There is an audience, 2. In the proper religious setting, and 3. At the proper time during the services, then you will not be swayed by any information or opinion given here or elsewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-in-tongues/526177.md?page=3)