BBC News - Guatemala's Rios Montt found guilty of genocide

Doesn't bode well for the future of Latin America since Pentecostalism is expanding at a rapid rate throughout the continent as neo-liberalism expands into the region.

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Kerry, can you elaborate on the connection between neo-liberalism and the pentecostal movement?

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I think it's similar to the connection between the early development of capitalism and Protestantism. As rural people are pushed into the capitalist economy in urban areas, the communal aspects of Catholicism fail to meet people's needs and the individualist, future-world oriented, ecstatic rock music Pentecostalism fulfills people's religious needs, while discouraging unionization and inculcating obedience to one's bosses. The fact that Pentecostalism is connected with the US and the American Dream, acts as an additional attractor, not to mention the fact that most US Pentecostal missionaries are mindless advocates of US corporate interests.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Pentecostals are kind of out there.

I should have added that a fair number of Guatemalans converted just to avoid being slaughtered.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Why do you say that?

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2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Thanks. Here's an interesting overview.
Historical Overview of Pentecostalism in Guatemala - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
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1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Here's more details on the connection of Rios Montt to US Pentecostalism:

Guatemalan ex-dictator Rios Montts' Gospel Outreach church based in Eureka Ca. : LA IMC

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I have known quite a few Pentecostals. They were all, and I mean every single one, highly Conservative.

They were also quite pushy since they had a genuine concern for you if you were not a Pentecostal.

More like genuine concern for their own souls. It's sort of like a fishing contest.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Elchivito, I've been thinking more about your question. Here's an answer I just jotted down to organize my thoughts some more.

I've been puzzled by a social phenomenon. Why is it that Pentecostalism has been so closely associated with the expansion of industrial capitalism and it's undermining of communal values and the substitution of the individual for the group? It's easy to see where Ayn Rand is associated with capitalism since she so explicitly argues for the primacy of the individual. While capitalism in general has long been associated with Protestantism, why has the rapid expansion of capitalism in the late 20th century into the 'Third World' been so closely correlated with the expansion of Pentecostalism into the same places since Pentecostalism doesn't have an explicit anti-communal ideology? Perhaps it's because it's central ritual practice is fundamentally anti-social? Language is one of the central human socializing practices. We speak the same language as the family into which we are born and usually speak the same language as our town or city. Speaking in tongues is a rejection of this fundamental unity because it's the utterance of apparently meaningful sentences which no one in one's community can understand. It is a primal socially isolating practice. The individual is engaging what in most circumstances would be a socially integrating practice--the production of shared meaning--but there is no shared meaning. It is the quintessential ritual of alienation The remaining question is whether it is a cause or effect or both.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Ayn Rand was an ardent, proselytizing atheist. She actively rejected all religion, especially Christianity as anathema to egoism.

I had a religious experience once with a Penecostal girl at university...

Oh, and more seriously, all monotheistic religions are a bloodbath, waiting to happen...