How…quirky. Brazil’s House of Representatives elected a racist homophobe as the new chair of its Commission for Human Rights and Minorities. Kind of defeats the purpose.
Marcos Feliciano is known for his homophobic and racist declarations: “Africans descend from an ancestor cursed by Noah. This is a fact,” he wrote. “Noah’s curse on his grandson, Canaan, lingers in Africa, therefore leading to all the hunger, diseases, ethnic wars.”
This is a fact? What would a fiction look like then? If an old story in an old book is “a fact” then what criteria do you use to detect a fiction?
Marcos Feliciano’s image has been further tarnished by the exposure of his behavior during his fund-raising sermons at the ‘Resurrection Cathedral’ (Catedral do Avivamento) for his church ‘The Assembly of God’ in Riberão Preto, in São Paulo state. Feliciano accepts donations in cash, check, credit cards. Even motorbikes can be used to pay for ‘divine rewards’, he announces.
In this video (not subtitled), Feliciano says: “This is the last time I’ll say it. Samuel de Sousa has donated using his credit card, but hasn’t provided the password. This is not fair. Then he is going to ask God for a miracle, and if God doesn’t reply he’s going to say God is evil.”
Even more quirky. Racist, confused about what a “fact” is, and venal to the point of embarrassment.
But wouldn’t God know de Sousa’s password? Couldn’t God just whisper the password in Feliciano’s ear? Where’s the faith in the omniscient God?
Brazilian politics is a mess right now, we have the Labour Party in power right now, willing to ally itself with whichever party throws its parliamentary votes to support the president. Including Feliciano’s Social Christian Party, that’s made up mainly by Neo-Penthecostal preachers, and a few ultra conservative Catholics.
Feliciano managed to get elect through maneuvering in Congress, several representatives of the Government base stepped out from the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities to allow PSC to have the majority at the commission.
The good news is that his election caused quite an uproar throughout the Brazil, with many protests (including one today). Bad news is that Congress couldn’t care less.