Amerikansk tidning uppmärksammar karismatiker för fred och rättvisa (exempelvis mig)

Nättidningen Religion Unplugged uppmärksammar den här veckan Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice (PCPJ) och intervjuar bland annat mig. Väldigt många amerikanska pingstvänner är passionerade Trumpangängare och argumenterar för saker som:

• att alla ska ha vapen,
• att flyktingar inte ska få komma in,
• att klimatförändringar inte finns på riktigt,
• att ekonomisk ojämlikhet är bra,
• att jämställdheten har gått för långt.

Detta är ju inte saker Jesus står för i evangelierna, inte heller är det saker pingströrelsen ursprungligen stod för. De tidiga pingstvännerna var pacifister, lät kvinnor predika och engagerade sig för fattigdomsbekämpning och en god miljö.

De försökte efterlikna hela pingsten i Apg 2, inte bara tungotalsdelen.

Vi i PCPJ tänker likadant som våra andliga förfäder.

Ett utdrag från artikeln:

Pentecostals who feel iffy about President Trump don’t have to hide their misgivings, thanks to the rise of a group of charismatic scholars, religious professionals and activists.

Known as Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice (PCPJ), they are taking on everything from the White House to false coronavirus prophecies. The group presents itself as an alternative to the coterie of Pentecostal and charismatic leaders who have surrounded and advised Trump ever since his 2016 election.

“One of the things we have reacted to is Trump’s rhetoric,” says Micael Grenholm, a Swedish pastor who edits PCPJ’s web site and blog. “Thankfully, he has not started a war. We have criticized his belittling of women, indigenous people, defense of extreme economic inequalities and dishonesty and lying that characterize his administration. 

“We have said we were Pentecostal and charismatic and wanted to be guided by the Holy Spirit and while we wish for peace in the world, we did not have peace with how he was acting.”

Pentecostals and charismatics belong to an evangelical sub-group that believes that the supernatural “gifts of the Holy Spirit” are operative today. Of those who are active in politics, the best-known is televangelist Paula White, who says she led President Donald Trump to the Lord before his 2016 presidential run and is known for her fiery sermons on everything from prosperity to “satanic pregnancies.”

But she has been years ahead of her white counterparts on race issues. Earlier this year, White was named as adviser to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.

“Paula was a no one in denominational Pentecostal circles for a long time,” says Erica Ramirez, the Texas-born academic who is the president of PCPJ and director of research at Austin Seminary in Manhattan. “Just like the election of Trump changed the game in national politics, the elevation of Paula has changed the game in Pentecostalism and evangelicals.”

Trump’s religious cabinet has plenty of detractors, but none were from the same theological camp until the PCPJ — whose members also lay claim to spiritual gifts like prophecy and speaking in tongues — emerged a few years ago.

Läs resten av artikeln här.