opinion | Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro clash over evangelical voting weeks before elections in Brazil

Evangelicals already represent Almost a third A resident of Brazil and between This electorateBolsonaro has 49% voting intentions, compared to Lula’s 32%. That distance has risen from 10 to 17 percentage points in recent months. That’s why, less than a month before the first election round, Lula urgently needs to get some of these votes in order to win the first round or to secure his victory in the second round, which could take place on October 30.

The tense and frantic battle to gain the votes of these religious people has caused changes to occur Strategy, friction and contradictions In the speeches of both politicians.

In what remains of the campaigns, Brazilians must be vigilant to prevent the struggle for victory from jeopardizing the future of the secular state or closing off the possibility of reconciliation in a country that today appears divided.

Brazil reaching the polls in 2022 is different from previous decades. In 20 years, the population was Evangelists have multiplied. the different Evangelical currents They make up 27% of the electorate, while Catholics make up 50%. In Congress, about 30% of lawmakers are evangelical.

Bolsonaro won the 2018 elections with the support of evangelicals. Although the incumbent president has seen a drop in voting intentions for him in 2022, he remains the candidate most refuted by the sector’s important values. “We are against abortion, gender ideology and drug legalization and we are defenders of the Brazilian family”, Bolsonaro said Last July, some of those right-wing positions repeated themselves in presidential debate On August 28.

For former president da Silva, the question is how to reach evangelical and conservative voters without upsetting his left-wing voters, in progressive majority who want to see progress in gender legislation, legalization of abortion, as well as diversity of sexual, religious and civil rights, stagnant in Brazil compared to its neighbors in the region.

It is also backed by environmentalists, indigenous leaders and Amazon advocates who oppose Bolsonare’s deforestation project and opening the forest to business. They would not wish to see gestures from their candidate for the leaders of those churches which, being in the woods, facilitated, in part, destroying ancient traditions.

At first, Lula bet that he would beat evangelical believers with a strong rhetoric against poverty and unemployment. However, surveys indicate otherwise. Lula came to power for the first time in 20 years, when evangelicals were not as powerful as they are today. If he wins the election, he will have to talk to them more, trying not to hurt his progressive supporters.

Meanwhile, in an effort to shorten the distance, despite being a Catholic, Bolsonaro has given his campaign prominence to his wife, evangelist Michele, to speak directly to these voters.

The first lady was not spared the attacks against Lula with the tone of the BibleHe said the elections were “a battle of good against evil” and that while Lula was president, the government palace was “dedicated to demons.”

Bolsonarista’s campaign also saved images and close-ups of Lula from leaders of the Afro-Brazilian religions, who had plagued discrimination and prejudice in the country for centuries. For many Conservative BraziliansHistorically, these religions have been associated with Satanism. also, Bolsonaro links Lula with former ally Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan dictator who was persecuting religious people in his country. Fake news started circulating on Bolsonaro networks saying that Lula would close churches if he was the winner.

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To try to counter fake news, Lola replied This is a lie and he defends religious freedom and the secular state. but also added in march: “To be with God, I don’t need pastors or pastors, I can be locked in my room,” a phrase that upset Catholic and evangelical religious leaders.

Immediately Lola and his wife Ganga, Stop appearing next to the symbols of religions Afro-Brazilian women decided not to engage in the “War of Religions”.

In times of expansion of religious faith such as that of the evangelicals in Brazil, tolerance and inclusion in society are necessary. But whoever wins the October elections, the country should not forget that it is a secular state, and leave no room for religious confrontation or interference in the administration of the government.