Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks about Christophobia at the United Nations and appoints pro-abortion justice to the Brazilian Supreme Court
By Julio Severo
“I call upon the entire international
community to protect religious freedom and fight against Christophobia,” said
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in his speech
at the United Nations in September 22, 2020.
“Brazil is a Christian and conservative
country, and has family as its foundation.”
The official UN report titled “Brazilian
President outlines action taken to address COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment”
covered many issues of his speech, but it did not mention anything about
“Christophobia” and “Christian and conservative country.”
As Bolsonaro’s speech was very long, my
view as a conservative is that he could elaborate on Christophobia, especially
because about 100,000 Christians are slaughtered a year, mainly by Muslims. No
other issue is more important than this
cowardly slaughter of Christians, with millions more being subjected to torture
and rape. But the Brazilian president chose to say very little
and the United Nation chose to report nothing of this little.
The United Nations mentioned nothing not
to offend Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and other nations that persecute
Christians. Did Bolsonaro speak very little also not to offend them too much?
It should not be offensive to specify the persecution, its main victims and the
persecutors. After all, if he elaborated on Amazon (mentioned by him 6 times), COVID-19
(mentioned by him 7 times), economic issues (mentioned by him 8 times) and
environmental issues (mentioned by him 10 times), why not also on Christophobia,
which he mentioned just once without clarifying anything?
“Brazil is a Christian and conservative
country” was never a reality in the Brazilian Congress, where Bolsonaro served
as a congressman for about 3 decades. Even though he once supported Hugo Chavez
in Venezuela, when he defended schoolchildren against homosexual indoctrination
he received no support from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of
Brazil. But he received total support from the Evangelical Parliamentary
Caucus.
In
fact, the fight against homosexual indoctrination of schoolchildren made
Bolsonaro famous among conservatives — even though today his fight is not strong as it was in the past.
For decades the Evangelical Parliamentary
Caucus has been the most conservative force in the Brazilian Congress, and I
was a spiritual adviser to this caucus for many years, especially on issues
about abortion and the gay agenda.
No group in the Brazilian politics has
traditionally fought against Christophobia more than the Evangelical
Parliamentary Caucus has done.
Bolsonaro is a Catholic, but he always
knew that when he needed support for a conservative cause, only the evangelical
caucus could help him.
So it is no wonder that on July 10, 2019,
after he attended a service by the Evangelical Parliamentary Caucus at the
Brazilian Congress, Bolsonaro
said:
“Many try to reject us by saying that the
state is secular. The state is secular, but we are Christians. Or to plagiarize
my dear [minister] Damares [Alves]: We are terribly Christian. And that spirit
must be present in all the branches of government. Therefore, my commitment: I
can appoint two ministers to the Supreme Federal Court. One of them will be
terribly evangelical.”
In other official meeting in the Brazilian
Congress, Bolsonaro confirmed:
“I reaffirm my commitment here: the state
is secular, but we are Christians. And between the two vacancies that I will be
entitled to appoint for the Supreme Court, one will be terribly evangelical.”
Evangelicals
never asked from him an evangelical appointment for the Supreme Court, but they
understood that his commitment was a sign of gratitude.
By his own experience receiving support
from “terribly evangelical” congressmen, Bolsonaro knows very well that the
“terribly evangelical” men are “terribly conservative.”
A few days after Bolsonaro’s speech in the
United Nations, a vacancy was open in the Brazilian Supreme Court, but he chose
to fill it with Kassio Nunes Marques, an appeals
court justice praised by all the left in Brazil.
According to Janaína Paschoal,
the famous Brazilian lawyer who successfully requested the impeachment of
former socialist President Dilma Rousseff, in his thesis of master’s degree,
Marques said that “the Judiciary can be activated to face the conservative
majority” in abortion cases.
Paschoal
was perplexed that in a thesis about health, Marques brought the subject of
abortion, including Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized
abortion in the U.S. That is, he addressed abortion as a women’s health issue,
not as murder, not as a life or death issue. He addressed it just as
pro-abortion activists do.
So Marques talked about abortion where its
discussion was not necessary and he is praised by the left. What should
conservatives expect from him in the Brazilian Supreme Court?
What should conservatives expect from him
about Christophobia when he said that “the Judiciary can be activated to face
the conservative majority”?
During decades, Bolsonaro was supported
not by the left, but by the Evangelical Parliamentary Caucus. For his
presidential election,
he received massive support from evangelicals, not from the
left. So his commitment to appoint a “terribly evangelical” justice to the
Supreme Court was just gratitude. But how should his failure to fulfill his
commitment be seen by conservatives?
The appointment of a justice for the
Supreme Court is an extension of the stances of a president. Past socialist
presidents appointed their own justices, who now vote in support of left-wing
causes. So Bolsonaro should appoint someone to change this imbalance.
Perhaps
the most important legacy of a president is his appointment for the Supreme
Court. Even though socialist presidents have left the Brazilian government
years ago, the justices chosen by them continue their left-wing legacy. What a
kind of legacy does Bolsonaro intend to leave for the future of Brazil in the
Supreme Court?
If he thinks that a “terribly evangelical”
justice will never be accepted because of conservatism, why promise and not
deliver?
In the U.S., President Donald Trump has
appointed Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. She is Catholic. She is
pro-life. She is a homeschool mother of 7 children. And she is a charismatic
who speaks in tongues.
As a pro-life conservative evangelical, I
have no problem of Bolsonaro appointing a Brazilian version of Amy Coney
Barrett. A Catholic. Pro-life. A homeschool mother of several children. And a
charismatic who speaks in tongues.
Yet, I see a lot of problems when he
appoints a justice praised by the left, a justice who said that “the Judiciary
can be activated to face the conservative majority” in abortion cases. Yes, I
see problems when Marques is read to activate the Judiciary against the
“Christian and conservative country” Bolsonaro presented in the United Nations.
Bolsonaro made his long speech in the
United Nations look nice by talking about Christophobia, which he mentioned
just once without clarifying anything. Even so, conservatives were elated.
He made a very nice remark when he
promised to appoint a “terribly evangelical” justice to the Brazilian Supreme
Court. Evangelicals, who are his main political base, were elated.
Yet, when he appointed pro-abortion
justice Kassio Nunes Marques to the Supreme Court, his actions spoke terribly
louder than their nice speeches and remarks.
Silas Malafaia, the most
prominent televangelist in Brazil who supported Bolsonaro’s candidacy,
has totally rejected his choice for the Supreme Court.
Portuguese
version of this article: Presidente
Jair Bolsonaro fala sobre cristofobia na ONU e indica juiz pró-aborto para o
Supremo Tribunal Federal
Source: Last Days Watchman
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