Brazil's African Origin Faiths Under Attack Amidst Evangelical 'Holy War'

Religious Intolerance in Brazil

• 📈 Brazil saw a nearly 70% increase in religious discrimination cases in 2024 compared to the previous year, primarily targeting Afro-Brazilian religions like Umbanda and Candomblé.
• 💔 Temples of these faiths are being invaded, ransacked, and destroyed, with sacred objects demonized and removed.
• 📖 Culprits often leave behind Bibles as a message of intolerance, aiming to silence and extinguish the history and beliefs of these communities.

Rise of Aggressive Evangelical Christianity

• ⛪ More aggressive branches of evangelical Christianity, specifically Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches, are fueling this intolerance.
• 🚀 The number of these churches has exploded in Brazil, increasing eightfold between the late 1990s and 2021.
• ⚔️ This phenomenon is described by some as a 'holy war' or a modern crusade, characterized by a struggle for power and territory.

Alliance with Organized Crime

• 🤝 A disturbing alliance has formed between organized crime and certain evangelical Christians, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, leading to intimidation and violence.
• 🔫 This includes threats with firearms and demands for religious groups to vacate their places of worship.
• ⛓️ Referred to as 'narco-Pentecostalism,' this alliance has intensified in certain territories, with criminal leaders converting to religion and claiming divine orders against rival factions and police.

Fear and Underreporting

• 😟 Many followers of Afro-Brazilian religions practice their faith discreetly due to fear of reprisals at work or within their families.
• 🚓 Victims are often afraid to report incidents, contributing to a low number of official complaints despite the widespread nature of the problem.
• ⚖️ A specialized police station in Rio aims to address these complaints, but fear and a lack of understanding about the nature of these crimes hinder reporting.

Symbolic Actions and Ongoing Struggle

• ✡️ The removal of a large Star of David emblem from a favela complex was a symbolic act against evangelical drug trafficking.
• ⚠️ However, such actions are considered insufficient to combat the pervasive religious intolerance spreading throughout Brazilian society.