Edition #16
Lisbon, 2011
“DKANDLE weaves swirling multi-colored vibrant unearthly soundscapes, blending fuzzy and reverberating Shoegaze textures, mesmerizing Dream Pop meditations, sludgy Grungey tones and moody Post-punk strains, heightened with soul-stirring lyricism and pensive emotive vocalizations”
THE PHALANX OF CHRIST AND ITS IMPOSITION
OF THEOCRACY IN BRAZIL
The Evangelical Phalanx is made up of religious politicians who have decided to impose the laws of their churches on everyone in Brazil. Is Brazil a secular state? Apparently not. Just as the ayatollahs rule Iran with their religious laws, in Brazil, we see more and more evangelicals "dominating" the National Congress in their attempt to forcibly transform Brazil into a fully evangelized nation.
The issue of individual freedom is still very delicate. In general, more advanced countries do not interfere in the private lives of their citizens. In these countries, people are free to be whoever they want, as long as this does not infringe on others' rights or cause harm to society. Regarding their private rights, people in these countries have total freedom to act and think as they wish; everyone is their own person, and no one meddles in their private affairs. Everyone has the same civil rights as anyone else, and no one is discriminated against because of their sex or sexual orientation, or at least they are not prevented from being who they are.
The rule is: the more a state interferes in your moral life, the more backward that state is. This is not an ethnocentric view; it is simply an observation based on the understanding that everyone wants to be free, and this right is inalienable and above all else. Just be honest with yourself and answer: do you like having your freedom curtailed? Neither do I. So, following this reasoning, the more culturally backward a country is, the more interference there is in the lives of its citizens. Islamic countries are the biggest example of this. In these countries, women, homosexuals, and other minorities have few or no rights. In many of these countries, women cannot go out in public without a headscarf – that is, when they are not required to wear a burqa. Gay people living in these countries cannot come out of the closet without risking imprisonment, stoning, or hanging. Recently, in Uganda, the Congress tried to impose the death penalty on all homosexual citizens, but due to external pressure from millions of people around the world, they were forced to postpone the vote on this bill (which, I hope, will never be approved). (EDIT 2024: Unfortunately, it was approved in 2023…).
But the persecution of gays is not limited to Islamic countries in Africa or Asia. Countries with a strong Christian tradition, particularly the evangelical wing, are extremely hostile to homosexuals. Brazil is one such case. The plague of evangelization increasingly affects Brazilian cities, where there is a growing civil impoverishment in the name of a fundamentalist dogma that preaches hatred of differences and anything that contradicts biblical precepts.
IMAGE: Now that the Phalanx of Christ
(aka Evangelical Bench) is
controlling the Brazilian Congress
with its political blackmail,
theocracy has been established
in Brazil.
THE CHRISTIAN "JIHAD"
It is moral harassment to try to impose one's faith on those who do not believe in the authority of the Bible. This is practically a jihad. There have been numerous examples of the harmful interference of these leeches in the development of Brazil as a nation that respects the right of its citizens to be themselves. They have been particularly mobilizing against anti-homophobia initiatives, because in their view, they have the right to offend gay people since their so-called Holy Book supposedly grants them that permission. The Evangelical Phalanx even supported Judge Jeronymo Pedro Villas Boas, who ordered the annulment of a same-sex union performed in his registry office. "This holy disobedience inspires us," stated Congressman Anthony Garotinho (PR-RJ). Holy ignorance... It's painful to hear Garotinho speak of holiness. His government is mired in legal processes. His wife (who also claims to be evangelical) faces multiple accusations and is under threat of removal for administrative misconduct.
Garotinho represents a growing portion of the population made up of religious fanatics who invoke Jesus Christ and spew hatred toward other human beings for being different. The biggest problem with the fanatic believer is that they have internalized the concept of "sin" like a heavy block of concrete. When they encounter something they were taught is wrong, they automatically put it on their "blacklist of sins," and from that moment on, it becomes "bad and dirty" in their mind. The longer this continues, the more they are trapped in this distorted way of seeing the world. It is one of the hardest things to make a fanatic abandon their beliefs. They think God will punish them if they show favor toward any "diabolical" practice.
