...namely, that dominionism and "Christian Nationalism" have their heart in the neopente movement, and it is not restricted to the US.

According to one of the first worldwide polls on politics in pentecostal churches conducted by the Pew Research Forum, we have some of the first views on how widespread neopente movements--and the "Joel's Army" flavour of dominionism--may be.

In Pew's research on "renewalist" (traditional pente and "charismatic" groups, for the largest part, these are in fact what would be defined by most as neopentecostal) groups, the numbers are telling:

Despite the rapid growth of the renewalist movement in the last few decades, relatively little is known about the religious, political and civic views of individuals involved in these groups. To address this shortcoming, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, with generous support from the Templeton Foundation, recently conducted surveys in 10 countries with sizeable renewalist populations: the United States; Brazil, Chile and Guatemala in Latin America; Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa; and India, the Philippines and South Korea in Asia. In each country, surveys were conducted among a random sample of the public at large, as well as among oversamples of pentecostals and charismatics.

The largest charismatic populations are in Brazil (34% of the population), Guatemala (40%) and the Philippines (40%). In several other countries, including the U.S., Chile, Kenya and South Africa, approximately one-in-five people are charis-matic. Taken together, these findings confirm that members of renewalist movements can be found in sizeable numbers throughout the world.

In six of the 10 countries (all except the U.S., South Africa, the regions of India surveyed and South Korea), the surveys find that renewalists account for a majority of the overall Protestant population. Indeed, in five nations (Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines) more than two-thirds of Protestants are either pentecostal or charismatic. In Nigeria, renewalists account for six-in-ten Protestants.

(Emphasis mine.)

So...erm, those of you who had the Philippines on a potential list of "safe havens" in the event of a dominionist take-over may wish to strike that. Brazil's growth in neopentes (largely from sheep-stealing and steeplejacking of Catholic dioceses) is actually quite recent; it's also confirmed that Guatemala has one of the most severe problems worldwide with "Joel's Army" dominionists, which make up practically the entire dominionist movement in that country (to particularly bloody effect; Guatemala is so far the only country worldwide to be subjected to both a military dominionist coup and an autocoup by an elected dominionist president).

A fuller list of percentages of likely neopentes per country</a> is interesting on several levels. Guatemala is again confirmed to have the single worst dominionist problem of *any* nation, to the extent it can almost be called a real-life Republic of Gilead (neopentes are now the majority at over 60 percent of the population, between "Catholic neopente" cuckoo churches and Assemblies and Assemblies-daughters downright lousy throughout the country); Kenya is also a country which now has a neopentecostal majority (at 56 percent of the population)--noteworthy in light of protests against display of the Australopithecus skeleton "Lucy" by neopente churches in that country). Brazil is close to having a neopente majority as well (at 49 percent).

The US has an estimated total population of "revivalists" (which likely also include a few legit "charismatic" groups and a whole mess of neopentes) of around 23 percent--which is also, not coincidentially, roughly where George W. Bush's lows of approval have been. (The Assemblies in particular have promoted Dubya as "God's own president", hence why I note "not coincidentially".) There is a larger skew in the States towards "charismatics"--in large part because a lot of "independent" neopente churches (and a non-negligible number of "stealth Assemblies" congregations to boot) actively advertise themselves as "charismatic" rather than as "pentecostal" to avoid conflation with Oneness Pentes (the sort that have to wear dresses, can't cut their hair, and the like). Still, that actually fits up with a guesstimate I made--of around 20-25% of the US population being members of "Joel's Army" churches. (With the SBC's ongoing steeplejacking, I may have to modify this a bit--however, they've likely counted "charismatic Baptist" congregations within SBC churches, too.) A separate note indicates that nearly one out of three Protestants in the US are neopente; this is likely to increase due to steeplejacking.

Whilst Oz and Canada are not included in the survey, I would expect similar numbers to those in the States or a bit less--but with the vast majority being Assemblies (or Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada in the case of Canuck neopentes).

If that's not quite enough to disturb, some of the core theology--which any Assemblies walkaway could document, but which Pew finally gets hard numbers on--could have some definite implications for things like healthcare and the like should (Gods forbid) "Joel's Army" get control:

In all 10 countries surveyed, large majorities of pentecostals (ranging from 56% in South Korea to 87% in Kenya) say that they have personally experienced or witnessed the divine healing of an illness or injury. In eight of the countries (India and South Korea are the exceptions) majorities of pentecostals say that they have received a direct revelation from God.

