Sarah Palin's church practices speaking in tongues.

[The Night Owl]

From the 2001 Wasilla Assembly of God webpage...

Wasilla Assembly of God

...the Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.
...Jesus Christ is the only Divine Son of God
...man is inherently sinful and in need of the grace of God
...salvation is by the grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works.
...the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues is given to believers who ask for it.
...in Miracles of Divine healing in response to the prayer of faith.
...in the imminent return of Jesus for all Christians

http://web.archive.org/web/20021128194647/www.wasillaag.org

How I hope there exists video of Sarah Palin writhing around on the floor uttering gibberish.

An example of what speaking in tongues sounds like can be heard in the following video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrK7k9QJYFM&feature=related

[TheZug]

1. Screencap these--they'll eventually disappear from the archive.

[bullwinkle428]

2. If a snake-handling video appears on Youtube, can I just say that

the election will then be SIGNED, SEALED, & DELIVERED for Barack Obama!!!

[trueblue2007]

19. Sarah Palin has Pastor Problems!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0SFERgx6JE

[Khaotic]

31. Ualkjnvoadvndfo;vhrarigoujag

Dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut dui. Vivamus lobortis, est et pretium lacinia, sem justo tempor nibh, ac suscipit turpis enim vel odio. Sed tempor leo quis justo. Suspendisse sodales, nibh non condimentum fringilla, lorem magna tincidunt lectus, ac facilisis massa ligula in quam. Nunc felis dui, tempus aliquet, suscipit eu, aliquam sit amet, ipsum. Sed aliquam libero a felis. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Morbi scelerisque felis in leo. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Duis molestie lacus consequat sapien. Cras sit amet tortor. Aenean augue.

Sed id ipsum. Maecenas tincidunt vehicula augue. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Etiam nunc. Etiam venenatis dolor vitae est. Proin quis metus. Nullam consequat tellus a dui. Sed velit. Duis mi eros, lobortis at, auctor nec, tempor non, tellus. Vestibulum sed turpis id felis interdum lobortis. Cras nisl neque, porta a, cursus eu, ultrices sed, ligula. Nam facilisis, nibh id vulputate accumsan, tortor elit posuere nisl, in dignissim est pede sed neque. Sed convallis. In lacinia sapien a magna. Phasellus eleifend sagittis lacus. Duis ultricies pede nec tortor. Donec vulputate risus non est. Maecenas eu libero vitae metus pulvinar hendrerit.

[Ilsa]

3. Wedon't need to discriminate against her on the basis of religion, BUT,

people should know how she believes so they can decide if she's in her Right mind.

[elocs]

4. I wonder if there is anybody here at DU who has ever experienced speaking in tongues

so they may reassure us that everyone who does that is just a gibberish speaking, faking fool and that it really is all a sham?

[The Night Owl]

5. Moshokodomatata?

I don't need any assurances that speaking in tongues is speaking in gibberish.

[elocs]

9. That's too easy because I am sure there are many, many languages on earth

that are gibberish to me. I would like to find out how many know from personal experience that all of these people who speak in tongues are simply fools or that they are deliberately trying to mislead people. It would be nice to hear some personal experience rather than just personal opinion because I already have a good idea what people here at DU generally think of religion.

[Silent3]

14. You don't need to know every language to recognize gibberish...

You can look for patterns and structure, or lack thereof.

You can analyze phonetic content: Do speakers stick to the comfortable phonemes and phoneme groupings of languages they've learned or studied, or do they make phonetic departures which would be typical and expected for nearly any truly real and different language?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia#Linguistics_of_Pentecostal_glossolalia (emphasis mine)

Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels taken from a language known to the speaker.

It is verbal behavior that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels... in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically... with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.

(Glossolalia) consists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.

That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others: Felicitas Goodman found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language.

However the resemblance to human language is merely on the surface; glossolalia is "only a facade of language". The syllable string does not form words. The stream of speech is not internally organised. Most importantly of all, there is no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Any human language aims to communicate; glossolalia does not. Glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives".

On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead".

[elocs]

17. Personally, I have heard languages that do sound like gibberish to me.

Unless you can prove to me that they did not sound like gibberish to me, they did. I wonder, does your average person listen for patterns and structure when they hear a new language for the first time in order to determine if it is gibberish?

