Newsweek: There is a roughly 50% chance that Sarah Palin practices speaking in tongues

[The Night Owl]

A Visit to Palin’s Church
Scripture and discretion on the program in Wasilla.

By Lisa Miller and Amanda Coyne | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 2, 2008 | Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET Sep 2, 2008


Except for the awesome view of pink-tipped peaks from its parking lot, Wasilla Bible Church, in Wasilla, Alaska, is perhaps most remarkable for being unremarkable. It's a big modern building near a strip of car lots. Its sanctuary is full of folding chairs; two video screens display the lyrics to hymns and there's a simple cross behind the altar.

Wasilla Bible Church, however, is having an extraordinary week. On Sunday, its senior pastor Larry Kroons confirmed that Senator John McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and her family, regularly attend services there, and have done so for the last six years or so. "They attend here as Sarah and Todd in the presence of God, honoring God as God," he said before he began his sermon. The Palins' new baby, Trig, was "dedicated" at the church two weeks ago, another pastor told NEWSWEEK. (Many conservative churches do "dedications" of infants instead of baptisms-postponing the baptism ceremony until the child is old enough to make a conscious decision for Christ. At a dedication, the parents and the pastor ask for the congregation's help in raising the child.)

...

Kalnins guessed that about half of the people in his church have the gift of tongues. He has it himself, he says, though he rarely demonstrates it. "It's not meant to be shown off," he said. "It's not like flexing muscles. I received the gift in college, and it transformed my life." It's not something like from the "remote parts of the jungle," he adds: It's a decision.

...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/156679

Moshokodomatata?

[Binka]

1. Please God Smote All These Fuckers

NOW!

[myrna minx]

2. "Please Jesus, protect me from your followers" - bumper sticker.

:hi:

[Binka]

3. Amen!

:hi:

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Amen.

[roguevalley]

51. bwahahahaha! what you said, binka.

[TygrBright]

4. Everybody who speaks in tongues is practicing, have you noticed?

Not a single one of them has gotten good enough to be understood by any other human being who speaks any other language on earth, including Cherokee, Basque, or T!Kung.

bemusedly,
Bright

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

7. or even Klingon, for that matter.

And I daresay 100% of the attendees are morans.

[kay1864]

29. I talked to a PhD in linquistics this past weekend

She said it was random nonsense, that they aren't "speaking" at all. No sentence structure or anything 'translatable' or comprehensible. Nothing linguistic about it.

And that there was lots of 'keeping up with the Joneses' motivating them.

[mattstat]

34. So then it would appear there is nothing to worry about?

[The Night Owl]

35. The idea that the presidency might one day be held by a religious crackpot who spends Sundays...

...with people who roll around on the floor while uttering gibberish which they imagine is divinely inspired by a supreme being worries the hell out of me.

[kay1864]

36. Not from a linguistics standpoint

From a mental health standpoint, OTOH...

[Bigleaf]

5. Christian Fundamentalists - Americas Taliban

[tularetom]

6. Perhaps she could break out in gibberish while presiding over congress

or in a meeting with pooty poot.

[krkaufman]

13. Or, dare we hope....

... during her VP debate with Biden.

[oviedodem]

8. Here is a frightening comment:

"If a teenager came to him asking for contraceptives, he said he would send the teen home to have a talk with the parents."

Our population would explode, the child welfare system would crumble, and there would be more deaths and/or injury from self-abortion if she is anywhere near the WH.

[mwb970]

9. I wonder if Levi came to him before boinking Bristol. /nt

[central scrutinizer]

10. good interview question

Do you have the gift of tongues? If not, why do you think God has not favored you?

[WA98296]

11. K&R

[nichomachus]

12. Here are the people who want to rule our country

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpHwKlM_8M

[The Night Owl]

14. Did you watch the related videos? That Lonnie Mackley does the speaking in tongues thing...

...better than anyone I've ever heard doing it.

Speaking in tongues begins at 7:34...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkn1BilNhmc&feature=related

Spooky.

[TwilightGardener]

23. Does it seem, to anyone else but me, that these people are experiencing

something weirdly...sexual? It looks like a mass orgasm. I've seen some of this stuff before, but I am always shocked by it. If the media ran this as often as they ran the Rev Wright tape, the GOP ticket would be doomed.

[kestrel91316]

15. Well, there you have it. Proof that she has foreign experience.

[InNeedOfUserName]

16. Hey!!!!!!!, I speak in tongues!!!

...after about six beers:toast:

[2008]

17. "They attend here as Sarah and Todd in the presence of God, honoring God as God"

Why do people fall for that kind of nonsense?

"Then, after church, they go to a restaurant as Sarah and Todd in the presence of food, eating food as food."

[C_U_L8R]

18. It's what happens when Jesus meets Everquest

sooner or later you just gotta walk away from crazy

[TwilightGardener]

24. Bwah!

[mitchum]

28. Because that pseudo-profound type of speech allows the stupid...

to sound...well...profound.

[The Night Owl]

33. Yes. Case in point...

The pastor in the video of Sarah Palin speaking before her congregation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQq4b5IQhq8

3:40 - Comeon, let's give Jesus thanks because this is... she declared some things that were powerful.

4:35 - This is awesome. Making a prophetic declaration that upholds the kingdom of God.

Sarah Palin... beauty queen, sports reporter, business owner, mayor, governor, and prophet. LOL! Who falls for this crap?

[TooRaLoo]

39. lmfao.

[invictus]

20. LOL! She should give her stump speech in tongues. n/t

[terrya]

21. You have to wonder.

At what point does the McCain campaign and the Republican Party say "enough". "She has to go".

I mean, seriously. This is just bizarre...the tolerance they have for these characteristics of her and her life.

