Religious syncretism is ever present in Brazil.“The evangelists deny a great section of Brazilian culture. Indeed, they are racist,” says a Candomble priestess.
Her indignation came after devil worshippers were stopped from slaughtering animals and performing rituals in some newly built stadiums.
During the recent riots in Brazil ahead of the World Cup, Afro-Brazilian religious leaders were joined by Jews, Protestants, Buddhists and Baha’is, dressed in the traditional garb of their faiths, to draw attention to “intolerance”.
On April 28 a federal judge in Brazil stated as part of an official court ruling that “African-Brazilian cults are not religions” because their “religious events do not contain [the] necessary traits of a religion,” adding fuel to the flames.
The ruling continues on to define these necessary traits as “a basic text a hierarchical structure and a God to be worshiped.” (O Globo, 5-20-2014). In the opinion of Federal Judge Eugenio Rosa de Araujo, Candomblé and Umbanda do not meet that definition.
The drumbeat of Candomble — a religion introduced in Brazil in the 16th century by west African slaves — resounded during the riots.
A Candomble priest, or “babalawô,” said he wanted to gain the world’s attention, because “religious intolerance generates racism and threatens democracy”.
Black followers of Candomblé and Umbanda say they want to isolate “racist” Christian evangelical churches, while showing that Brazilians of all religions can live together.
“For 25 years, they have hit us over the head with the Bible. In school, our children are treated like followers of the devil,” the priest told AFP.
They might be treated as followers of the devil, because many are. One of the “spiritual leaders” on Brazil’s biggest football club Vasco, openly calls himself a devil worshipper.
Police did not confirm the estimated numbers of demonstrators.
Evangelical churches have flourished among the poor in this giant South American country, where more than 80 million people — 45 percent of the population — are black or of mixed race.
But Jose Flavio Pessoa de Barros, an anthropologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, charged that they “demonize cults of African origin to recruit followers.”
Followers of Candomble and Umbanda, have held annual marches against religious intolerance since 2008, after several places of Afro-Brazilian worship were sacked and their leaders attacked.