Re: Is Charismatic a pejorative term?

On Wed, 22 May 2024 19:32:48 -0500, Lane Larson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Charismatic is a pejorative because the bobbleheads that walk around 
>with all the charisma and glitter have done nothing to earn their 
>positions of power it puts them in.  I guess it means it is the opposite 
>of a meritocracy.

Since no one seems to be talking about "charistamatic", I assume it
was a typo, and changed the subject line.

"Charismatic" is pejorative to some people, for various reasons.

It is not pejorative to other people for various different reasons. 

No doubt it would have been jejorative to Bishop Josephe Butler, who
said to John Wesley:

Sir, the pretending to extraordinary revelations and gifts of the Holy
Ghost is a horrid thing—a very horrid thing.

Joseph Butler to John Wesley, 16 August 1739 (John Wesley Journal).

Charismatic is an epithet often applied to Christians who do claim to
have had extraordinary revelations and/or gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and would be pejorative to those Christians who believe that the gifts
of the Holy Spirit have ceased to be given.

It might also be seen to be perjorative by people who have encountered
Christians who claim to have gifts of the Holy Spirit, but do not
manifest fruits of the spirit. 

If might also be seen to be pejorative be secular people who have
encountered Christians who claim to be charismatic, but seem to adhere
more strongly to right-wing authoritarian political views than to any
spiritual beliefs. 

And so it goes. 



-- 
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web:  http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com

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