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There is a long time since I have this urge to expose the dangers of Pentecostalism and for two good reasons: first, because I’ve experienced in first hand it’s psychological damage and, second, because Pentecostalism is rarely criticized for the right reasons. Very often, the criticism stems from religious people that only point out to what they consider as theological inaccuracies, not showing the exploitative and predative nature of these churches.
Pentecostalism is a branch of Protestantism, the Christian movement started by Luther and the Reformation in 1517. But Pentecostalism itself is way more recent, as it is more commonly accepted that it started in 1901.
The beliefs held by them are not that different from the other Evangelical churches. They believe in the Bible as the only authoritative source of truth and Jesus Christ as the only true savior. The big difference is how they practice their religion.
Pentecostalism has an emphasis on the idea that they can “speak in tongues” by the Holy Ghost of God, and they see it as an authentic manifestation of God’s power. They also have a strong believe in personal revelation directly from God.
Like a cancer in its terminal stage, this religion had a massive growth here in Brazil and many other countries. While the movement may have started as a consequence of Revivalist thinking in Protestantism, here, it adopted a lot of the Shamanic practices of African and Indigenous religions, alongside others borrowed from Catholicism and mediumship, as well as beliefs from the New Thought movement.
Unfortunately, the innovative and syncretic nature of Pentecostalism did not give birth to a colorful and free religious practice. On the contrary, it created a very intolerant, anti-intellectual and fear-based environment that treats its pastors as all-knowing Shamans with direct access to God and healing powers.
The prosperity gospel usually plays a big role, there is a focus in the individual’s dreams, he is said to be loved by God and that God wants to honor him and fulfill his heart’s desire. This alone isn’t bad, but it usually comes with the threat that, if he doesn’t obey the authority of the pastors and refuse paying tithes, God won’t help him anymore.
Tithes is another issue, as the majority of these pastors claim that 10% of your income must be donated to the church, because it “belongs to God”. Some even say that you are not even “giving”, you are just “returning” to the church what doesn’t even belong to you (as they claim it’s God’s). They also ask for additional special offers with specific purposes, but in many occasions, believers never see the money being applied on something that benefits their community.
Now comes the biggest problem. They are all about the “Spiritual Warfare”, claiming that almost all bad events are the direct action of evil spirits or God’s punishment because of one’s sin. According to them there is a spiritual war going on and it affects us constantly, to the point one should never rest, because, by doing so, he may open the door for sin and demonic activities in his life.
As you can imagine, this leads some people to becoming paranoic and in a permanent state of unease, as everything and everyone around him can be a secret agent of Satan. Exorcisms are also a big deal in Pentecostalism, as they see all non-believers (and sometimes even some believers) as being demon-possessed.
The worship services are often very noisy and specifically designed to affect people’s emotions in manipulative and exploitative ways, so they can coerce newcomers into converting and other members into repenting or being exorcised, trapping them in this feeling of unworthiness and impotence.
They deliberately prey on people who are emotionally vulnerable or that have a complicated past and, in doing so, a community of emotionally unstable and problematic people is formed. Lay people are often given tasks on church and pressured to proselytize and bring possible new converts. Some pastors even shame churchgoers who do not proselytize or engage into other church activities, labeling them as lazy and, sometimes, even insinuating they are not even true believers.
Like any growing business, a lot of these churches have clear goals of expanding, in some cases, even with specific numbers in mind and special methods to achieve them. They pressure ministers and lay people into doing activities beyond attending the average worship services, sometimes building groups that will do prayers and visit other people’s houses.
While ministers and smaller preachers can be loaded with tasks, this never applies to the pastors and leaders themselves, which are incredibly lazy people. Despise being a religion that keeps Bible reading as essential, a great number off their pastors are almost illiterate and have no degree or knowledge in theology. Very often, these leaders are caught in some money or sex scandal.
There are, as well, Pentecostal communities with more moderate practices that I don’t consider to be a cult. But the biggest majority works in a very cultish way and causes (or aggravate) a lot of emotional issues on people. Not all members fully dedicate themselves to the religion and these are the ones that suffer the less. But people that eventually buy into their narratives will inevitably experience loads of psychological damage.
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