The document discusses the politicization of evangelical Christianity in Brazil and focuses on Congressman and pastor Marcos Feliciano's term as president of the Commission on Human Rights and Minorities from 2013-2014. It describes how Feliciano used his position to block LGBT rights and women's issues, instead prioritizing evangelical conservative values. His leadership polarized debates and demonstrated evangelicals' growing influence in politics to oppose certain social movements' agendas.

1. Vania Morales Sierra (UERJ)
Wania Amélia B. Mesquita (UENF)
Religion, Human Rights and Politics
in Brazil: an analysis of congressman
and pastor Marcos Feliciano.

2. Religion, Human Rights and
Politics
 The politicization of Pentecostalism was
identified by researchers in the late
1980s and early 1990s
 Brazilian democracy allows the inclusion
of religious leaders in political parties.
These politicians often seek to infuse
religious morality into politic discourse,
advocating for conservative agendas
that oppose homosexuality, sex worker
rights, drug decriminalization, access to
abortion, euthanasia and stem cell

3. Religion in Brazil
 According to the IBGE Demographic Census, Brazil’s
population includes 123 million Catholics, which make
up 64.6% of the country.
 The growth among the evangelical segment of the
population is notorious.
 In the 1940s, Protestants accounted for only 2.6% of
the population. This number grew to 3.4% by 1950,
4% by 1960, 5.2% by 1970, 6.6% by 1980, 9% by
1991, 15.4% by 2000 and 22.2% of the population –
for a total of 42.3 million people – in 2010.
 Currently, 86.8% of Brazilians identify themselves as
Christians.

4. Religion, Human Rights and
Politics
 The evangelical have gained attention
through television and radio programs,
and have also had a significant
presence in the market of gospel music.
Some denominations create
ostentatious churches with
congregations of up to ten thousand
people.
 They hold events that attract up to two
million people, it finds representation
and power in the political sphere.

5. Religion and Politics
 These politicians were characterized by their
adherence to patronage, conservatism, and
corporatism
 Data from the non-governmental organization
Transparency Brazil revealed in 2012 that 32 of
these politicians were involved in lawsuits related
to political corruption. Regarding the ethics of
evangelical politicians, Veja magazine published
an article reporting that 23 of them had been part
of proceedings in the Supreme Court (STF) on
charges of corruption, embezzlement
(misappropriation of funds committed by a public
servant), electoral crime, use of fake documents,

6.  Evangelicals provide an important means of support to the
government of President Dilma Rousseff. Their influence on
government is wide-ranging, and they hold significant political
capital with respect to those issues that affect their values.
 The Workers' Party, which has long been recognized for its
positive engagement with social movements, has faced
criticism for the concessions it has made to evangelicals. Of
the 97 proposals on gay rights to circulate Congress, 38 have
come from the Workers’ Party. However, these proposals have
been largely ineffective. As an example of the type of pressure
the government faces from evangelicals, in 2011 President
Rousseff vetoed the distribution of educational material on
sexual diversity in schools.
 In February 2012, she canceled campaigns encouraging
condom use among gay youth. In 2013 she postponed the vote
on PLC 122, which criminalizes homophobia. She also
suspended the kit, an anti-homophobia education material that
was being prepared by the Ministry of Education for distribution
in schools. In the 2014 elections, evangelicals are hoping to
gain more support among people who will defend their
conservative positions. The radicalization of the debate is
polarizing evangelicals and the gay movement.

7. Religion, social movement and
Politics
 In Brazil, there are large demonstrations
advocating for human rights. The LGBT
movement, in particular, has gained incredible
momentum, with an annual parade in São Paulo
that in 2007 gathered together approximately
three million people.
 It was in the context of demonstrations such as
this that Representative Marcos Feliciano, of the
Social Christian Party (PSC), was appointed
president of the Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities. He was seated on February 7,
2013 for a two year position, but he only served
one year.

8. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 The CDHM was created in 1995 after Brazil's
participation in the UN Conference on Human
Rights in Vienna (1993). Since its inception, the
CDHM has been a useful resource for lawmakers
addressing issues of human rights. It has also
created a system of funding to ensure its ability to
continue executing programs on human rights.
The Commission has published books, booklets,
pamphlets, and reports, and has participated in
other educational activities.

9. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 The Commission on Human Rights and Minorities (CDHM) is
one of the 21 standing committees of the House of
Representatives. It is a technical body composed of 18
representative members and an equal number of alternates,
supported by a group of aides and administrative staff.
Members are charged with receiving, reviewing and
investigating allegations of human rights violations; discussing
and voting on legislative proposals related to their subject
area; supervising and monitoring the implementation of
related government programs; collaborating with non-
governmental entities; conducting research and studies on
the state of human rights in Brazil and abroad, including for
the purpose of public disclosure and the provision of grants to
other Committees of the House; and addressing concerns
related to ethnic and social minorities, especially Indians and
indigenous communities, including the preservation and
protection of popular and ethnic cultures in the country.

10. Religion and Politics
 The period during which Mr.
Feliciano served as president of the
Commission was marked by
continuous demonstrations and
challenges from social movements
and oppositional groups, all of
whom sought policies contrary to
those of the religious
representative.

11. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 The conflict involving Marcos Feliciano revolves
around his conservative stance, which runs contrary
to the creation of institutes and protective
mechanisms that seek to ensure the rights of
homosexuals. Evangelicals fear that giving
homosexuals the right to freedom of expression will in
effect deny freedom of expression to pastors who
disagree with homosexuality. They believe that the
policy positions in this case are not only different, but
directly oppositional. The affirmation of the rights of
homosexuals implies the suspension of religious
values, they contend. The interest that evangelical
politicians have shown in the Commission on Human
Rights and Minorities comes largely from a desire to
impede the advancement of social movements,
whose interests conflict with their “traditional Christian

12. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 Mr. Feliciano became president of CDHM on
February 7, 2013, by appointment of the Social
Christian Party (PSC). He was appointed to fill the
vacancy left by a representative from Workers’
Party (PT), which is the party of President Dilma
Rousseff. In fact, the PSC did not have proper
authority to fill this vacancy, and the result created
an unfair balance in which the PSC held five
seats on the Commission. They took vacancies
from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party
(PMDB) and Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), parties
who eventually ceded their seats to the
evangelicals.

13. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 During the period of Mr. Feliciano’s
presidency, twelve of the
Commission’s eighteen seats were
occupied by evangelical members.
Under his leadership, the CDHM
filled its agenda with topics of
interest to the evangelical majority

14. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 Feliciano was unable to attend the first two
sessions of the CDHM due to protests made by
social movements, who accused him of making
racist and homophobic statements on his Twitter
account in 2011. He had written: "On the African
continent rests the curse of paganism, occultism,
miseries, and diseases: ebola, AIDS, hunger ...
etc." On homosexuality, he wrote: "the rottenness
of homosexual feelings leads to hate, crime and
rejection."

15. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 On May 1, Feliciano introduced a proposal for a
“gay cure” on the Commission’s agenda
(PDC234/11), which would suspend portions of
the resolution from the Federal Council of
Psychology prohibiting professionals from
"treating" homosexuals. Another controversial bill
that was approved by the Commission was Bill
1411/11, which would allow religious churches to
openly discriminate against homosexuals beyond
denying them gay marriage rites and the baptism
of their children. Upon approval in Congress,
priests and pastors would have the right to
exclude gays from attending their religious

16. The Commission on Human Rights
and Minorities (CDHM)
 The Commission also approved a proposal for a
plebiscite concerning the civil union of same-sex
couples, in an attempt to reverse the decision of the
Supreme Court. In the same session on November
20, 2013, the CDHM voted to suspend the decision of
the National Council of Justice (CNJ), which obliged
notaries to recognize gay marriages. Soon after,
Commission members openly opposed a project
moving through Congress that would legally ensure
dependency status to partners of gay Social Security
recipients.
 As an evangelical representative on the Commission,
Mr. Feliciano proposed a bill to punish those who
sacrifice animals as part of religious rituals, a practice

17. Religion and Politics
 Feliciano's position with respect to the
Commission reveals the intention of the
evangelical bloc to join the fight for power.
 In a criticism of the Commission made on the
television program Ratinho in 2013, Feliciano
said the CDHM was a "headquarters" for the
LGBT movement. He defended himself by stating
that there were no family men in any of the
demonstrations. To further defend himself, he
stated that the majority of the population was
against gay marriage, and that he would support
majority rule at the expense of the rights sought
by the feminist and LGBT movements.

18. Religion and Politics
 With Mr. Feliciano in the presidency, the
direction of the CDHM became overtly
politicized and oriented in the direction
of traditional and religious values. Mr.
Feliciano represented not only
evangelicals, but all Brazilian
conservatives who supported the
discourse of so-called traditional family
values.

19. Religion and Social Movement and
Politics
 According to Cunha (2013), evangelicals in
politics reinforce the concept of gays as
national enemies, the “enemies against
religion and its principles, against the Bible,
against God, against Brazil and families.” In
an interview for the book "Religion and
politics: an analysis of the evangelical political
campaign against LGBT and women's rights
in Brazil," Mr. Feliciano claimed these rights
as a threat to the family.

20. Religion and Politics
 The visibility that Mr. Feliciano gained in the
media can be seen as a tactic for attracting
votes. In a statement made to Folha de São
Paulo (07/04/2013) on the impact of this
situation among evangelicals and supporters,
Silas Malafaia, a pastor who has an
evangelical television program, said: "I want
to thank the gay movement. The more time
they waste on Feliciano, the greater the
evangelical push in 2014. "

21. Religion and Politics
 Mr. Feliciano headed the Commission
for one year between March 2013 and
February 2014, after which the post was
taken over by Assis Couto from the
Workers’ Party. With new leadership, all
of the proposals that the Commission
had failed to vote on during Mr.
Feliciano’s tenure were archived.

22. Religion and Politics
 Through this period of demonstrations and protests, the question
of LGBT rights became a central issue in the media. With it came
a more profound debate about the relationship between religion
and politics in Brazil. Evangelical politicians positioned
themselves as minorities contrary to the interests of the gay and
feminist movements. Although Mr. Feliciano’s post was not
renewed, evangelicals see his term as a positive experience.
The concept of ‘defending the family’ has become a political
banner for evangelical political representatives, in which they
seek to protect their country and fight against the
decriminalization of drugs and access to abortion. They seek
reelection by defending traditional values ​​in churches and
exerting pressure on politicians, particularly in the case of
presidential elections. The case of Marcos Feliciano in the
Commission on Human Rights and Minorities shows how the
insertion of evangelicals in politics can be a strong impediment to
the advancement of the agenda of social movements, including
those in defense of gender equality, LGBT rights, the
decriminalization of drugs and access to abortion.