It turns out that culturally conservative Protestants in Brazil (mostly Pentecostals, I suspect, though the author of this article calls them evangelicals) have forced the newly elected president, Catholic (and former Marxist guerilla) Dilma Rousseff, to move sharply rightward in her positions on abortion and same-sex marriage. By supporting a Protestant Green candidate in the first round, they deprived Rousseff of the majority she needed to win, forcing her into a run-off where both she and her opponent walked back their pro-abortion positions.
This time, a grass-roots campaign of sermons, Internet videos and DVDs distributed mainly by evangelical pastors thrust moral questions like abortion and gay marriage abruptly onto the political agenda and forced Ms. Rousseff and Mr. Serra to declare positions. Joined by some conservative Catholic bishops, the evangelicals mobilized at least partly in response to the government’s approval last year of a broad social plan supported by Ms. Rousseff’s party that included calling for greater gay rights and abortion rights.
In order to shore up support among religious conservatives, both Ms. Rousseff and her rival, Mr. Serra, added opposition to legal abortion to their campaign platforms. That meant a big move to the right for Ms. Rousseff, an ex-Marxist guerrilla who has supported legalizing abortion in the past.
“We’ve written a new chapter in the history of our nation,” said Silas Malafaia, a popular Brazilian televangelist who mailed more than 300,000 DVDs in September admonishing followers not to vote for candidates who would decriminalize abortion or extend more legal protections to gays.
Makes you want to fly down to Rio, no?
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