Pentecostals around the world also are quite familiar with exorcisms; majorities in seven of the 10 countries say that they personally have experienced or witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person. Generally, fewer charismatics, and even fewer other Christians, report witnessing these types of experiences.

(Again, emphasis mine.)

Wow, puts that post on Dubya possibly being a "stealth neopente" in light, doesn't it? Or for that matter, steeplejacking in general...the last thing I want, frankly, is a President basing his foreign policy decisions on a "personal revelation from God" that the head of a nation he doesn't much like is possessed by Satan. (Yes, this stuff happens in neopente churches. A lot.)

And yes, it *is* a legit worry in the US as well as other countries. A more in-depth graphic from the survey notes that something around 34 percent of pentes and 22 percent of "charismatics" have witnessed an exorcism in the US (compared to around seven percent in non-neopentecostal churches; it should be noted that the entire practice of exorcism, where it still exists, is under much greater control and restriction in most non-neopente and non-neopente-influenced churches than it is in the neopente movement). The numbers are far scarier in other countries--almost all of the neopente churches in Brazil practice some form of "deliverance ministry", and in fast most neopentes admit to having seen exorcisms in the poll (possibly because of less of a cultural bias). A majority of pentes in the US (including Assemblies) interviewed also admit to receiving direct revelations from God (54 percent in the case of "traditional pentes", 39 percent for "charismatics").

And the Pew Research Forum also gives hard proof to something we've known on here (and on Talk to Action and a few other forums) for some time--namely, dominionism is part of the core theology of neopentes, no matter where you go:

Renewalists also stand out for the intensity of their belief in traditional Christian doctrines and practices. For instance, in eight of the 10 countries surveyed (all except the U.S. and Chile), majorities of non-renewalist Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word; but this view is even more common among pentecostals than among non-renewalist Christians. Similarly, large majorities of all Christians, renewalists and non-renewalists alike, believe that miracles still occur today as in ancient times. But this belief tends to be even more intense among pentecostals and, to a lesser extent, charismatics than among non-renewalist Christians.

Pentecostals also stand out, especially compared with non-renewalist Christians, for their views on eschatology, or "the end times." In six countries, at least half of pentecostals believe that Jesus will return to earth during their lifetime. And the vast majority of pentecostals (more than 80% in each country) believe in "the rapture of the Church," the teaching that before the world comes to an end the faithful will be rescued and taken up to heaven. This belief is less common (though still widely shared) among charismatics, who, in turn, tend to express higher levels of belief in the rapture than do other Christians.
. . .
Although renewalists are focused on spiritual matters, many also say there is a role for religion in politics and public life. In nine of the 10 countries surveyed, for instance, at least half of pentecostals say that religious groups should express their views on day-to-day social and political questions; support for this position is equally widespread among charismatics. In every country surveyed, furthermore, renewalists are at least as likely as others to express this view. Majorities of renewalists in every country surveyed say that it is important to them that their political leaders have strong Christian beliefs. In six of the 10 countries, at least three-quarters of pentecostals share this view.

Yes, you're reading that right--in almost every country surveyed, neopentes believe that public policy *must* be moved to a neopente viewpoint; majorities in *every* country essentially state that a religious test for being a "good neopente" is required--and over three fourths of the "pentecostals" in most countries (of note, just by sheer numbers alone, "pentecostal" in this survey means "Assemblies and Assemblies daughters"; most "oneness Pentecostal" churches are quite small compared to the Assemblies).

VERY interesting, at least to me, is the explict documentation that neopentecostal churches are in fact bibolatrous (something a lot of us have observed in statements of faith of dominionist churches). A graphic from the in-depth article on the survey notes that over 76 percent of pentecostals in the US are biblical literalists, as are nearly 50 percent of "charismatics"; only around 37 percent of non-neopentecostal churches in the US are literalist. (The percentages are even more skewed for other countries.)

