Thousands join protest against religious intolerance

Thousands of people took part in a demonstration against religious intolerance staged Sunday (Sep. 16) on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro. Among protesters were mostly adherents of African-Brazilian religions, but members of Christian, Jewish, Baha'i, Wicca, Spiritualist, and Buddhist communities were also seen to participate.

This was the tenth edition of the Walk for Religious Freedom, and it comes a few days after footage surfaced in which allegedly Christian criminals threatened leaders of African-Brazilian religions in Rio favelas and forced them to destroy statues and facilities where services are held.

Babalawô Ivanir dos Santos, one of the organizers of the march, pointed out that the first rally, held back in 2008, was staged exactly because Evangelical drug dealers threatened African-Brazilian worshiping places in favelas under their control.

“What happened then was that [the authorities] didn't do anything. No investigation was conducted to arrest the ones responsible. Most important, however, is that, despite the outrage expressed by demonstrators, we're asking for peace. We are peaceful people. Even though we're often attacked on the streets, our homes are burned down, our sacred is destroyed, all we ask for is peace,” said the religious leader.

In the opinion of Lutheran Pastor Lusmarina Campos Aguiar, a representative from the National Council of Christian Churches, the attitude of Christians who attack or threaten other religions is not Christian. “This is not Christ's perspective. This is not the perspective of Evangelicals. Jesus says we have to learn to love each other. Christ's greatest law is that of love,” she argued.

National Secretary for Policies on Race Equality Juvenal Araújo said the federal government is keeping a close watch on the developments of recent cases of religious intolerance.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira