The strange “spiritual” phenomenon that enveloped children as they participated in a recent devotional exercise at Oberlin High School gives grave cause for concern.

As a country with a large Christian population, devotions have been an integral part of school life. This is particularly so in church-run schools. These devotions have functioned well, especially at the beginning of the school year, to give a sense of orderliness and the feeling that the school is starting the term on the right path.

But, as we have seen from what happened at Oberlin, devotions can get out of hand and descend into disorder. For, however we may describe the children’s experience as a spiritual exercise, children lying on the floor of a school auditorium or gyrating from being “filled with the spirit” and behaving in unseemly ways defy any definition of orderly. And I believe that the version of the God which was being invoked is regarded by all well-meaning denominations as a God of order. This is not to downplay the Pentecostal experience of those denominations that insist on the Spirit provoking such experience, but preying on the vulnerabilities of the young in such situations can hardly be regarded as acceptable.

Crowding 500 to 600 children into an auditorium and conducting an ecstatic spiritual exercise of the nature observed at Oberlin is a clear recipe for disaster. Any “spiritual” leader with the necessary skills of crowd manipulation can elicit an emotive, mass psychotic response from the vulnerable. It is the same kind of mass manipulation that is characteristic of many charismatic mass services conducted by American evangelicals, one of the most prominent being Benny Hinn.

The exercise becomes more impressive on the mind of the gullible if you tell them ahead of time that you have a “word” from the Lord for them. I am always wary of religious people who like to talk about getting a word from the Lord or having a direct conversation with the Almighty in which they are distinctly instructed by a voice of a particular course of action to be taken. I do not think they are any closer to God than I am, but I cannot boast of such an experience. Maybe I need to get closer to Him.

In the Old Testament ecstatic spiritual experiences in groups usually begin with one or more people behaving in highly emotive ways and the “fire” spreading to other members of the group. This is not unlike what happened at Oberlin. These were defining ways in which people saw the operations of the Holy Spirit. These were not always godly exercises as King Saul experienced with the witch of Endor. The apostles in the New Testament seemed to be more careful about such overt expressions of spiritual fervour, to the extent that the writer of the Johannine epistles urged the faithful to test the Spirit to see whether they were from God or a false prophet (1 John 4: 1-3). From whence did the spirit at Oberlin derive?

Paul, in his letter to the Christians at Corinth, had much to say about spiritual gifts. It must be noted that he did not elevate speaking in tongues or glossolalia as being the predominant gift that one can have from the Holy Spirit. The greatest is having the ability and desire to love others. That is the all-encompassing gift. That is what the children at Oberlin and throughout the entire school system must be taught. Love one another for love is of God. God is love.

It should be clear that a school environment is never a place to “do Church”. That should be confined to one’s place of worship on whatever day one chooses to do so. But there must be a place for devotional exercises in schools. It is important that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is going to streamline the conduct of such exercises. We do not want to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water, but protocols for the conduct of devotions are necessary to define how students and the school community, in general, can benefit from such exercises.

It would be good if emphasis is placed on the development of character from the religious perspective. Many of the values that seem to be disappearing, such as developing a good work ethic, respect for the views of others, how to resolve conflicts, and so on should be at the top of the agenda. This is especially so at a time when crude behaviour among students is issuing into an unprecedented state of violence hitherto unknown in our schools.

Recently the Ministry of Education proposed introducing character development in the school curriculum. This may be a good time to ascertain how this could be integrated into devotional exercises. There must be room for inculcating these values through the medium of devotions, however brief. There should be no room for proselytising and the greatest reprimand must be meted out to those who openly do this.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm, Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life, and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.