Speaking in tongues

[seaj11]

Just curious...are there any DUers who speak in tongues? What are they supposed to be? I had a friend once who spoke in tongues; he had no idea what the words meant, but it put him in a state of religious ecstasy.

Elle
http://www.nophicent.org

[madinmaryland]

1. When I worked in NYC

I used to see this guy speaking in tongues on the corner of 3rd and 47th. I think he may have been on something, cause he was there most everyday and smelled horrible.

[TlalocW]

2. Speaking in tongues

Speaking in tongues or glossalia is what religious charlatans do to impress upon their flock that they're somehow more connected with God - by spouting gibberish. The easily duped believe this because it's mentioned in the Bible, and they may start doing it so as to not be seen as less born-again, and they eventually start believing that they really are talking in tongues and thus have a more direct line to Heaven than the rest of us, which makes them feel pretty good, which I'm sure leads to "religious ecstasy."

Speaking in tongues is/was a favorite practice of Robert Tilton and some other preachers. They, however, knew what the words meant, and the fact that professional linguists aren't able to find any structure to the gibberish (like all languages have), it must be beyond most mortal comprehension - thus divine.

A couple of them were "busted" on it though when intrepid people played back audio recordings of the preachers' babbling for them, and the preachers gave a completely different translation of what it meant than what they had originally said in church or on television. Of course, this injection of logic did nothing to sway their flocks, and their coffers were kept full with the coin of the easily fooled.

TlalocW

[sam sarrha]

9. the speaker is "Channeling" the word of god, he doesn't know what he is

saying, there is supposed to be someone else divinely inspired at the time who translates...

The Prophet Mohamed was actually a Channeler of the Koran.. he channeled a self described god, Allah and by the disjointed and conflicting structure and conflicting statements about just about everything.. he sounds pretty schitzophrenic to me

Abraham channeled a nameless god, and also heard voices that told him to kill his children... now where have you heard that before????

[TlalocW]

13. That may as well be that the speaker doesn't know

What he's saying. Or that's how it's supposed to be, but some preachers will translate their own babbling.

TlalocW

[sam sarrha]

14. if he knows what he is saying why all the babbling??

[TlalocW]

15. Re-read my original post

I'll also re-iterate a few things. The whole thinking behind the scam for the charlatans is that they've got a direct line to God, and they're speaking in a special Heavenly language. He can do this because he's "got the spirt" so-to-speak. And the ones who are kind enough to translate can then tell their flock basically whatever he wants - although I'll agree most do not, letting the "fact" that they're talking in tongues just impress upon the flock that, "Hey, our reverend is more reverend than Pastor Bob down at First Methodist." Then a possible scenario is that George on the church committee wants to be seen as really holy as well so he starts babbling, and his wife Edna can't go around letting others think that she's not a good Christian woman so she babbles, etc. etc. Some people do it for appearances, and others are going to get swept up into the emotional aspect of it and start babbling along, and eventually they will fool themselves into thinking that they're actually talking in some holy language, and because none of the other churches in town do it, they must be specially favored by God, and the religious ecstasy comes from that.

TlalocW

[recovering democrat]

3. Good info site

I don't speak in tongues, but I am including a link to a wonderful site for info about religion in general, for the section about speaking in tongues. This section answers a lot of questions about this subject.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/tongues.htm


I had a friend take me to a Pentecostal Church some years ago and I was amazed to see this happen in a group setting.

[seaj11]

6. Thanks for the link. n/t

[rooboy]

4. Here.

adpijnashbvapjgd;abofipd bjpjfib a adsigdpoigs apfafdypv ;jafdiupo
padsiapigupgd agdjpaoiujapgds
dagpojugdapoiu agpuaspogiuagspoiuaug a afdafh0pu98pafd<9 [jkl;kadjf[br />dasiaipoud

Occasionally I type in tongues.

[seaj11]

5. LOL!

That's what I do when I type too fast. :)

[TlalocW]

7. You fool!

Do this over at Freeperville, refer to yourself as Reverend Rooboy, and put up a Paypal link! Don't speak in tongues for free! You'll ruin the market for the rest of us!

TlalocW

[sam sarrha]

8. I grew up in those churches... it is a learned behavior, Linguists have

studied it looking for any 'universal Mystical' connection between speakers from different locations and times.. or in other words.. if it is function of the Divine or is a Divine language, then there will be at least some similarity between speakers in different places.. that is if the "Tongues" is a universal language used by the "One" Divine God.

