2023-12-13 14:29:14
Singer Ricardo Nêggo Tom, a supporter of Lula, published an article in which he condemned the PT’s attempts to get closer to Brazilian evangelicals, stating that “there is no dialogue” with those who oppose the left and that the effort is “a waste of time and mental health”.
Nêggo Tom, who writes articles for the portal Brazil 247says that evangelicals have “an absolutist doctrine”, which prevents attempts to convert to left-wing ideology: “We need to understand that where there is dogma there is no propensity for dialogue, nor for reasoning regarding ideologies or world views that may call such dogma into question.”
The biblical doctrine, which guides evangelicals, is a precept seen by the left itself as an insurmountable barrier: “It opposes any and all ideas of deconstructing social standards, contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes”, points out Nêggo Tom.
The solution proposed by Lula’s supporter is the same as what Gilberto Carvalho, a former PT strongman, suggested more than a decade ago: “disputing the narrative” about the role of religion.
“Based on this, the most we can do in relation to the neo-Pentecostal power project, which aims to establish an evangelical rule of law in the country, is to dispute with them the evangelical narrative that Jesus Christ left. But this is not dialogue,” he insists.
Expressing his repulsion towards biblical doctrines that disapprove of homosexuality, the author of the article takes the opportunity to implicitly imply to the evangelical segment an accusation of racism by stating that churches act to “’convert’ the country’s black people to Christian whiteness.
Evangelicals, says Nêggo Tom, have “dogmas that, in their manipulated conceptions, place the left as the enemy of God and Christians”, he reiterates. “If Lula and the left want to convince evangelicals that this is not the case, we are going to waste time and mental health.”
In the past, Lula has already compared himself to Jesus Christ, and this folly inspires his most fanatical followers to this day, as Nêggo Tom highlights: “Jesus Christ is a great example of this waste of time. Even though he taught good, love, peace, social inclusion, sharing bread, tolerance and respect, he was killed with the vote of those who benefited from his ‘public policies’, under the allegation that he was a dangerous subversive who threatened the law, customs and dogmas. Lula is very far from being Jesus, but he has also experienced ingratitude on the part of those he once helped with his public policies, including many evangelicals, who were convinced that he was corrupt and threatened good customs and supported the his arrest.”
The attempt at equivalence between the son of God and the career politician who served a prison sentence continues: “Lula’s main enemies in the country today are the same enemies of Jesus in his time”.
At the end of your articlethe author demonstrates his intolerance towards the religious segment that will be the majority in the country in a few years, saying that religious freedom in the country results in the “not at all positive proliferation of neo-Pentecostal churches under the blessing of tax exemption and the permissiveness of placing themselves above secularism of the State”, indicating his desire to collect taxes on the voluntary offerings of Christians.
PCO
The writer’s intolerance was noted by the Workers’ Cause Party (PCO), one of the most radical groups defending left-wing ideology in the country. The party published a note on its website repudiating Nêggo Tom’s statements:
“The overwhelming majority of 70 million evangelicals are not ‘ideological enemies.’ They are part of the working class, people who, due to the lack of initiative from the left, end up being partially co-opted by the extreme right. This does not mean, however, that they are willing to take up arms against ‘PT communism’, nor that material conditions, such as employment, housing and hunger, are above any dogma”, he pondered.
#Lula #dialogue #evangelicals #radical #supporter