Anyone Can Speak in Tongues
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/06/anyone-can-speak-in-tongues/373113/
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For most of Christian America, this is not an age of baptism. Among Southern Baptists, the country's largest evangelical Protestant denomination, the ritual has been in steady and steep decline. The same is true in mainline denominations, which are shrinking in general; Presbyterian churches, for example, have seen slow movement away from the rite for kids and adults for at least the past several years. The trend is most pronounced in the Catholic world: Last year, there were roughly half as many adult baptisms and roughly 25 percent fewer infant baptisms than there were a decade ago, according to this year's Official Catholic Directory.
Not so in the Assemblies of God. The Pentecostal denomination, which had roughly 3.1 million members in the United States as of 2013, has seen a steady rise in water baptisms over the past two and a half decades. But it has also seen steady participation in another kind of ritual: "Holy Spirit" baptisms, or an encounter with the divine that causes someone to speak in tongues. On the Assemblies of God website, the ritual is described as "a special work of the Spirit beyond salvation." The site cites several passages in the Bible, including experiences of Paul and Peter on the Pentecost in Acts, when the Holy Spirit is said to have descended upon the apostles. And, the site says, it can happen to anyone: "We believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues is the promise of the Father to every Christian who desires the experience."
Last year, roughly 2.7 percent of members of the Assemblies of God reported experiencing this kind of encounter with the Holy Spirit. Although instances of this kind of baptism has declined a little since 1997, they have been mostly consistent.
There could be many reasons why baptismal rites are declining in certain Christian denominations while they're thriving in others: It could have to do with individual church leaders, overall attendance, or even the social environment in Pentecostal congregations, which often involves spirited praying and singing. This is interesting from a religious perspective, but it's also sociologically fascinating—as are Holy Spirit baptisms themselves.
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until my parents joined a very authoritarian charismatic christian sect when I was about 5. At least catholic services were reasonably short and predictable.The charismatic 'prayer meetings' were held in people's homes, and went on for what seemed like an eternity. And worse, for a child as young as I was at the time, the speaking in tongues stuff was downright creepy. I eventually got used to it, but not w/out lots of nightmares.
And then there were the constant at home 'bible studies'. This was the early/mid 70's so thankfully my siblings and I weren't home-schooled or we'd never have gotten a break from it. I don't think there was much of that home-schooling stuff going on at the time, because had there been, we probably would have been subjected to that too. Ugh! 
I do remember having to fast once in awhile though, and that would include not eating at school. I remember being too embarrassed to explain, so I'd fib and just say that I forgot my lunch, and that I wasn't really hungry anyway. The funny thing about that whole ordeal was that I didn't fear the 'sin' of lying, yet was scared silly to break the fasting rule for the most ridiculous reason. -I was afraid that God would tell my parents that I ate something. Why I didn't worry about God telling them I had lied, I don't know... Lol, I guess I can laugh about this now, but the conundrum at the time was very real to me.
I used to love it when my aunt, uncle and cousins would come up for a visit, because we kids would consequently get a break from all of that stuff to attend catholic services with them. My aunt and uncle had thankfully remained devout catholics and lived quite a distance away, so when they'd visit, it'd usually be for about a week. I loved my cousins and hated to see them go back home, but mainly for that wonderful break.
