And far from reconciling people to life's miseries, Pentecostalism tends to send them on a mission to fix things from giving up drinking to reforming society.
They are reform junkies reforming society, the economy, culture and even individuals whose personal behavior they find repulsive or not quite up to snuff by their own personal standards.
Acknowledging the contribution made to the current foment in China brought on by increasing popular exposure to Western values and liberties and by the Chinese tradition of student leadership in reforming society, it is modern communications, not commercial relations, that have been the largest single influence on and enabler for the popular demonstrations in Beijing.
In the run up to the poll, commentators predicted that whichever of the two candidates won the election, they would only be able to govern effectively if they formed a broad coalition to create consensus on completing the peace process, pulling out of Lebanon and reforming Israeli society.
It's a modern prison focused on reforming inmates and preparing them for a return to society.
And good graft-free governance does not come from reforming the state alone - it demands the reformation of society and its people.
Hugo Chavez started as a reforming president, intent on addressing the inequalities in Venezuelan society giving food, medical care and, above all, a political voice to the poor.
And of course, in addition to our plans to reduce the long-term demands on the state by fixing our broken society and to improve the productivity of the state by reforming public services we want to save money straight away by cutting out government waste and outdated programmes.
Why that is not about trumped-up short-term efficiency savings or thoughtless crisis cuts - but is about long-term change, long-term change that involves reducing the demands on the state by fixing our broken society and long term change that means increasing the productivity of the state by reforming our public services.
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