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Holy laughter is a term used within charismatic Christianity that describes a religious behaviour in which individuals spontaneously laugh during church meetings. It has occurred in many revivals throughout church history, but it became normative in the early 1990s in Neo-charismatic churches and the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit. Many people claimed to experience this phenomenon at a large revival in Toronto, Canada known as the Toronto Blessing.
Though primarily found in Protestant churches, it was observed in some parts of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, as well.Cimino 2001, p. 33 The practice spread to the Association of Vineyard Churches, most notably to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994. Religious revival meetings at the church became very popular, drawing 75,000 visitors that year. Many attendees at the meetings spent time laughing loudly while lying on the floor.
Analysis
Leaders who have promoted holy laughter said the laughter was a result of joy that was supernaturally being given to people in the meetings.Poloma 2003, p. 4 They said the joy was often accompanied by miraculous healing and the cessation of depression.Poloma 2003, p. 5 Margaret Poloma of the University of Akron has described the events of the services as a ritual facilitation of catharsis.Poloma 2003, p. 108 Philip Richter of STETS has drawn a parallel between holy laughter and laughter yoga.Porter 1996, p. 119
Reception
Many of the activities at these meetings, particularly the laughter, were controversial within evangelical Christianity. Though some religious leaders such as Pat Robertson embraced the movement, groups including the Christian Research Institute and the Southern Baptist Convention condemned what was occurring.Queen, Prothero & Shattuck 2009, p. 245 Critics charge that the practice is the result of psychological manipulation,Diamond 2000, p. 209 or demonic possession.Diamond 2000, p. 210
See also
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