However, the data showed that within each isolated group the structure of the enunciation could be written as a musical bar and the song aspect was obviously learned and passed on within the group and not shared by other groups.

the words were enunciated repeated and structured in a manner that indicated it was learned withing each group and showed no indication of universality with other groups.

However, as with learning to play a musical instrument or learning to meditate the brain is trained to use
specific areas of the brain that are related to producing the Ecstatic event. the event is not isolated to nor unique to Religion.

sorry.. where i grew up it was just a con job, one leader wannabe tried to tell people it made them special, bla bla bla.. it divided the church and caused problems...

I became a closet atheist at age 5, it was a F'n circus.

[Igel]

23. And moreover, the

sound patterns (aka phonology) and phonetic details are that of the person doing the "speaking". Three "speakers in tongues", one who speaks Russian, one who speaks some Khoe-San language, and one who speaks English will produce "languages of angels" that sounds remarkably like Russian, Khoe-San, and English. But nothing at all alike.

[cliss]

10. They're also called "Holy Rollers"

There are certain churches where this behaviour is encouraged - I think Jehova's Witnesses and other evangelical churches.

I've only seen it once - two older ladies were sitting together in a lounge at a local college. I had the misfortune of sitting next to them....for a while.

The lady that was doing the speaking was obviously in some kind of self-induced trance. She kept repeating certain words over and over and brought herself into some kind of "ecstasy", then she started babbling strange words. The other lady, apparently appreciative of this "link to the divine", kept encouraging her.

Now, self-induced ecstatic trances are not unheard of - in fact the Hindu religious places an importance on this, they use mridanga drums and chant the name of their deity and become entranced. So it's not unusual.

However, what I saw in the lounge was a display of ego and ego aggrandizement. No thanks.

[DemBones DemBones]

24. Jehovah's Witnesses don't speak in tongues.

You need to go to the Church of God or any church that has "Pentecostal" or "Holiness" as part of its name. The Fire Baptized Holiness Church for example. (Actually, that one scares me a bit!)

[Done]

11. Ibu ibu isumusono tome tome

GOFO GOFO - BATADAMA :freak:

[Karenca]

25. NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

It's:
FOGO FOGO - DAMABATA :crazy: :freak:

[Tafiti]

12. Growing up in a fundamentalist church...

...I witnessed this "phenomenon" more times than I'd like to admit. Pretty much, on average, every other Sunday. It was always, for the most part, the same people doing it over and over, which was interpreted in 2 ways: 1) wow, that person is really in touch with God (the congregation) and 2) wow, that person must be practicing daily, and has gotten really good at it (me). The translation part was actually pretty impressive sometimes - I thought, wow, they came up with that really fast, and sometimes it actually didn't sound too contrived or obviously made-up. Quite an imagination, those fundies.

I remember when I was 9 or 10, my brother came home from Church camp and said he spoke in tongues for the first time. Several years later he admitted to me that he just made it up 'cause he felt like he'd be more spiritual and more "authentic" if he did. He's since recovered from fundamentalism and is a pretty liberal Christian.

[TlalocW]

16. I'm glad I never went to a church like that

I'd never be able to do it without saying things like, "Booga booga booga" or "shama-lama-ding-dong."

TlalocW

[Tafiti]

18. Holy shit, I can only imagine...

...the ass-beatin' I would've gotten for doing something like that. Although the reaction would've been totally worth it.

It's one of those things where, looking back on it, I realize that everyone was absolutely insane. At the time, though, it was all I knew - it's the way I was raised, so I was basically used to it. Glad I was able to break the spell...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. The pracititioners claim that they're just imitating the apostles

on the day of Pentecost, when, according to the Book of Acts, the apostles received the Holy Spirit and began preaching to a multinational crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem, speaking languages they had never studied.

Note that the Biblical story has the apostles speaking real languages that are understood by native speakers of those languages.

"Speaking in tongues" as it is practiced today is simply a form of trance. Pentecostalists will not be happy to know that the same phenomenon occurs in voodoo.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. The reason the apostles were given this 'gift'

was so that the multitudes who had gathered could all hear the word of god, no matter what language they spoke.

That concept at least makes a little since and would be useful under the circumstances.

Now a days, the whole thing has been perverted into people mumbling mumbo jumbo that no one can understand and they think it's a 'gift'.

I had a friend who got into this stuff for a while and had received the gift of tongues. I asked him if he knew what he was jabbering about? He said no. So I asked well then what good is this gift? He said he wasn't sure and was praying for someone to come along who could interpret his mumblings for him. I decided not to take advantage of the situation.