To a nonbeliever of any religion, the religion itself is meaningless because religion is based upon faith whether it is Pentecostal in America or tribal in Africa. My guess would be that religious practices are based upon faith and not upon the need to prove their beliefs to the rest of the world. My guess would be that those who speak in tongues are not really concerned that others consider it gibberish or meaningless, because many others consider the religion, or any religion, to be meaningless.

From your link:

'Speaking in tongues' is given various meanings by various people that are dependent on their viewpoint. Those who consider the outward appearance of the phenomenon understand 'speaking in tongues' to be the glossolalia practised by some Christians; that is, it consists of utterances that approximate words and speech, rather than being words and speech. Others, usually Christians themselves, dispute that understanding of the practice and therefore dispute the meaning of 'speaking in tongues'; they may assert that when people 'speak in tongues' they "speak in languages which they have not learned"<4> (xenoglossia), perhaps the language of angels.<5> Among such, what is spoken is understood to be a 'message from God',<6><7><8> although some limit it to "prayer or praise".<9>

This certainly does imply that those who speak in tongues believe that it is not a known language, but that of angels or a message from God. Either way, it comes down to faith. If you believe, it has meaning. If you do not, it is meaningless.

[Silent3]

35. This isn't about an opinion of whether something "sounds like gibberish".

We're talking about linguistic analysis here, not just taking a poll on whether something sounds like gibberish or not. Whether real foreign languages happen to sound like gibberish to you doesn't matter a bit -- you aren't a trained linguist.

You're trying to use the logic "if a real language can sound like gibberish, then that which sounds like gibberish might be a real language", totally ignoring the fact that there are much better analytical tools which can be brought to bear.

If you do not, it is meaningless.

If you fall back on basically saying, "Whatever you believe is true is true (for you)" then basically whatever you say on any subject, speaking in tongues or anything else, is meaningless.

[elocs]

37. I am talking about faith, and nothing else.

If you don't have faith in religion, in any religion, then it is meaningless to you as well as things connected to and practiced that faith. To many atheists religion is foolish, its practices are foolish, and those who believe are fools. Speaking in tongues as part of faith in a particular religion is no different than practices of African tribes which may seem bizarre, strange, and meaningless to many people.

Oh, and how many DUers exactly are trained linguists?

[joshcryer]

10. It has a euphoric side to it.

You get yourself worked up you can do pretty much anything. There's a reason that mysticism works, our bodies can be made to pump endorphens out quite readily just by a bit of non-sensical activity, and it can result in almost a drug related event.

It would be interesting to show Evangalicals the Pagans doing chant rituals and to see their reaction. :)

[Not the Only One]

11. No, it's not fakery and a sham in the way you mean

It's very scientific. The person enters an altered state of consciousness, like a trance state that people slip into after chanting and hearing repetitive drumming or taking certain drugs. You can think of it like your brain's screensaver. When this happens, activity in the frontal lobe is decreased. The interesting thing is that your brain feeds off itself. So, if someone experiences these things as from God, their brain starts to hardwire them and make the more real and more likely to happen again. It's why things like meditating for peace are so successful. You can physically change your brain's connections so they make you more peaceful if you think deeply about being peaceful enough.

[elocs]

13. So it appears to be a type of experience that many religions have in common.

Undoubtedly not in the mainstream of America, but Christianity is and it is still regularly mocked and belittled here at DU. (I've been in a church once in the last 13 years and that was for a wedding, so I am not commenting as a religious Christian, but as someone who respects other religions even if their practices seem strange to me.)

[mitchum]

15. Mental illness is not a sham

[elocs]

20. There are certainly people here who believe all religious people are mentally ill.

Might that include you?

[mitchum]

21. And what would be wrong with my BELIEVING that?

Doesn't magic...uh...superstition....uh....I mean belief trump all?

[elocs]

25. That would be interesting since both Obama and Biden are religious men.

So does that mean they are mentally ill also? Millions and millions of Democrats are religious people--mentally ill also? Or are only Republican religious people the ones who are mentally ill?

[mitchum]

26. I believe I already answered that this weekend...

wait a minute...my apologies...I know I answered that this weekend.
Children believe in Santa Claus.
I know that children are gullible.
See how that works?
Can't be confusing the clear difference between "believing" and "knowing", can we?

[elocs]

29. No, you didn't answer the question as to whether Obama and Biden are gullible or mentally ill

because they are religious and you think they believe in fairy tales and are superstitious.