The evidence that dominionism is a part of the core theology is particularly damning. In a survey question asking whether churches should express their views on political matters (yes) or stay out of politics (no), almost four-fifths of pentecostals and over seven-tenths of all "charismatics" answered "yes" in the US alone; this is compared to a 61% "yes" answer among non-neopente churches. The skewage was similar in most cases--literally the only country that did not promote a majority of any group getting involved in politics was India.

A survey of social and moral issues is also of note--and gives a glimpse into what a "real life" Republic of Gilead would be like. Over 80 percent of pentes and 59 percent of "charismatics" in the US said being LGBT is never acceptable (compared to 54% of non-neopente dominionists); 48% of pentes and 47% of "charismatics" in the US would bring back Prohibition. (Of note, the majority of neopente churches within the "Assemblies family" of congregations are teetotalers; one noteworthy exception is "Catholic neopente" cuckoo-churches and cuckoo-churches in congregations using actual wine as a Holy Sacrament.) Guatemala, which has a dominionist majority (in fact, an "Assemblies family" majority) is even worse--not only are there similar numbers of people there who'd ban LGBT folk in pente and charismatic groups, but an even higher percentage of people would bring Prohibition (86% of pentes and 78% of "charismatics"--and in fact they've influenced public policy in Guatemala, a Catholic nation that has a pre-Christian tradition of brewing maize beer, that even most Catholics are opposed to alcohol) and even ban divorce altogether (56% of pentes, 45% of "charismatics"). Nigeria has even higher numbers--almost total majorities for all of the above, and its "revivalist" movement is almost entirely comprised of neopentecostal churches (largely Assemblies missionary churches) with no "charismatic" groups to speak of.

For those with the stamina to do so, the entire 233 page report is online; a 131 page report on the survey results alone is also available. The latter is particularly interesting, as it indicates--among other things--that "Charismatic Mormon" and "Charismatic Jehovah's Witness" groups (meant as steeplejacking efforts in these two denominations) may in fact exist as well--which shouldn't be too surprising, seeing as some of the "Joel's Army" folks are promoting "Messianic Moslems".

The 131 page document *does* confirm that a majority were in fact from the "Assemblies family" of neopente churches; roughly thirty percent of the "pentecostals" in the US were from various Church of God groups (which split early from the pentecostal movement, around the same time the Assemblies did) whilst the rest were all Assemblies, Assemblies daughters, and a few "oneness Pentes". The results also confirm problems with steeplejacking and "cuckoo churches" (in the US) in Episcopalian, Baptist, and Roman Catholic congregations (where practically all the "charismatics" came from that were not from neopente "nondenominational" churches).

The patterns are even more stark where pretty much the entire "revivalist" movement constitutes Assemblies and Assemblies-daughter churches (such as in Brazil and Guatemala); in these countries, a pattern of steeplejacking and "sheep-stealing" from Catholic churches emerges. Guatemala has already made the shift to "Assemblies daughters" having most of the neopente population; Kenya (which actually has two separate Assemblies churches--an international one and a Kenyan-based one) is in the process of transition; Nigeria's dominionist movement is almost entirely comprised of native neopente "Assemblies daughters". Steeplejacking patterns vary by country--South Africa, for instance, is apparently having steeplejacking issues with Dutch Reformed churches, and India still has Catholicism largely targeted for steeplejacking as well as the Syrian Orthodox Church.

The South Korean pattern is especially apparent in showing the general "bad behaviour" of Assemblies churches in steeplejacking; pretty much the "traditional pentecostal" movement IS the Assemblies of God (and in fact one particular Assemblies church--Yoido Full Gospel, the world's largest megachurch and effectively the world headquarters of the Assemblies throughout most of the 1990s), but South Korea shows quite possibly the highest percentage of steeplejacked churches despite a relatively low population of neopentes total--a measurable number of Catholic churches with "cuckoo congregations", again, but also extremely aggressive steeplejacking and "cuckoo church" planting in Korean Presbyterian churches (where in at least one denomination, almost 40 percent of the members were neopentes of some sort).

And--disturbingly--very large majorities of neopentes in the US stated they would choose religion over country (83 percent of pentes, 67 percent of "charismatics"); this should be of special note to everyone in light of an increasing body of evidence indicating a full-scale steeplejacking of the United States military.