On Pentecostalism
Nick Saia
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Within modern Christianity, Evangelicalism has become increasingly popular and with that it has become more radical. This radicalism is most pronounced in Pentecostalism. This is a Christian movement that centers around a revival of old Christian spirit and a return to those values. As a very conservative denomination, its followers are incredibly serious and dedicated to the cause of spreading Christianity in ways they see fit. Recently, popular figures in Pentecostalism such as Becky Fischer have begun a movement to “take back America for Christ”. They believe that Americans today are in the midst of a culture war, the enemy being non-Christians, with special attention to Islam. Becky Fischer believes that to win this war, children must be taught Christianity from the earliest age possible, and be imbued with the same zeal and fanaticism of radical Muslims. Regardless of her justifications for these claims, Pentecostalist teaching styles serves no end but that of violence and hate. Becky Fischer wishes not only to wage war against Islam, but use the same evil tactics used by terrorist Muslim organizations. All of Becky Fischer’s efforts are placed on turning young children to the cause of Evangelical Christianity. At one point in the movie Jesus Camp, she cites that over ⅓ of the world population is younger than 15 years of age, which is why she believes that Christianity should turn their attention to the youth of America. Throughout the film she frequently references the youth training in radical Islam, saying that American Christians need to match their efforts. She says that Islam is “teaching [children] how to put on bomb belts… its no wonder that with that kind of training those young people are willing to kill themselves for the cause of Islam… I want to see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as young ‘people are to the cause of Islam. I want to see them as radically laying down their
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Within modern Christianity, Evangelicalism has become increasingly popular and with that it has become more radical. This radicalism is most pronounced in Pentecostalism. This is a Christian movement that centers around a revival of old Christian spirit and a return to those values. As a very conservative denomination, its followers are incredibly serious and dedicated to the cause of spreading Christianity in ways they see fit. Recently, popular figures in Pentecostalism such as Becky Fischer have begun a movement to “take back America for Christ”. They believe that Americans today are in the midst of a culture war, the enemy being non-Christians, with special attention to Islam. Becky Fischer believes that to win this war, children must be taught Christianity from the earliest age possible, and be imbued with the same zeal and fanaticism of radical Muslims. Regardless of her justifications for these claims, Pentecostalist teaching styles serves no end but that of violence and hate. Becky Fischer wishes not only to wage war against Islam, but use the same evil tactics used by terrorist Muslim organizations. All of Becky Fischer’s efforts are placed on turning young children to the cause of Evangelical Christianity. At one point in the movie Jesus Camp, she cites that over ⅓ of the world population is younger than 15 years of age, which is why she believes that Christianity should turn their attention to the youth of America. Throughout the film she frequently references the youth training in radical Islam, saying that American Christians need to match their efforts. She says that Islam is “teaching [children] how to put on bomb belts… its no wonder that with that kind of training those young people are willing to kill themselves for the cause of Islam… I want to see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as young ‘people are to the cause of Islam. I want to see them as radically laying down their