[The Night Owl]

30. I believe that most religious people are sane but...

...I consider all religious beliefs to be irrational. The human mind can be both rational and irrational. What matters is how willing a person is to surrender reason. People who practice speaking in tongues or taking up snakes strike me as people who are all too willing to surrender reason.

[The Night Owl]

27. Where do you draw the line between sanity and insanity?

I draw the line between sanity and insanity at people rolling around on the floor while babbling incoherently because they think that they're receiving transmissions from a supreme being. You might draw the line at snake handling. Either way, all of us draw the line somewhere.

[snooper2]

23. Not mentally ill in the medical sense...

but give science another couple 100 years :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[NotThisTime]

22. Umm, I grew up with it, I never had the spirit speak through me in tongues.

It was the most ridiculous thing to watch, some church member would just speak in some language only the pastor could recognize, then the pastor would translate it to the rest of the church.

It was an assemblies of god church as well....

They're a bunch of freaks I tell you...

[Hepburn]

6. I can only hope the spirit moves her at the VP debate!

:evilgrin:

[The Night Owl]

24. Seriously, I would like to know Governor Palin's opinion on her church's claim that...

...the 2nd coming of Christ is imminent.

[L0oniX]

7. Well I guess they think that speaking in tongues will help with foreign policy.

[Not the Only One]

8. RE: How I hope there exists video of Sarah Palin writhing around on the floor uttering gibberish.

That's not how Assembly of God churches operate. They are a pentecostal church, but they are way more structured and organized than many other pentecostal denominations (like Churches of God-Cleveland, TN, which is Creed's Scott Stapp's childhood denomination). In some pentecostal churches, they can be thrown off track from their schedule by speaking in tongues and church can last into the afternoon. They will do the "struck down by the spirit" thing you are talking about. In AofG, someone will speak in tongues for a minute or two and then someone else will translate it and the pastor may or may not comment on it and that will be the end of it. There are plenty of crazier churches.

Also, be careful. There are a lot of black churches that are pentecostal. You could make some enemies you weren't expecting to make.

[mitchum]

16. Stop! That's one sex tape I do not want to see!

[Princess Turandot]

12. They sound like they are doing turkey calls...

I think that mainstream Christians interpret 'speaking in tongues' to mean the ability given originally to the apostles to be understood by those who heard them, regardless of the speaker's/listener's own dialects. Kind of a spiritual universal translator.

[KansDem]

18. They're attempting to put THAT in the White House?

They make less sense than the ones who are there now...

[npincus]

28. sent to Huffpo.... Repubs made THEIR churches FAIR GAME...

by their Wright-a-thon.

[ipfilter]

32. When I was kid

I had the experience of both Pentecostal and Assembly of God churches. The A of G is basically the same thing as Pentecostal. Not all Pentecostal's drink poison and handle snakes, but they all put heavy emphasis on speaking in tongues. The church services normally start out like any other church. However, they quickly deviate from normal. I noticed a pattern when I was a kid. The service would start with faster paced songs that you might not find in, say, a Baptist church. As soon as one person in the congregation stands up or raises their hands everyone else will follow. To remain sitting is considered bad form. The songs become repetitive and increase in volume. It would not be uncommon for them to sing the same song for 10 to 20 minutes. As this singing reached a sort of crescendo someone would inevitably start speaking in tongues and the entire congregation would stop during this outburst. These people believe speaking in tongues are a form of revelation from God and there is normally someone in the congregation who everyone generally agrees has the gift of "interpretation" or prophecy (no, I'm not making this up). After the revelation has been dispensed the gifted interpreter would then proceed to reveal God's word via plain English. Even as a kid, I noted how these interpretations were superfluous and very similar week after week. Often the "gifted" people also happen to be prominent in the church. It's all just a big show. However, these people truly believe they are practicing the "Full Gospel" where other churches leave it out to the detriment of their own souls.

There are other situations where trance like music is played for express purpose of inducing the speaking of tongues. The end of the services are normally time for new members to come forward for the pastor to help them get "born in the spirit", or whatever they called it, and speak in tongues. This is where you see people laying flat out on the floor. It's all very bizarre.

[Khaotic]

33. Bizarre, Kind of Like ...

The ability to do this --->

[The Night Owl]

34. An interesting perspective. Thanks for that. {EOM}

[Nikki Stone1]

36. Whack-a-doodle!

Good Lord!