I grew up in a black Pentecostal church

[MrScorpio]

We learned things like:

- Don't judge, lest ye be judged.

- The World has its way and the Church has another. But, it's not our job to change the world in order to save souls.

- Forgiveness

- Treating others as you would like to be treated

- Jesus loves everybody... Unconditionally

Sure, we had our share of singing, dancing in the aisles, preaching that Jesus coming is back and even some speaking in tongues

That whole "Jesus Camp" thing was as familiar to me as Chinese trigonometry.

But most of all, my church experience was inclusive and was filled with a lot of love. We didn't think that the world was out to get us and we had to separate ourselves from it. We went to movies, watched TV, went to fairs, listened to popular music, wore normal clothes, believed that women were just as important as men... and we never, ever discussed politics. That was our own personal business.

AS a matter of fact, I'm sure that most, if not all, of us voted Democrat. We are talking about Detroit.

Anyway, it's safe to say that I know the Pentecostal Church...

I've worshiped in the Pentecostal Church...

The Pentecostal Church helped me to become a better human being...

But, Governor Palin, you didn't belong to a Pentecostal church... You belong to a cult

A scary, crazy cult.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Amen!!!

[Erin Elizabeth]

2. Hell to the yeah.

[billyoc]

3. Scorp, brother, these monochromatic AoG's broke away from the Pentacostal church

because they didn't like all that "diversity", if you know what I mean. :eyes:

[Barack_America]

4. "Don't judge, lest ye be judged"

Funny how that so often gets left out in WHITE churches.

[elocs]

5. It's nice to read of someone here painting religion with a finer brush and nuance

than the general broad brush trashing we so often see of religion here. I bet that many view all Pentecostals as being nutjobs. I didn't grow up in one, but I spent some time in a Pentecostal church as a young adult out of college. I don't agree with all the believe or preach, but they are good people and the ones I knew would not turn anyone away.

[Withywindle]

6. Thank you for this.

There are a whole lot of different Pentecostal churches.

The Black church, well that's one thing. Passionate, emotional worship doesn't mean you have to be a political troglodyte. There's always been a real understanding of Jesus's message there, IMO.

Briefly I went to a REALLY old-school Appalachian Pentecostal church (peer pressure, dude! My parents wouldn't set foot in the place but I wanted to be where my "friends" were). There was no talk of politics there either. In fact, the elders of that church believed voting or any kind of involvement in Caesar's world was sinful. You didn't dance outside of church or drink or go to movies or listen to secular music or (if you were a woman) cut your hair or wear makeup. (You sure as hell didn't enter beauty pageants--what an intense level of Vanity!) To make up for all this strictness, though, the services themselves got pretty wild.

I don't recognize this "prosperity gospel" glitz-and-glamour megachurch crap as the real thing either.

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. Never did understand the whole "prosperity gospel" crap anyway.

How do you reconcile that idea with the teachings of a homeless ex-carpenter who said that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to get into Heaven? :shrug:

[Withywindle]

11. It's pure magical thinking.

For a sect that hates witchcraft so much, they sure practice a lot of it.

And I'm a Wiccan now, so I know it when I see it. They practice the kind WE think is unethical.

[TlalocW]

7. I quit going to church when I was a teenager

I never really went to church before. I went to Sunday school, and I was part of a Methodist Youth Group, but that was it. I rarely stepped inside a church or religious institution after that until a good friend started going to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri (Jerry Falwell graduated from there), and I went to visit him, and I learned they had to sign a waiver dictating how they would dress, that they would shut themselves away from television, radio, and movies, etc.

I'm sure that there were those that ignored it - my friend sure as hell did as he loves movies, loves music (he built a recording booth inside his campus apartment), and went to our hometown doctor (the only Jewish guy in a Kansas farming town of 2000) to get him to write a note that my friend had a skin condition that was irritated by shaving so he could keep his beard (the doctor was only too glad to do it). But I was shocked at that kind of attitude. It's one of the reasons Silver Dollar City is so popular - it's the closest fun place they're allowed to go to, and they go a lot.

TlalocW

[AnnieBW]

8. You tell 'em!

My husband is a Catholic Charismatic. They're like Pentecostals, only within the Catholic Church. My husband looks at the AoG people as religious nutcases.

[seabeyond]

9. that was the old christianity over a decade ago. today it is fight, violence, war....

a whole other animal. i hear ya though

[HughMoran]

12. Thank you for posting this reality check!

Nice to know some Christians actually have some idea of what Jesus taught.

[Starry Messenger]

13. Thank you for all the good sense.

And clarification for all lurkers. Not all cults are "religious" in nature. My Dad belongs to an EST offshoot that exerts extreme pressure to keep its members and recruit.

MPK

[KingFlorez]

14. I'm glad you pointed this out

I had a great aunt that was Pentecostal, she didn't behave anything like the people in Palin's church. Palin's church is nothing but a cult.

[Triana]

15. Thanks. Yours is an important perspective to have. n/t

[JVS]

16. I used to visit a similar pentecostal church with a friend.

It was as you say. As a Lutheran, I found the testimonies to be a bit on the showy side and the people to be somewhat pietist at times, but it was ok.

[warrior1]

17. I grew up in a white Pentecostal church

scary. I fucking hated that place. Later, when I grew up and learned about the world I became an atheist. I just don't believe in their version of what happen.

[Samantha]

18. The most important thing about a church

is that it works for you. It doesn't matter what others think.

[On the Road]

19. I Was a Charismatic for Several Years

in college, attended a wide variety of pentecostal and similar services, and spoke in tongues for a period of time.

As some people have posted, a lot of it is much more normal than you might expect. On the other hand, discussion and decisionmaking tends to be centered around proof texts, the will of God, and occasionally personal revelation. It seems very odd to a lot of mainstream church members.

The clip of Palin speaking about the pipeline is very typical. I can't tell where her church is on the scale. If it is indeed associated with Third-Wave/Latter-Rain elements, that is very troubling. It is not in the mainstream and should be a huge political issue.

[cliffordu]

20. AMEN!!

[uponit7771]

21. THANK YOU!!! Please people...her church is far from Pentecostal

[NotThisTime]

22. I grew up in an Assembly's of God Church - it was like Palin's

Except we didn't believe Alaska was a refuge....

And for the person who said it, it was a cult operating under the Assembly's of God's name.... There are PLENTY of these churches out there.