Home » Posts tagged 'Women'
Tag Archives: Women
The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
Why Many Pentecostals Are Abandoning Donald Trump
Join your name to this statement here!
We who have signed this statement are Spirit-filled Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians who believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Because of this, we refuse to vote for or support Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.
We do not feel that we need to compromise with or ignore our faith when we take a stance against Trumpism. On the contrary, it is precisely because of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ that we cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump and what he stands for.
The Demonization of Immigrants
At the center of our Pentecostal spirituality is the miracle of Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit united people of various nations through the miracle of tongues. The modern Pentecostal movement has one of its origins at Azusa Street in Los Angeles in which a multi-racial group of Americans and immigrants were baptized in the Holy Spirit together.
Leviticus 19:33-34 clearly states that we should love immigrants as ourselves and treat them as natives. Treating immigrants with love and empathy is a core value of any Christian.
For these reasons, we are horrified when we see how:
- Trump repeatedly dehumanizes immigrants by calling them “animals” and “not people”.
- Trump falsely accused Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, of eating pets, which led to bomb threats and harassment from the Ku Klux Klan – something Trump has refused to take responsibility or apologize for.
- Trump called these same Haitians illegal immigrants, even though they came to the US legally, and said that he want to deport all of them.
- Trump recently claimed that migrants have “bad genes”.
- Trump has said that “laziness is a trait in blacks”.
- Trump has said that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”.
- Trump has referred to Haiti and several African nations as “shithole countries”.
- Trump wants to enforce a mass deportation process that would cost over $210 billion and require a workforce larger than the U.S. Army, which would result in the separation of millions of families and leave approximately 4.5 million American children without one or both parents.
Most of the migrants that Trump employ this hateful, vile rhetoric towards are Christians. And most of those he wants to deport to poor, war-torn countries are also Christians. As fellow Christians, we cannot stand behind this.
The Disrespect, Belittling and Criminal Abuse of Women
As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, we strive for holiness and to become more Christ-like in all that we do and say and want to support people of good character. Evangelical Christians used to be the ones that emphasized the importance of politicians’ personal morality the most – that has rapidly changed during the reign of Trump.
While we do not believe one has to be perfect to be a president, the Bible emphasizes the importance of good character in both political and spiritual leaders (Deuteronomy 17:17, 1 Timothy 3:2). In particular, greed and sexual immorality are sins that bring God’s wrath upon people as they are equal to idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Donald Trump abounds in these sins without being repentant which has even led to criminal convictions:
- Trump has admitted to walking in on pageant contestants’ dressing rooms while some were naked or half-naked.
- Trump has called women he doesn’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.
- Trump has bragged about grabbing women by their genitals and sleeping with other married women.
- Trump is a legally defined sexual predator after being found to have raped journalist E. Jean Carroll.
- Trump was found guilty on 34 charges for paying hush money to a porn star in order to conceal his adulterous affairs with her when his youngest son was four months old.
- Trump said in 1990 that he doesn’t think adultery is a sin.
Notice that Trump has done all this while claiming to be a Christian and without ever apologizing for any of these acts towards women. He also said in 2015 that he has never asked God for forgiveness.
The Threat to Democracy
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians have been pioneers for democracy around the world, since our conviction that the Holy Spirit can and wants to use anyone empowers them to make a difference for their lives and their communities. Jesus taught that we should do to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12) and that leaders should serve rather than rule as kings (Matthew 10:42-45). Thus, we believe that democracy is biblical while dictatorship leads to tyranny and oppression.
Donald Trump has become alarmingly authoritarian over time and researchers have found that Trumpism has made the Republican party more akin to authoritarian parties such as AKP in Turkey and Fidesz in Hungary. It has become increasingly clear that Trumpism is a threat to democracy:
- Trump has praised President Xi in China for consolidating power in order to become president for life, saying he wanted to try the same thing.
- Trump has repeatedly “joked” about serving longer than the legal limit of two terms.
- Trump has repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders, including Putin, Duterte, Erdogan, el-Sisi, and Orbán.
- Trump has defended those who stormed the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden from being democratically elected and said he would pardon them if he becomes president again.
- Trump has explicitly written that the U.S. Constitution should be suspended to prevent him from losing elections.
- Trump told his supporters that they wouldn’t need to vote again after this election.
- Trump has repeatedly said that he would “only” be a dictator on day one if he’s re-elected and would use presidential power dictatorially to get revenge on his political enemies.
- Trump also recently claimed that all his political enemies will be arrested when he comes to power.
Obviously, the fact that we view Trump as a threat to democracy does in no way legitimize or excuse the awful assassination attempts on Donald Trump’s life. As Christians, we reject all types of political violence. At the same time, we cannot stay silent about the threat to democracy that Trumpism forms in the light of all the evidence given above.
Conclusion
As Spirit-filled Christians, we affirm the inherent God-given value of all human beings and whole-heartedly oppose all hate and belittling towards migrants, women and minorities. Our primary loyalty is to Jesus Christ, not to a political party, and our faith remains in him. This is why we cannot embrace Trumpism and refuse to vote for Trump in this year’s presidential election.
Holiness, Healing and Helping the Poor: The Ministry of Nelly Hall
In a time where it was controversial at best and impossible at worst for a woman to preach, Swedish evangelist Nelly Hall (1848-1916) gathered crowds of thousands of people as she preached about salvation, holiness and discipleship.
She was part of the holiness movement, and according to church historian David Bundy, the Holiness Union of Sweden would probably not have existed without her (1).
After being inspired by the preaching of American Methodist evangelist William E. Boardman, and after visiting the Salvation Army’s headquarters in London, Hall decided to become a full-time preacher (2). (more…)
The Forgotten Origin of Pentecostalism Among Women in India
Originally posted at PCPJ.
I used to think that Pentecostalism started with the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles 1906, preceded by events at Charles Fox Parham’s Bethel Bible College in Kansas 1901. From the US, Pentecostalism then spread rapidly across the world, impacting Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America so that it became the global phenomenon we know of today.
I know realize that I was severely wrong.
To be fair, the Azusa revival had a tremendous impact and is surely among the roots of Pentecostalism. But it’s not the only one. In fact, it is not the earliest. Frank Bartleman, one of American Pentecostalism’s most important pioneers (and a pacifist), acknowledged that “The present world-wide revival was rocked in the cradle of little Wales. It was ‘brought up in India, following; becoming full-grown in Los Angeles later.” While the Welsh revival was quite different than what Pentecostalism became known for, the Indian revival wasn’t. (more…)
Women in Wartime
Today is International Women’s Day, a day which highlights the severe discrimination and oppression of women all around the world. There are strong evidence for the thesis that if gender equality is promoted in developing countries, it will give positive effects when it comes to political participation, poverty reduction and human rights.
But gender equality also has an intrinsic value, as people created in the image of God, it is totally unacceptable when women are facing oppression, violence and humiliation. Christian Aid has written this text about women’s situation in war, with the case study of Syria, that emphazise the importance of gender awareness.
Women in wartime
Today some 90% of war casualties are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.
Just over a century ago, when the first International Women’s Day events were held, women and children made up only 10% of war casualties, while military personnel made up the majority of those who lost their lives.
Victims of sexual violence in DR Congo
International Women’s Day and Mothering Sunday
This year International Women’s Day and Mothering Sunday fall over the same weekend, on 8 and 10 March respectively.
These are both moments for celebrating the strength, resilience and inspiration of women all over the planet. But they are also times to draw attention to the fact that women are the world’s second class citizens.
Charismactivism 