Glossolalia

Xelasnave.1947

Xelasnave.1947

Valued Senior Member
Glossolalia.
Has anyone had experience of this most curious aspect of many religions? Either personal or observed.
Alex
 
I have seen it and some of my relatives attend churches that practice it. And my father says he was raised in a church that did it. He thought it was weird, and as a child it scared him.

I see no difference between "speaking in tongues" and babbling incoherently. My personal, non-professional hypothesis is that it is caused by an overload of neurotransmitters that has been triggered by "excitement" - charismatic leaders who have learned how to raise the emotional level in a room to a fevered pitch.
 
gmilam said:
I see no difference between "speaking in tongues" and babbling incoherently.
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I am pretty sure they are the same.

gmilam said:
My personal, non-professional hypothesis is that it is caused by an overload of neurotransmitters that has been triggered by "excitement" - charismatic leaders who have learned how to raise the emotional level in a room to a fevered pitch.
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That could be right and certainly more acceptable than the participants are somehow inspired.
It seems they dont know what they are babbling about no does anyone else so I cant get my head around how they perceive it has any value.

Alex
 
My understanding of the biblical connection is that they relate it to the "miracle at Pentecost", even though the phenomenon does not resemble that "miracle" in the least. (At Pentecost, the apostles spoke in languages they did not know, yet the audience all understood it in their own native language.)

Those I have spoken with who have experienced it say it leaves them with a great feeling of euphoria.
 
Had a look at some utube vids on speaking in tounges. ..folk jabbering and shaking and falling over.
They seem mad to me.
I find it a worry that what appear to be normal looking folk carry on like that and all in the name of religion.
I think I arrived on this planet a couple of thousand years too early. ..maybe I came to the wrong planet.
And these people vote?
I think USA did well to get someone as sane as trump if the folk I saw on utube are representative...
I am really taken aback.
Alex
 
And involving the kids I think is terrible...how could you grow up normal being exposed to that stuff.
Scarey stuff...child abuse of monumental proportion just so so wrong.

Alex
 
I am sure that it is play acting or some form of dementia.

I remember two TV preachers making sounds, claiming to be speaking to each other in tongues.

It sounded like incoherent babble to me.​

It did not seem to have the sound/cadence of an unknown language.​

I was sure that it was play acting or some form of dementia.​

While traveling in various countries I have listened to conversations which I did not understand. Those conversations did not seem like babbling incoherently.

I might be biased, but glossolalia does not seem to me to sound unlike an unfamiliar language to me. I think it might be a difference in something subtle like cadence.

I admit to being an atheist but consider most priests, ministers, & rabbi to be sincere, although I suspect the sincerity of those higher up in religious hierarchies.

I especially doubt the sincerity of TV & radio preachers who collect large amounts (millions) from donations which they openly solicit.​

While I do not think so, I admit that my atheism might make me biased.

I consider early religious teaching to be brain washing. I wonder how many believers there would be if nobody was exposed to religious teaching until they were adults.

I wonder if I would have been a believer if raised in a Catholic family instead of a Quaker (Society of Friends) family. For those unfamiliar with Quakers, they emphasize behavior more strongly than religious belief.​



​
 
Everything about religion is a cultural thing. If fellow church goers talk in tongue then it must be alright and on it goes.
 
Dinosaur said:
I am sure that it is play acting or some form of dementia.
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The TV preachers, yeah it could be play acting. The members of my family who have experienced glossolalia, it is very real. Something is happening to them. I have posted my hypothesis above.
 
Interestingly, some studies have done of people "speaking in tongues". One interesting result is that when they do that they tend to use a selection of the same phonemes as they use in their regular speech/language. This tends to suggest that they are speaking a kind of nonsense mish-mash drawn from their usual language, rather than some kind of strange foreign language.

It tends to happen more in social environments where such behaviour is expected and socially acceptable.

In some ways, I think the effect can be a bit like certain kinds of meditation, like reciting "Om" over and over again. It can leave the person with a feeling of clarity and even euphoria. Doing it in a church setting, surrounded by friends, can be a bit like dancing furiously in the mosh pit at a concert.
 
Xelasnave.1947 said:
I am pretty sure they are the same.


That could be right and certainly more acceptable than the participants are somehow inspired.
It seems they dont know what they are babbling about no does anyone else so I cant get my head around how they perceive it has any value.

Alex
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^^^
I suspect some of it is intentional babbling & some is being caught up in a trance like state & losing control.

<>
 
Xelasnave.1947 said:
And involving the kids I think is terrible...how could you grow up normal being exposed to that stuff.
Scarey stuff...child abuse of monumental proportion just so so wrong.

Alex
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^^^
Well, that is 1 of, if not the, biggest problems with religion. It is horrible grotesque child abuse. Children grow up with their brains warped then they know no better than to do the same to their children.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go & he will not depart from it.
While it is not only a matter of the way he SHOULD go & it is not 100% true, it works well enough to greatly shape the personality, character & thinking of most people that most people cannot think logicly yet are so convinced they are correct & what they believe is fact & is the greatest best good for them & everyone else.
They are mad. The vast majority of humans are mad yet they "know" they are sane & we are the ones with a problem.

<>
 
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StrangerInAStrangeLand said:
^^^
I suspect some of it is intentional babbling & some is being caught up in a trance like state & losing control.

<>
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I tend to do that intentional babbling after 2 beers as well as a trance like state and losing control bleary eyes and peeing my pants

But it's always a good night out

And I've been told, although I never remember this part, calling on god to kill me - or stop the vomiting :)

:)
 
Xelasnave.1947 said:
I bet you sound like you are talking in tounges as well.
Alex
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Talking in tongues
Babbling and crying in my beer
Much of a muchness

By the time I get back to Bali in March my favourite bar watering hole will be a coffee shop

Conflict of interest - love coffee - love Bali beer

Do I cheer or weep?

:)
 
Michael 345 said:
Talking in tongues
Babbling and crying in my beer
Much of a muchness

By the time I get back to Bali in March my favourite bar watering hole will be a coffee shop

Conflict of interest - love coffee - love Bali beer

Do I cheer or weep?

:)
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^^^
Do they have beer flavored coffee or coffee flavored beer?

<>
 
A friend of mine suggested going to a place in Philadelphia which specialized in beers. I was astonished at the variety.

They had a cherry flavored beer which I enjoyed. I had not had beer for decades because I do not like any of the standard beers.
 
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