[kristopher]

22. My first post on a Palin thread

My first post on a Palin thread was to ask how long it would be before a vid turned up of her speaking in tongues or doing an exorcism.

Not exactly a video, but this will do; so one down. Now we just need to ask when someone in the congregation performed their last exorcism.

[Strawman]

25. Robert meets Charlene Tilton!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU0QNQ9am2w&feature=related

[mitchum]

26. Putting the fun in fundamentalist lunatics

[FatDave]

41. And putting the "mental" in "fundamentalist" (nt)

[Cleita]

27. It might account for her odd speech patterns and

screechy voice.

[Swede]

30. I hope it shows up on youtube.

That would be a good thing.

[The Night Owl]

31. Yes. Even if we can't get video of Palin in a religious freakout, a video of her...

...church engaging in that sort of thing would be good too.

[anigbrowl]

32. 'Gift of tongues'...must be like the gift of epilepsy

Has anybody ever communicated anything meaningful to anyone else while 'speaking in tongues'? Or are they just making random noise? Myself, i think it's a gentle mental freakout enjoyed in the same way people enjoy yoga, mediation, certain mind-altering substances and the like. Far be it from me to prevent anyone engaging in whatever spiritual practice that works for them, but please stop trying to pass it off as some kind of miracle.

[FatDave]

42. Even simpler: mass hysteria.

And no, they just babble incoherently. They get real excited and start babbling, and are egged on by others.

[noel711]

47. I saw this once in an inner city church where I worked as seminarian...

There was one little old lady in the choir
who, on cue, would fall over, and spew forth
all sort of gibberish between the opening hymn,
and the scripture readings. I was warned before my
first service there so I wouldn't be 'put off.'

The rest of the congregation tolerated it with
some kind of humor, but the other ladies on the choir
looked upon it with jaunticed eye: "Miz Franklin just
falls into that for attention. Pay her no mind."

Although churches that encourage this say otherwise,
it has no scriptural basis for this behavior.

The New Testament, when translated from Greek into
English, used the term "speaking in tongues" from
what could be more accurately translated: "Speaking other
languages." Which means that the ability to speak the gospel
in other languages is a blessing. And rolling around on the
floor, rambling on.. is not the same thing.

But the American Evangelical movement of the past century
(which was a movement of, shall we say, uneducated,
'spirit anointed' itinerant preachers), took to
declaring the Bible 'inerrant' and the literal word of God.
So 'speaking in tongues' became 'de riguer' of those
churches that are charismatic.
This 'phenomena' is not universal, but only is common
in the good old US of A. I've had people from Europe
ask me: What is that about?

If one looks closely at the New TEstament,
one is able to find even St. Paul rebuking churches
that hold up the gift of 'speaking in tongues' as
a 'higher' gift; apparently, those who roll on the floor,
and spew gibberish hold themselves are 'more blessed' than
those who don't. Paul says: Do not do that.

My daughter has advanced degrees is psychology, and
says it is clearly a kind of self-hypnosis, where the
'speaker' in some kind of daze, blurts forth intelligible
nonsense. How can this be seen as 'proclaiming' God's
Word is beyond me. But then, I am not a fundamentalist
charismatic, and I can't see how any God of mercy and love
would demand that his people throw themselves into fits.

[DemsUnited]

37. Oh, my. Way to win the midwest voters. n/t

[FatDave]

43. How do you mean that?

Sarcasm or not? I'm from the midwest, but I don't go in a church unless somebody's gettin' married or somebody's gettin' buried.

[eridani]

52. S/he means that Midwestern Christians are a lot more like Garrison Keillor than Caribou Barbie n/t

[gauguin57]

38. Well, Palin was sure as sh*t speaking with FORKED tongue at the convention.

Liar, liar. Your pantsuit is on fire.

[DemsUnited]

40. just a little kick for another bizarre Palin twist

[EmilyAnne]

44. What if the Holy Spirit enters her in the middle of a VP debate?

That would be a perfect way to hide her gross ignorance.

Of course, that won't happen.
The Holy Spirit respects our daily duties.

You never see someone suddenly speaking in tongues at, say, a baseball game or when waiting in line at the bank or driving their car or mowing their lawn or attending a business meeting.
The Holy Spirit adheres to a strict schedule that coincides with church hours.
The Holy Spirit usually exits a person's body in time for Sunday lunch, but he might show up again for a Sunday evening church service.

I would be so much more impressed if these people went all out and started having Holy Spirit experiences anywhere, everywhere, anytime.
Can you imagine if that sort of thing was going on in streets, stores, schools and offices? During helicoptered wolf hunts and Vice Presidential debates?

Awesome!

[Retrograde]

48. Very considerate, the Holy Spirit is

(no, I don't know why I'm channeling Yoda). He knows a person might be harmed, or ridiculed, if the gift appeared at random times and places.

Or maybe it does, but those people are written off as street crazies.

[Blarch]

45. LOL.

If you criticize her church ..and you also believe in a god, then you are a hypocrite.

This is for atheists only, got it peeps ? ...Keep your trap shut if you also believe in a sky daddy. I have just about had it with all you worshipers.

[The Night Owl]

53. I consider all religious beliefs to be irrational but I think that the religious beliefs...

...Sarah Palin and her church subscribes to are far more dangerous than those that most religious people subscribe to.

[Matariki]

46. 'It's not something like from the "remote parts of the jungle,"'

And just, what the hell, does THAT mean?

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

49. Just found a great quote

"I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain."

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

Gene Roddenberry, 1921-1991

[totodeinhere]

50. I'm afraid that if we push this too much they will retaliate by trying to bring up Rev.

Wright again.