With about 10% of voting intentions, according to Instituto Paraná Polls, less than a year before the elections, former judgeSergio Moro (Podemos) waves vigorously to the evangelical public. On the 3rd, the pre-candidate for the presidency was interviewed by the Baptist pastor Yago Martins, in front of the Dois Dedos de Teologia channel, with almost 540 thousand subscribers. The biggest gesture, however, would come on Monday (7), with a letter explicitly addressed to the Christian electorate published during an event of pastors in Fortaleza, Ceará, in the company of the jurist Uziel Santana, coordinator of the evangelical nucleus of the pre-campaign. candidate and senator Eduardo Girão.
“Bolsonaro has already lost ground and we’ve seen a big movement among evangelicals who expect a moderate third way and committed to a society that takes science and justice seriously. Many Christians have values that don’t fit in a government like Lula’s, so they wouldn’t vote for Lula. people deserve to know that they have a viable option in Moro”, said Santana, to Gazeta do Povo
Themes such as defense of the democratic rule of law, the fight against corruption, the end of political privileges and the defense of religious freedom figured both in the live and in the letter, which r echoed in the press and among evangelical leaders. Among other projects, Moro pledged not to expand the legislation in force on abortion – which provides for the non-punishment of the practice in cases of rape, risk to the mother’s life and the baby’s anencephaly -, to guarantee the tax immunity of churches and to fight against the early sexualization of children and adolescents.
Even so, the former Minister of Justice will have to deal with a considerable obstacle: the reputation of “traitor” imposed on him by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro. Two weeks ago, Moro was called a “coward” by the pastor of the Vitória em Cristo Assembly of God, Silas Malafaia, who compared him to the biblical figure of Judas, the traitor of Jesus Christ – a comment that resonates with the impression of part of the electorate. , especially in neo-Pentecostal communities. On the other hand, recent polls show that part of the Christian public that helped elect Bolsonaro is considering migrating to former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), despite the anti-PTism that marked the election of 768. In the struggle to consolidate itself as the “third way”, the evaluation of evangelical leaders and analysts heard by
Gazeta do Povo
For the Lutheran pastor Valdir Steuernagel, ambassador of the Evangelical Christian Alliance, the affirmation of the democratic State, the separation of powers and the roles of church and state make the document a letter “classic”. “I think this demarcation is important and it establishes a care. It turns out that, towards the end, he talks about the reality we live in in relation to unemployment, inequality, but he doesn’t point the way to it. The evangelical reality is an anarchic reality, it does not respond to centralized control. And this base is feeling hunger, poverty, homelessness… In this sense, Moro doesn’t give me the idea that he is a person who really cares.”
At the head of the Reforma e Charisma Church, Pastor Helder Nozima reinforces the relevance of the economic agenda and its impact on the elections in 2022. “The poorest evangelicals are more concerned with the economic question: whether or not they will have a job, whether or not they will be able to pay the bills. There comes a time when the customs agenda doesn’t make as much difference as receiving government help in the middle of a pandemic. And in this sense, Lula’s image is very strong and he has a presence because of low-income and low-education evangelicals. Moro errs in not realizing this, he is targeting evangelicals who have more schooling and greater purchasing power”, he evaluates.
The customs agenda
Although the economic context and the management of the pandemic are decisive factors for the October election, customs related to customs continue to be the protagonists of the electoral debate. And, in this regard, the leaders heard by the report are unanimous: although balanced, Moro’s speech is insufficient to mobilize the base that helped elect the president.
“With regard to abortion, for example, Moro’s point of view is politically correct and in line with what Brazilian law already presents. The big issue is that evangelicals are more conservative in relation to these guidelines than he is. Gender ideology is a good example: he doesn’t use that term, he talks about early sexualization. In a letter to Catholics and Evangelicals, he emphasizes the issue of sexual freedoms and does not speak of gay marriage. All this makes him seem out of step with what evangelicals would like to hear,” says Nozima. “In this sense, the only advantage he has to offer in relation to Bolsonaro is an image that is less associated with violence, less embarrassing.”
Ahead of the Manaaim Baptist Church, Pastor Yago Martins, who interviewed the former judge, shares this assessment. “On some issues, Moro is clearly disconnected from what the evangelical public expects from a president. I asked about homeschooling and he not only showed reticence but made statements that demonstrate a lack of knowledge regarding homeschooling families. On the other hand, he showed some willingness to learn about it”, says the pastor. In fact, thecut of the interview in which the pre-candidate talked about homeschooling circulated among groups of parents adept at the practice and generated criticism.
“As for abortion, Bolsonaro was always more vehement when he said: ‘if Congress approves, I veto’. Moro promises to keep it as it is. As much as, in practice, it is the same thing, this speech makes one doubt that he would buy it as a personal battle, that he would be willing to lose political capital to fight against abortion. Bolsonaro always knew how to dialogue much more with these desires”, adds Martins. “In the same way, when you say that you are going to fight against early sexualization, we understand that it is a half-encrypted language for the evangelical public about gender ideology, but it makes trust difficult. He is waving at the evangelical audience without bothering those who think against it. You need to understand that you are no longer a judge speaking to a court”, evaluates Martins.
For religious scientist Kenner Terra, a doctor from the Methodist University of São Paulo and a member of the Latin American Network of Pentecostal Studies, Moro’s speech, insufficient to drain votes from the president, is aimed at Ciro Gomes’ electorate. “He wants to occupy this third way, distancing himself as much as possible from Bolsonarism, but he still reproduces lines that refer to Minister Damares Alves, without taking the last consequences. Will this stick? Historically, no. Bolsonaro’s orphan voters go to Moro, and they are the fewest. The former judge will dispute this orphan with Ciro”.
“ It is worth remembering that, in demographic terms, the average evangelical in Brazil is a woman, black and poor. That’s the people. It is conservative and comes from a Catholic tradition with which moral discourse worked in 2018. But now these evangelicals have gone through an economic crisis and are no longer just mobilizing on the issue of corruption or abortion. In the end, Moro spoke to an idealized evangelical.”
