Leader of the evangelical bench: ‘Good people were arrested on 8/1’ – 02/25/2023 – Politics

For the new leader of the evangelical bench, there are “a lot of good people” who were arrested after the anti-democratic attacks in Brasília on January 8th. According to federal deputy Eli Borges (PL-TO), the rioters existed, but they would be an “infiltrated minority” that had nothing to do with the “immense majority, in good faith, in front of the barracks singing the national anthem”.

The first president to assume the religious bloc in this third term of Lula (PT) misinterprets the Constitution by defending that the Armed Forces “play a role in responding to the popular outcry.” From that, he says he saw “nothing wrong” in people who asked for military intervention after the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Borges will take turns with Silas Câmara (Republicanos-AM) over the next two years at the helm of one of the most representative groups in the Legislature and which expanded its power during Bolsonaro’s term.

In an interview with Sheet, the deputy defended removing the right to abortion in cases of rape and criticized the São Paulo samba school Gaviões da Fiel because of its plot this Carnival, “In the Name of the Father, of the Sons, of the Spirits and of the Saints”, which extends the Christian holy trinity concept. “We need to understand the following: freedom [de expressão] It’s not licentiousness.”

Mr. will be the first president of the evangelical group in the Lula government 3. Will they be the opposition? The bench has the attitude of defending flags such as the family, fighting against gender ideology, fighting for the defense of life and against abortion, against gambling. We are not going to soften any of the guidelines that we defend in Brasilia. This has no correlation with the other Powers, nor Supreme [Tribunal Federal]nor Lula.

Do you see the Lula government as opposed to these values ​​that the bloc defends? It’s not me who sees, he [Lula] who often verbalized a different thought from what more than 80% of the conservative population preaches and defends.

But doesn’t Lula’s election validate the population’s support for the guidelines he defends? In a way, Lula had support, yes. The church is not political nor does it have a political party. Within the evangelical segment, naturally Lula had a significant percentage of people who always believed that he would not do exactly what he was preaching.

For example, abortion. He said that abortion is an issue linked to women’s health. We have a different view of this.

Mr. in 2022 he exchanged Solidarity for the PL and said that the country needed Bolsonaro. Do you consider yourself a Bolsonarist? I consider myself a federal deputy who has an affinity with the flags that Bolsonaro defends. Also because I have a very interesting political stance. If you look at my polls, they are polls that are very connected to my conscience. Solidarity went to PT, and I had to stay where I was inserted in the flags that I defend. In that moment that passed, that side was Bolsonaro’s.

Some pastors said they were disappointed with Bolsonaro’s behavior after the electoral defeat. What about you? I understood that he only exercised the prudence that he should have and did not get involved because we are living, in quotes, a toga dictatorship in Brazil. And that certainly led Bolsonaro to exercise a prudent spirit at the beginning of the Lula government. He is a human being, and we have to respect that.

What is the “toga dictatorship” and how would it affect Bolsonaro? I’ve been saying that we live a judicial activism. For example, this January 8th: I want to understand that there is a small minority of troublemakers infiltrated and, sometimes, some people in their simplicity, but they do not represent the thinking of the majority of Brazilians. There are many good people who are seeking their freedom and are in prison.

This activism predates [o 8 de janeiro]. We had interference from the Supreme Court in many matters, such as gender ideology, abortion. I don’t think they are matters of the Supreme Court. Judiciary has to judge laws, and the one who makes the laws is the Parliament.

Do you agree with the definition that January 8 was an anti-democratic act? I agree that a small minority of infiltrated rioters committed anti-democratic acts. However, the immense majority, in good faith, in front of the barracks singing the national anthem with the national flag, was at the service of consolidating Brazilian democracy. That’s my thought.

There was strong evangelical participation in these acts. I saw all the religious segments that defend the colors of our flag, our Brazilianness, I saw everyone at the door of the barracks. Evangelicals, Catholics and Spiritists in the struggle for democracy.

At the door of the barracks there were requests for the Armed Forces to intervene in the face of a poll result that, according to them, would not be reliable. Do you consider that this is also part of the consolidation of democracy? If you open up the Constitution, it is very clear: the Armed Forces play a role in responding to the popular outcry, and this population went to make an outcry that the Constitution defines as a constitutional right. I saw nothing wrong with society making its outcry.

