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Cat Vincent ([info]catvincent) wrote,
@ 2007-10-05 18:22:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Current mood: worried
Current music:Doomed: Dark music for tortured souls [SomaFM]

Xtianfuckwitwatch - there's a *lot* of the fuckers out there...
The first detailed survey of Pentecostal churches worldwide shows some very scary stuff. As ever, research queen and Dominionism expert [info]dogemperor of Dark Christian has the details. It's a long piece, analysing a 130-plus-page statistical study - but the gist (under the cut link) is this:

Samples taken from 10 countries with sizeable renewalist populations: the United States; Brazil, Chile and Guatemala in Latin America; Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa; and India, the Philippines and South Korea in Asia.

"The largest charismatic populations are in Brazil (34% of the population), Guatemala (40%) and the Philippines (40%). In several other countries, including the U.S., Chile, Kenya and South Africa, approximately one-in-five people are charis-matic. Taken together, these findings confirm that members of renewalist movements can be found in sizeable numbers throughout the world.
In six of the 10 countries (all except the U.S., South Africa, the regions of India surveyed and South Korea), the surveys find that renewalists account for a majority of the overall Protestant population. Indeed, in five nations (Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines) more than two-thirds of Protestants are either pentecostal or charismatic. In Nigeria, renewalists account for six-in-ten Protestants.
...
Renewalists also stand out for the intensity of their belief in traditional Christian doctrines and practices. For instance, in eight of the 10 countries surveyed (all except the U.S. and Chile), majorities of non-renewalist Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word; but this view is even more common among pentecostals than among non-renewalist Christians. Similarly, large majorities of all Christians, renewalists and non-renewalists alike, believe that miracles still occur today as in ancient times. But this belief tends to be even more intense among pentecostals and, to a lesser extent, charismatics than among non-renewalist Christians.

Pentecostals also stand out, especially compared with non-renewalist Christians, for their views on eschatology, or "the end times." In six countries, at least half of pentecostals believe that Jesus will return to earth during their lifetime. And the vast majority of pentecostals (more than 80% in each country) believe in "the rapture of the Church," the teaching that before the world comes to an end the faithful will be rescued and taken up to heaven. This belief is less common (though still widely shared) among charismatics, who, in turn, tend to express higher levels of belief in the rapture than do other Christians.
. . .
Although renewalists are focused on spiritual matters, many also say there is a role for religion in politics and public life. In nine of the 10 countries surveyed, for instance, at least half of pentecostals say that religious groups should express their views on day-to-day social and political questions; support for this position is equally widespread among charismatics. In every country surveyed, furthermore, renewalists are at least as likely as others to express this view. Majorities of renewalists in every country surveyed say that it is important to them that their political leaders have strong Christian beliefs. In six of the 10 countries, at least three-quarters of pentecostals share this view."

Dogemperor notes:
' Guatemala is again confirmed to have the single worst dominionist problem of *any* nation, to the extent it can almost be called a real-life Republic of Gilead (neopentes are now the majority at over 60 percent of the population, between "Catholic neopente" cuckoo churches and Assemblies and Assemblies-daughters downright lousy throughout the country); Kenya is also a country which now has a neopentecostal majority (at 56 percent of the population)--noteworthy in light of protests against display of the Australopithecus skeleton "Lucy" by neopente churches in that country). Brazil is close to having a neopente majority as well (at 49 percent).
The US has an estimated total population of "revivalists" (which likely also include a few legit "charismatic" groups and a whole mess of neopentes) of around 23 percent--which is also, not coincidentially, roughly where George W. Bush's lows of approval have been. '

And,
' A survey of social and moral issues is also of note--and gives a glimpse into what a "real life" Republic of Gilead would be like. Over 80 percent of pentes and 59 percent of "charismatics" in the US said being LGBT is never acceptable (compared to 54% of non-neopente dominionists); 48% of pentes and 47% of "charismatics" in the US would bring back Prohibition. (Of note, the majority of neopente churches within the "Assemblies family" of congregations are teetotalers; one noteworthy exception is "Catholic neopente" cuckoo-churches and cuckoo-churches in congregations using actual wine as a Holy Sacrament.) Guatemala, which has a dominionist majority (in fact, an "Assemblies family" majority) is even worse--not only are there similar numbers of people there who'd ban LGBT folk in pente and charismatic groups, but an even higher percentage of people would bring Prohibition (86% of pentes and 78% of "charismatics"--and in fact they've influenced public policy in Guatemala, a Catholic nation that has a pre-Christian tradition of brewing maize beer, that even most Catholics are opposed to alcohol) and even ban divorce altogether (56% of pentes, 45% of "charismatics"). Nigeria has even higher numbers--almost total majorities for all of the above, and its "revivalist" movement is almost entirely comprised of neopentecostal churches (largely Assemblies missionary churches) with no "charismatic" groups to speak of. '

This is why being merely sarcastic about 21st Century Xtianity isn't enough. The Dominionist tendency is growing rapidly, infiltrating less extreme churches and 'steeplejacking' them... controlling governments, media empires and private armies (such as Blackwater). If you're queer, female, or hold any belief other than theirs - you're their declared enemy or, at best, their property.

I don't want to live in that world. Do you?

(As ever, you'll get the best current data - and debate - on the Dominionists at [info]dark_christian)



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