I don’t understand why they demonize a feeling of love so much. What’s truly immoral is pointing fingers. Live and let live.
CHRISTIANS: GREAT PROPAGATORS OF HATRED
The state is public and secular, and therefore, it cannot favor the views of one religion when making laws.
Christians do not want PLC 122 (the anti-homophobia bill) to pass because then they would no longer be able to "offend" homosexuals in their sermons. What a prime example of spirituality and respect for others! Christians are truly the last to follow their own religious principles: "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Judge not, lest you be judged."
Christians claim they do not preach hatred. Sure. Evangelical Senator Magno Malta compares homosexuals to zoophiles, necrophiles, and pedophiles; the same stance is held by Christian politician Silas Malafaia. Consider this gem of hate speech from the pastor-politician Magno Malta (PR-ES): "If God created male and female, the Senate is not going to create a third sex with a law. They [homosexuals] need to understand that the grotesque desire of a minority will not be forced upon us," he stated. Nothing is more grotesque than this pastor's attitude.
Fundamentalists see only their own point of view in a rigid manner. They are enemies of anything different, of anything that does not conform to their moral laws.
Meanwhile, motivated by the hatred spread by these people, "grotesque" homophobic crimes are being committed in Brazil. One of the most recent cases was that of Ká Stock, an 18-year-old from Natal. He was strangled, stabbed, and killed. The reason? He was gay. That was the reason. This is Brazil, the country with the highest number of LGBT+ murders in the world.
And Bolsonaro? He gets elected on the back of prejudice and inciting hatred toward those who do not follow his moralistic agenda. Congressman Ivan Valente classified his statements as prejudiced, homophobic, and anti-democratic. "I think it is very negative that he makes proposals against individual freedoms that generate prejudice and violence." Homophobic crimes in Brazil increased by about 80% after Bolsonaro took office. But for him, everything is fine because, according to his opinion, "most homophobic crimes occur in brothels by pimps at times when the common citizen is sleeping." Excuse me? Even if that were true, would that somehow legitimize the murders??
Ká Stock, 18 years old, brutally murdered for the simple fact of being gay (Natal-RN, June 2011)
In the past, humans once accepted as truth the idea that the Earth was flat, supported by a giant turtle, and at the center of the universe. We've moved past that phase, but we still haven't overcome the tendency to anthropomorphize gods with human feelings and flaws, as is the case with the Christian god.
The more we reduce things, the poorer they become. They want to reduce everything, for everyone to be like them: anything different is no good. But where does this need to reject what is different come from?
These religious and pseudo-moralists imagine the world would fall into chaos without rigid control. But in nature, nothing repeats. No wave has ever been identical to another. No fingerprint has ever been the same as another. So why do they want to standardize everything? Why can't they accept differences? Life is exactly that, a sea of diversity in an eternal flow.
To think that human existence is guided solely by what is or isn’t anatomical is to essentially ignore the role of culture. People simply love, and who they are satisfied with or not is an individual matter. Secondly, homosexuality is found in non-human nature as well. Homosexuality is observed in around 450 species. Homophobia, however, in only one...
Evangelicals stand for: hatred, segregation, prejudice, violence, repression. Advocates for laws against homophobia promote: information, support, solidarity, love, tolerance, equal rights. It's up to each person to evaluate for themselves which group is responsible for the social distortion of values.
What do you think of
the Evangelical Bench?
Leave your comment below
previous page: QUICK Q&A WITH DJ ANDRÉ MORENO
next page: BRAZILIAN SUPREME FEDERAL COURT QUOTES
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
HOMOPHOBIA IN CHURCHES
The social and psychological damage caused by religious dogmatism
CHRISTIANITY AND NAZISM
The 'chosen people' who claim to be the only ones with the right to life
BRAZIL STILL IS A VICTIM OF DICTATORSHIP
By Mino Carta
