January 17, 2005

Please Pray for Believers in Brazil

Today I received an e-mail from fellow missionaries in Brazil, urging people to pray in regard to a law being proposed in the Brazilian legislature. The new law has been proposed by one Denise Frossard, a member of the Brazilian House of Representatives since 2002.

Brazilian Representative Denise Frossard

Below is the meat of the proposal in Portuguese:

...são inelegíveis para cargos públicos: os que, em instituição religiosa judaica, cristã, muçulmana, budista, hinduísta, ou de qualquer outra crença, exercem cargo ou função de direção administrativa, de representação, de direção ritualística, de orientador espiritual ou de confessor, ou os tenham exercido nos 12 (doze) meses imediatamente anteriores ao pleito

And in English:

...those who are ineligible for political office include: those who, in religious institutions of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu faiths, or of any other belief system exersise the responsibility or function of administration, representation, ritualistic leadership, spiritual orientation or confessor, or those who have done so in the 12 months immediately preceding the session.

On her website, she justifies her proposal this way:

A Igreja Universal já controla dois partidos com signicativa bancada: o PL e o PSL e a decisão de criar mais um partido, deixa cada dia mais claro que não é propósito dos líderes a Igreja Universal a pregação do Evangelho de Cristo. O que eles buscam, na verdade, é o exercício do Poder em benefício próprio, usando a boa fé e a sinceridade dos fiéis.

Querem fazer das igrejas e dos templos o sindicato da fé. Esquecem-se que uma das poucas vezes que o Mestre foi tomado de irritação profunda, chegando à agressividade física, foi quando encontrou na porta do Templo os que vendiam e compravam coisas.

O Evangelho Segundo Mateus registra no Capítulo 21, verso 12: "E entrou Jesus no templo de Deus, e expulsou todos os que vendiam e compravam no templo, e derribou as mesas dos cambistas e as cadeiras dos que vendiam pombas (..) E disse-lhes: Está escrito: A minha casa será chamada casa de oração; mas vós a tendes convertido em covil de ladrões.

Translation:

The Universal Church already controls two parties with a significant group of seats: the PL and the PSL, and the decision to create yet another party, makes it clearer day by day that the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not intention of the leaders of the Universal Church. What they are after, in truth, is the exercise of Power for their own benefit, using the good faith and the sincerity of the faithful. They want to make of the churches and the temples a syndicate (labor union) of faith. They forget that one them few times that the Master was overcome by deep irritation, even physical aggressiveness, was when it found in the door of the Temple the ones that sold and bought things.

The Gospel of Mathew registers in Chapter 21, verse 12: "and Jesus entered the temple of God, and banished all the ones that sold and bought in the temple, and threw down the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves (..) and said to them: It is written: My house will be called a house of prayer; but you have made it into a den of thieves.

It would appear, therefore, that her intent is to block the growing influence of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, which is, in fact, a cult of enormous proportions with tremendous financial interests. The moneychanger analogy is very fitting when referring to them.

The problem, however, is that the proposed bill would significantly reduce the voice of true Christians in Brazilian government. Instead of pinpointing the problem posed by the Igreja Universal, she seeks to disenfranchise all religious groups. If you read the list of those who are prohibited from political life, it would include Sunday School teachers, choir directors, song leaders, and just about anybody who takes an active role in the church, other than attendance.

The passage of this bill could be a disaster for religious freedom in Brazil. Please pray for its failure.

Posted by Andrew on January 17, 2005 12:44 PM.