As a strategy of Satan, Edir Macedo, founder of the mighty “Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, to be referred to” in a Video, SARS-CoV-2. Who have no fear of the Coronavirus could hurt, so the multi-millionaire, in addition to the worldwide network of Evangelical temples is also an influential TV station in Brazil. Valdemiro Santiago, head of the “Igreja Mundial do Poder de Deus”, holds the Virus for a revenge of God.
most loudly sounded in the last few weeks, however, Silas Malafaia, who is regarded as a religious Guru by the President of Jair Bolsonaro. Just like this, the head of the “Assembleia de Deus Vitória em Cristo criticized” the Shutdown. “Kill the Coronavirus is from the people? Yes. But if there is social Chaos, then die. And the churches are essential for people who are desperate, full of fear and depressed and none of the hospital be included,” said Malafaia.
rites in the empty cult
sites Despite the ban of gatherings of people, also in Brazil, remain numerous temples open. But most of them are empty. So the Evangelical preachers hold their worship services without the municipality and send them to the Internet. “The decline hits all the churches, there is reported a huge decline in visits,” says sociologist of Religion Clemir Fernandes. “The more the press reports and the people have good information, the more you take the risks. Because the death numbers are increasing, Yes.”
in addition to the large churches in a seemingly infinite universe exists in smaller churches. Especially small churches in the slums would continue to feed, says religion expert, but he says: “The people are not irresponsible. You go in the supermarket, which is much more powerful than the Church on the corner. And in the Church, you feel safe.”
Between science and Faith
there are a few stories about pastors, the play the dangers of the Virus or with the help of God, want to defeat. A Church in southern Brazil, promised an immunization against the Virus. “Something is, but rather Folklore, almost a caricature,” says Fernandes, and stresses: “to be Representative of the Evangelical world that is not.”
on The contrary, he says, the Evangelical world was very receptive to the Sciences: “The Evangelical churches of the Protestant Tradition, the science pill and pray at the same time; they renounce neither one nor the other world.”
That such bizarre episodes are lifted by the press out of the, location the fact that the Evangelicals would be since the election Bolsonaros in the spotlight, believes the sociologist.
Donald Trump supported The power structure of the Evangelical
just like the Evangelicals in the United States, they helped in Brazil, Bolsonaro in the election campaign. And as Trump also Bolsonaro is quick, when it comes to the belittling of the Corona pandemic, to the Cheer of the possible antidotes, or conspiracy theories like the one that had that COVID-19 is an attack by China on the Western world.
For Francisco Borba Ribeiro Neto, a Professor at the Catholic University of São Paulo, it has a certain consistency: Bolsonaro represent a kind of “fundamentalism of the outsider,” says Borba Neto. Addressed groups of the population, based on traditional values, and in light of the current economic developments are excluded, and to the edge to feel pushed feel of it. This includes a matching of the enemy belong to. “The Fundamentalist sees the world full of danger and hidden enemies, and the strict adherence to the standards and doctrines is his only salvation from the Evil in the world. The pandemic reinforced this terrifying picture of today’s world.”
Where there is a close connection between the rejection of the “Social Distancing” and the negation of hazards due to climate change, because both threaten the economy in its traditional Form, argues Borba Neto. This is ultimately not about the economy, but by the opponent delineate: “Him as an ideological Scarecrow to depict as dangerous and ridiculous at the same time.”
business is
sociologist of Religion Fernandes looks behind the demonization of the societal shutdown by Evangelical leaders, such as Malafaia pure business sense, similar to the case of entrepreneurs, who voted against the closures: “Malafaias relationship to Bolsonaro is similar to that of many entrepreneurs. He is ultimately a businessman of faith, defended just like other entrepreneurs, the own interests.”
Politically sustainable, that is not down the COVID-19-risk play, however, believes that Fernandes. Just like in society as a whole, the support for Bolsonaro bröckele currently among Evangelicals, and even in the Evangelical parliamentary group in the Brazilian Congress. Finally, recalls Fernandes, there is also among them Doctors and members who understand something of science.
author: Thomas Milz
*The post “God’s revenge, or the devil’s work: How Brazil’s evangelicals with COVID-19 bypass” is published by Deutsche Welle. Contact with the executives here.
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