By FRANCISCO FERNANDES LADEIRA*
Supporting the “myth” is no longer a mere political or ideological inclination, it is beyond being “left” or “right”; is to deny any kind of humanistic ideal
Jair Bolsonaro and the movement for which he is the main name – Bolsonarism – represent the worst in human beings: racism, homophobia, misogyny and aporophobia, among other negative feelings. However, like every ideological product, Bolsonarist discourse does not reveal its real intentions; hiding under the fascist motto of a supposed defense of God, the homeland, the family and freedom.
In this case, the exalted family is that patriarchal organization, based on male authority and complete female submission. This type of parental arrangement is the basis for the type of homeland dreamed of by Bolsonarism, “where the minority must bow to the will of the majority” (a mere euphemism for the imposition of the prejudices listed above). The “freedom” defended by Bolsonarism is nothing more than a license for violence (physical and symbolic) against the poor, blacks, women, leftists and homosexuals.
That said, one might wonder: but how can “God” be used to corroborate all Bolsonarist hatred?
To answer this (complex and necessary) question, we can turn to the work of the German psychoanalyst, humanist philosopher and sociologist Erich Fromm, more specifically to his book the dogma of Christ.
Erich Fromm – as well as the Gnostics (religious current that dates back to the first centuries of the Christian Era) – considers that in Bible, sacred book of Christianity, “two gods” are presented, completely different: the “evil God”, of the Old testment; and the “good God”, referring to the New Testament.
In fact, it is not difficult to see that, in Old testment, God is vengeful and spiteful, being directly responsible for the extermination of all those who did not follow his dictates. On the other hand, in New Testament, God is love, benevolent, perfect, just and merciful.
Thus, based on psychoanalytical precepts, based on the antagonisms between father and son, Erich Fromm understands Jesus (the “good God”) as the negation of the father: the “evil God”. Not by chance, the New Testament begins precisely with the birth of Jesus.
This "Evil God" Old testment, is a great reference for the preaching of pastors from neo-Pentecostal churches, one of the main bases of Bolsonarism, a bulwark of what intellectuals such as Jessé Souza and Vladimir Safatle qualify as “popular fascism”, a movement responsible for dividing the poor (which, before Bolsonarism, majority voted for PT candidates, at least in the presidential elections).
Still in this line of reasoning, it is possible to understand the close links between neo-Pentecostal churches and Bolsonarism with the State of Israel (bearing in mind that Judaism only considers the Old Testament to be legitimate). By the way, if we go deep into the origin of these religious organizations, we arrive at the United States of America, not coincidentally a nation founded under the concept of “Promised Land”, an idea taken from the Old testment.
Returning to XNUMXst century Brazil, one could argue that Bolsonarists and neo-Pentecostals, despite following the Old testment, constantly evoke the name of Jesus. Pure rhetorical device!
Recalling a post that has been quite successful on social networks, associating Jair Bolsonaro and Jesus would be thinking of the Messiah, in Galilee, saying to Mary Magdalene “I don't rape you because you don't deserve it”; seeing Lázaro dead and saying “so what, I'm not a gravedigger” or, in front of a disabled person, commenting: “whatever I do, I'm not a doctor”. These are hypotheses, evidently, inconceivable.
In short, there are no ethical arguments to defend Bolsonaro. At the present juncture, supporting the “myth” is no longer a mere political or ideological inclination, it is beyond being “left” or “right”; it is to deny any kind of humanistic ideal. Unfortunately, in the first round of the presidential election, fifty-one million Brazilians made this perverse choice.
*Francisco Fernandes Ladeira is a doctoral candidate in geography at Unicamp. Author, among other books, of The ideology of international news (CRV).
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