A number of findings make it difficult for any rational, reasonable person to accept the claim that some alleged God endows people with an ability to speak a ‘holy’ language, which supposedly proves that they are favored by this alleged God, for their credulity, blind faith and passion.
Before laying out the points that deny this claim all credibility, I would like to first point out something that is of importance to this topic, and any topic related to religion. That point is this: the people who tell you that you must make these utterances (known as ‘speaking in tongues’), claim that you must do so to be acceptable to their God. For those of us who are aware that their God does not exist, these Christians tell us that receiving this gift of ‘tongue speaking’ is the ultimate proof that their God does exist. However, for you to receive this supposed ‘ultimate proof (tongue speaking),’ you must first blindly accept, unquestioningly, the existence of some alleged God. But how can these Christians expect a rational person to believe their claims about ‘tongue speaking’ when they cannot first provide credible, substantial and consistent evidence or argument for the existence of their alleged God? In their claims, Christians are so backwards. So, to all Christians, who are convinced of ‘tongue speaking,’ I make this vow; if you can first prove that this alleged God of yours exists, I will then readily accept that this God divinely and directly makes people speak some mysterious ‘holy’ language. But I will not be so credulous, gullible and blind as to do the opposite, which is to first blindly accept the questionable ‘tongue speaking’ then accept the existence of some alleged God. No, I am not nearly that stupid.
Now, one of the biggest factors that take credibility from this claim of ‘tongue speaking’ is the obvious fact that these people have been under a great deal of pressure to make ecstatic outbursts and utter the so-called ‘tongue speaking.’
This pressure is twofold: First you have social pressure, from fellow church members who repeatedly tell individuals, and the congregation, that they “must” make these utterances and have this electrifying experience before they are acceptable in the eyes of some alleged God; and thus worthy of being permitted into some alleged heaven, after they die. (Many hear this claim, and have it embedded in their minds, from a very early age.) In addition, these people feel a great deal of pressure to be accepted by this alleged God ‘himself,’ who they, obviously, sincerely believe to exist. But they nonetheless feel, however subtle or covertly it may be presented to them, a great deal of pressure to be recognized by fellow church members as one who has fulfilled the criteria that they have been told is necessary to please some alleged God.
Once someone is convinced that they must make such utterances, and have an associated exhilarating experience, they consciously, as well as subconsciously, begin to build a strong, nearly inseparable emotional and psychological bond with the idea, concept, philosophy and principle of having this experience, which they believe is unequivocally required of them for acceptance. Therefore, whether it is a supernatural phenomenon or a result of deep emotional conviction, once someone is convinced of something, and have built an emotional and psychological attachment to that belief, it would actually surprise me if they didn’t eventually have this experience, which they have longed for and surrendered much mental exercise to.
Another potent point follows: I have found that the syllables that make up sounds of ‘speaking in tongues’ are no more than unpatterned reorganizations of phonemes from the primary language of the person uttering the syllables; thus, the ‘tongue speaking’ of people from Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Brazil all sound different from each other, but are similar to the Russian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese languages of the people doing the ‘tongue speaking,’ respectively. If “speaking in tongues” is the one and only genuine ‘holy’ language, from the one and only God, then this language should be spoken the same way by people of all nationalities, regardless of their native tongue. But this is clearly not the case. Again, this tongue speaking is merely abbreviations of one’s own primary language (though it may be the result of a sincere psychological and emotional outpouring).
I have also found a study that raises additional questions about the credibility of tongue speaking: Werner Conn, at the University of British Columbia, took naďve students to Pentecostal churches to hear ‘tongue speaking’ and then asked the students to repeat the ‘tongue speaking’ later at school. Their tongue speaking was recorded and later played back to so-called ‘real’ tongue speakers from the church, who described the utterances as beautiful examples of ‘tongue speaking.’ In sum, the data suggest that ‘tongue speaking’ has a language structure based on the language of the speaker; that the linguistic organization is limited; and that the capacity to speak in this type of semi-organized language can be duplicated under experimental conditions. Thus, ‘tongue speaking’ is not a ‘holy language,’ but rather the aborted or incomplete formation of the person’s familiar language.
This clearly discredits the claims of so-called ‘real’ tongue speakers that they speak a ‘heavenly language.’ In reality they are merely speaking abbreviations of their national language.
One need not refer to a study of ‘speaking in tongues’ to be made aware of this reality. All over this nation people have, in the presence of their church peers, forced themselves to mimic the utterances of others (for acceptance no doubt), and until the individual comes forth and admits that they were only imitating, no one seems to know the difference. Those who come forth are often tired with being pressured (directly or indirectly) by peers to make these utterances and outbursts. I myself have met several such people over the years, and nearly all of them have revealed to me how the members of their respective churches have congratulated them for finally doing that which supposedly makes them favorable in the eyes of some alleged God, when in fact (though they may have been emotionally moved) they were only mimicking the utterances under pressure to be accepted. So, again, this shows that those who claim to be genuinely speaking some ‘holy language’ cannot differentiate the so-called ‘real’ tongue speaking from the contrived.
On this last point it is of great importance to note that while Christians may make ecstatic, unintelligible utterances, they never actually do as the New Testament scriptures describe and speak in structured understandable languages that are native to foreigners, just as Acts chapter 2 says:
6. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8. And howhear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia.
10.Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11. Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues…
Again, these Christians never actually speak in foreign languages that are structured, and understandable by people of foreign lands. Regardless of how sincere they may be, these Christians never do anything more than utter abbreviated formations of their own primary language.
With all things considered, I find that the so-called ‘tongue speaking’ is an acquired subconscious behavior that has been firmly implanted into the psyche and surrounded by an inescapable and impregnable emotional and psychological blanket. Which originated from the individual being convinced that the emotionally moving experience must come forth to fulfill the wishes of some alleged God that the person sincerely believes to exist.
Considering the mental and emotional commitment that goes into such a ‘belief,’ I am not at all shocked that people eventually have these possibly uncontrollable experiences. Just as it has been proven that people have many other psychiatric, neurological or psychological reactions or conditions that they initially or eventually have no, or very little, control over (e.g., bipolar, cognitive, delusional, and obsessive-compulsive disorders; delirium, dementia, schizophrenia, Tourette’s, psychosis and epilepsy).
Clarence Williams is the author of Truth, a book that is sure to shake the world. This author represents the now enlightened, ardent atheist who was once a sincere, blind-faith Christian.
