Some view holy laughter as an expression of faith
MICHELLE BEARDEN of The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - To some Christians, religion can be a laughing matter.
A phenomenon called ``holy laughter'' occasionally erupts in the Pentecostal-charismatic church.
In recent years, it has broken out in local churches, such as Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland and the River at Tampa Bay in Tampa.
Proponents say holy laughter is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in response to people's desire to see a new sign from God.
Skeptics call it everything from a hoax to a demonic experience.
Holy laughter has been around for centuries.
After the famous 1801 Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky, leader Barton Stone wrote in his memoirs: ``The laughing exercise was frequent. It was a loud party laughter.''
Stone described other manifestations of people apparently overcome with the Holy Spirit, such as barking and dancing.
Theologians and church historians have told similar tales. But to many people, this expression of faith ``comes off as wacko,'' says Margaret Poloma, sociologist of religion at the University of Akron in Ohio.
``In the Pentecostal world view, a manifestation is an accepted part of the faith experience,'' she says. One out of four Christians worldwide is Pentecostal-charismatic.
Physical and emotional manifestations of the Holy Spirit are ``full releases of all that is human,'' Poloma says.
``It's a total expression of the total person. If you want to dance, dance. If you want to run, run. If you want to laugh, go for it.''
The problem, Poloma says, is what happens to believers when it's over?
``If it doesn't prove to be life- changing, then they could be in for a major disappointment,'' she says. ``It can be a letdown that leads to nowhere.''
The Rev. Les Fairfield, professor of church history at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., says gifted revivalists can touch people ``in deep places'' through God's power. They can unlock feelings and memories that have been buried for decades, he says.
The outward signs can be sighing, groaning, laughing and dancing, he says.
``Since the turn of the century, Pentecostals have identified speaking in tongues as a necessary sign of being a full Christian,'' he says. ``Some are questioning whether other manifestations, like laughter, are similarly necessary.''
Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute in southern California, a nonprofit countercult ministry, dismisses holy laughter as ``one of the newest of the bizarre trends of esoteric experiences.''
Hanegraaff, also host of ``Bible Answer Man'' on more than 100 Christian radio stations, has devoted plenty of air time to debunking the charismatic trend.
``It's a direct result of the socio- psychological manipulation tactics in which people are worked into an altered state of consciousness,'' he says. ``And then they begin doing things they wouldn't normally do.''
Michelle Bearden covers religion and can be reached at (813) 259-7613.
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