The wing that satirized “neoconservatives” in honor of the president (PT) divided opinions between evangelical leaders aligned with different ideologies heard by the Sheet. The school after counting the parade, in its debut in the Special group.
In the publication by Liesa (Liga Independente das Rio de Janeiro) which compiles the descriptions of the parades sent by each association, the Niterói school justifies the “preserved neoconservatives” wing as a satire on a group “that acts strongly in opposition to Lula, voting against most of the agendas defended by him, such as privatizations and the end of the 6×1 work schedule”.
The costumes, according to the association, are divided into four groups: representatives of agribusiness, an upper-class woman, defenders of the Military Dictatorship and evangelical religious groups. on the evaluation of the Lula government shows that evangelicals are one of the groups with the highest negative opinion of the president’s performance, with 49% disapproval.
On social media, conservative politicians and some religious groups. Figures such as senators (PL/RJ) and (/DF) and deputy (/RJ), leader of the Chamber party, published images that praise conservative families inside cans.
Pastor Pedro Barreto, from the Igreja Comunidade Batista do Rio, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), states that, unlike most pastors and conservatives, he felt “deeply happy” to be labeled a conservative. “The Bible says that we have to be different. Society sees us as people who fight for their ideals. I didn’t feel offended because I’m conservative,” he said.
He also claims to be opposed to evangelical groups that seek to confront manifestations of . “The believer is ceasing to be a believer and becoming warlike, everything is confrontation, everything is a fight. Would Jesus do that?”, he asks.
Pastor Oliver Costa Goiano, national coordinator of PT Evangelicals and minister at the Lagoa Baptist Church, in Maricá (RJ), sees the parade as a satire that came from the group and went too far. “It’s an environment marked by irony, there was also satire with former president Jair Bolsonaro. But the PT members and President Lula wouldn’t speak that way”, he states.
Despite the criticism of the parade section, Goiano says he believes that the costumes do not influence the vote. “The majority of evangelicals are conservative and don’t follow Carnival,” he says.
For pastor Alexandre Gonçalves, from the Church of God in Brazil, the parade had a “very bad” impact on the majority of evangelicals, especially in an election year. “It’s not just the samba school’s fault, because the president was there, supporting. He’s not poorly advised, he’s betting on everything or nothing”, he states.
Director of the Federal Highway Police union in Santa Catarina and former member of the Christian Labor Movement, he states that the parade inflamed emotions at a time of political polarization. “This ends up feeding narratives from Bolsonarists, and we have to choose a side and put out the fire”, says the pastor, who posted parodies of demonstrations by right-wing politicians on social media, associating his posts that show “pickled” families with hypocrisy and accusations of corruption.
The three pastors agree that the evangelical faith should not mix with Carnival, seen by them as a hedonistic party. “We take advantage of the holiday to go on a spiritual retreat. Now, we can’t impose that on others. The country is diverse,” says Gonçalves.