[meow2u3]

28. We can also put it in 21st century terms

The reason the apostles were given this 'gift' was so that the multitudes who had gathered could all hear the word of god, no matter what language they spoke.

One can say that the Holy Spirit gave the apostles a kind of "universal translator" so that the multitudes heard them speaking in their own language, even though the apostles were actually Aramaic.

[Az]

19. Had someone do it to me once

A pentecost. All I can say is he didn't even do it right.

Here's the thing. Within the the tongue speaking circles it is assumed that when you are speaking in tongues the Holy Spirit is speaking through you. You don't know what you are saying. Its just the spirit moving through you.

Now some people are able to understand what the spirit is saying. So they listen to those speaking in tongues and the spirit in them tells them what it is saying. Thus they can translate.

This odd arraingement is because the bible is quite clear about those that interpret their own speaking in tongues. It is forbidden.

Back to the pentecost. He wished to show me the greatness of his belief. Thus he spoke in tongues and then told me it was a prophecy from god that in a few days my life would be in great jeopardy and I would only survive by the slimmest of chances. Needless to say nothing happened.

[vixengrl]

20. I was at a Pentecostal wedding ceremony

maybe ten years ago or so, and there were four reverends who gave their blessing in tongues. My friend was semi-religious, but I never really discussed her beliefs with her, and I know she really was a good, not judgemental or "fundie" type, so I can't really take a dig at her religion, because the ceremony was all I saw of it--but this is what it was like.

The ministers got around the newlyweds, and then simultaneously, they got into it--raised their hands, closed their eyes, and began speaking in something I didn't understand. This was in the Indian community (yes, Asian India, not Native American)and for all I knew, they could have been going on in Hindi, but they weren't...if I were pressed to say what it reminded me of, I'd say Enochian (or the approximate renderings thereof I've heard from students of the occult :evilgrin: --or nonsense chants in b-movies), and they way they went on really kind of wound me up. It was kind of eerie. I hadn't heard anything like that, and it sounded not merely like a foreign language, but also like they were growling, or at least speaking deeper than normal talking voice. And since I am a compulsive ruminator, I wondered: a)if they don't know what they're saying, how do they know what spirit sent the message? (Satan might think it was very funny to have people admit openly to incest and coprophagia in Etruscan) b) If they do know what they're saying, what's the benefit of saying it in a language nobody gets the gist of, and c) wasn't the Pentecost miracle that the gospel came out in the various languages of the assembled people present--so that I'd at least get a few English words out of it? And last, d) if it was just babbling and not an actually spiritual event--what exactly would move a person to get up and make noises that really hadn't meant anything?

As to the to possible euphoria of just letting the tongue go and chanting sounds at random, I'll say it can be kind of invigorating, just like singing or saying a mantra. It's like a vocal yoga, I guess. I've had a very *spacey*, blissed out feeling after vocalizing "Om Mane Padme Hum" for as long as I could stand it--so I imagine, for a believer, the speaking in tongues must feel pretty trippy.

[Az]

21. The reasoning works like this

The voice comes from the Holy Spirit. They know the Holy Spirit. They are in a close and very real relationship with the Holy Spirit (as they believe). Since it is a direct experience of the Holy Spirit there is no way Satan could fool them. Its pure God on tap.

Thus whatever they are saying must be directly from the Lord. Anything the Lord wants to say through them is wonderous. They are truly fortunate to be chosen to be the conduits through which the Lord speaks.

[supernova]

26. My aunt and uncle were Pentacostal

I only went to church with them once when I was 8 or 9, having stayed for the weekend.

I didn't see the speaking in tongues part, but they did do the "laying on of hands" for a monent of healing after the main service.

I don't do the speaking in tongues part. I find it strange and alien. It's simply not my nature. I'm definitely a private prayer. If others find it meaningful, go right ahead and enjoy yourselves.

I'm guessing people do it because getting into a trance-like state is pleasurable. It feels like you are letting go of and releasing yourself into something larger. It feels rather cleansing afterwards.

But there are many things you can do to get yourself into this state, some of which others have mentioned:

All forms of meditation which include repitition of certain words and phrases.
Looking at strobe lights
Dancing to repetitive music

[Dob Bole]

27. I have.

A couple of times, in prayer only and not in church. I think it is a spiritual gift as described in Acts, but I do not believe as the United Pentecostal Church, etc. do, that it is a necessary sign of salvation.

Al Sharpton is also pentecostal. I would be wary of your friend's experience, because if it put him in a state of religious ecstasy but noone around could interpret what he said, it could easily be something else. The purpose of speaking in tongues around people in the Bible was to preach to people who spoke a different language than you.