The bench will have a trio of novice parliamentarians under investigation for allegedly encouraging the acts in Brasília: Clarissa Tércio (PP-PE), Sílvia Waiãpi (PL-AP) and André Fernandes (PL-CE). Did you talk to them? I didn’t talk. As I said, those who exercised their freedom of demonstration, within the democratic framework, except those who rioted and infiltrated to create a situation, exercised democratic rights.

The bench will hold the traditional cult, with supper, in which the heads of the Powers are called. Would you like Lula to attend this cult? If he goes with a soul to seek values, everyone is invited.

In the last elections, there has been discussion about an alleged abuse of religious power, transforming a pulpit into a platform. What is your view on defending candidates in churches in the campaign? In the unions, they have their candidates. In the banking segment they have their candidates. What’s wrong with the church also having its own?

The power that pastors have over the church, as religious leadership, is no different from the other sectors that Mr. quoted? I don’t want to compare churches to unions, I just said that each segment has its candidate.

What I saw was a lot of action by important leaders in Brazil at an orientation level. And, if they exert an influence on its membership, I understand that this is the fruit of democratic freedom, since the church is made up of citizens.

I want to make it clear that I do not agree with excesses, that the church exercises a priestly dictatorship over membership. We have to respect the right to vote, the intimate forum of voters’ freedom, but I must say that the church has to have its candidates.

Will Bolsonaro continue to have the massive support he had from evangelicals in 2018 and 2022, if he wants and can run for elections in the future? I can’t be psychic for four years from now. I understand that if he continues to defend what the churches stand for, he will get that support. If Lula converts and starts defending what we defend… The church has no party.

The Chamber is discussing the Statute of the Unborn Child, which proposes to prevent abortion in cases of rape, which the legislation currently accepts. What did mr. do you think of the proposal? In this game they play, left against right, I prefer to put the mother who was raped. There are omissions there, which is this child. Should she also speak in the process, saying: “Look, I’m not to blame for anything, I’m a life, I have the right to be born”? It is important to think that there is this figure there, that the mother lent her belly for her to be born.

Just to be clear, Mr. Are you in favor of removing this specific right to abortion from the legislation? I do not agree that there is an abortion in Brazil. I defend life from the unborn. I defend life, and the owner of life is God.

The bench took a stand against what it saw as the desecration of Christian symbols at the Gaviões da Fiel Carnival. Why? I see a strong Christophobia in Brazil. We have to offer a reaction. We want respect for our cult. This is even a constitutional guarantee.

This issue of Christophobia is real in several countries, where we see persecution and even death of Christians – which does not happen in Brazil. Religious intolerance, on the other hand, mainly affects beliefs of African origin and is practiced by evangelicals in many cases. I have no right, as a Christian, to question the religious freedom of African cults. I cannot say here that I agree with the form they have, of course I will not agree. But understand that they are a people in a secular state. Now, groups mainly of activists rising up against the church’s vision, then I see a certain religious intolerance, and we have to start reacting. We need to understand the following: freedom is not debauchery.

On the same weekend, an American pastor said at an Assembly of God conference, not far from Congress, that homosexuals, transgender people and even those who wear tight pants have reservations in hell. Mr. Do you think statements like that have constitutional support? Look, let me be clear. One thing is a properly organized samba school, with the clear vision of confronting the Brazilian faith. Another thing is a lecture by a pastor who, within the rules of his faith, with an open Bible, took a stand. I have the right to verbalize my vision of society as long as I am framed in my manual, which is the Bible.

A pastor can have freedom, that freedom to preach, and a samba school to make allusions to the Holy Trinity that will be seen as disrespectful by a portion of the population. society. It is a view that you share, that freedom of expression can be excessive. I disagree. Was the pastor wrong? He preached within the vision of the Bible. The problem is that the church is very serene, it is not reacting. We are living in a culture in which a segment of society is capable of everything, questions everything, says everything, but is very sensitive when there is a counterpoint.

But, within this vision, Gaviões could not position? Then you have to ask a question for Article 208 of the Penal Code. In an orderly, decent, democratic society, religious institutions must be respected.

---

X-RAY | Eli Borges, 62

Federal deputy for the PL of Tocantins, he won his first term in the Chamber in 2018. He was previously a state deputy. Pastor of the Madureira Assembly of God, he defines himself as “the pastor of the family and agribusiness”. He assumed the presidency of the evangelical bench in 2023