By JULIAN RODRIGUES*
Critique of disguised evangelical conservatism
In times of obscurantism, positive expectations always make it almost mandatory to read an article written by a physicist, professor at USP, and on top of that published on the website the earth is round [https://dpp.cce.myftpupload.com/sobre-o-voto-evangelico/] He had never heard of Professor Osame Kinouchi, who specializes in statistical physics, dynamical systems, computational neuroscience, neural networks. coordinator of the Laboratory of Statistical Physics and Computational Biology at USP São Carlos.
The theme of his article, “On the “Evangelical” Vote” is inescapable. Understanding the evangelical world and how the Brazilian left should relate to this population, disputing values and ideas. It was a reply to another article, by Rubens Pinto Lyra, also posted in the earth is round, entitled “The vote of the evangelicals” [https://dpp.cce.myftpupload.com/o-voto-dos-evangelicos/] that demonstrated how doctrinal aspects of Protestant Christianity are connected with Bolsonarism, in addition to the precariousness of the training of pastors and the “theology of prosperity”.
After a reasonable description of Protestant currents and their differences, the physicist from USP also advances by drawing attention to the strong predominance of women, blacks, poor people among the evangelical base.
In defense of his religion (yes, the physicist-professor-scientist is a practicing evangelical – don't ask me to emphasize this oxymoron, to be labeled as prejudiced) – the author lists several reactionary elements of Catholicism, such as papal infallibility, the prohibition of contraceptive methods and the ban on women in the priesthood.
Until then, so good. But life is tough. What sounds weird is usually weird. By defending, correctly, that evangelicals are not a monolithic block, then the professor goes to the defense of businessman Edir Macedo.
The author then “comes out of the closet” and gives us the following paragraph:
“How many votes did Haddad lose by including extra scholarships for transsexuals in his 2018 government plan? He didn't get any more LGBT votes, because that community would vote for him anyway, with or without that item on the show. But with this item, he lost votes in the entire heterosexual segment, not only "Evangelical", but also Catholic and Spiritist, and even center-right atheist, where a cunning propaganda spread that, by doing this, Haddad considered transsexuals as "superior" and deserving of “privileges” in relation to heterosexuals. After all, scholarships could be given out without any problem after winning the elections, but why put this specific item in the electoral propaganda? Just to give ammunition to Bolsonarists?”
My first reaction was one of bewilderment.
The amount of reactionary nonsense crammed into so few lines made me question why a highly rated, progressive website would publish such right-wing rubbish.
As a former LGBT coordinator in the Haddad government and creator of Transcidadania (the first government program to promote citizenship and human rights for transvestites, transsexual women and trans men), you can imagine the temperature of my blood when I read this nonsense.
The author doesn't even pretend. First, he talks about “THE” transsexuals, deliberately highlighting the biological sex of transvestites and trans women, disrespecting their gender identity, just like any religious fundamentalist.
Then he talks about the “heterosexual segment”. As if all straight men are prejudiced – from atheists to all Catholics. And he implicitly admits that all heterosexual evangelical men are homophobic and transphobic. Which is far, far from the truth.
Then, the scientist looks like he's going to denounce Bolsonarist fake news. Nothing, he classifies them as just “crafty propaganda”. The art of ironing has reached new heights, in that understatement.
The leap in reasoning is peculiar. Blame for Bolsonarist bad faith, which distorts the PT's political proposal, is not Bolsonaro's, it's Haddad's! Why did you dare to touch on this theme?? It was easier to pretend not to defend LGBTI rights!
(I won't even mention the guy's abysmal ignorance: he contrasts heterosexuals with transsexuals: the prayerful know-it-all didn't bother to study the basics – he doesn't know the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity).
However, the worst is yet to come. The guy suggests that the best tactic for winning elections is not speaking your mind. Hide our leftist program – adapt to common sense. Like this: we cheat the voters and after we win, we'll secretly execute our feministoid, gayzist, et cetera extravaganzas.
I proudly confess that I helped create the LGBTI topic of the Haddad-2018 program. Look: not even remotely was this agenda the center of our mass propaganda. The evangelical-uspian ends up just reproducing a certain Bolsonarist common sense.
I ask: so to win the election, the left must mimic conservative common sense? Pretending we are not for social transformation? Disguise ourselves so that they don't know that we are anti-liberal, feminist, anti-racist, distributive, environmentalist, in favor of sexual freedoms?
In the end, the article in question has great merit. It clearly reveals what many old-heterosexual-white-men (who claim to be left-wing) think – and don't say.
It turns out that a socialist left that is not feminist, libertarian, anti-racist, ecosocialist has no conditions to survive in the 21st century.
Wake up, brothers!
* Julian Rodrigues, professor and journalist, he is an activist for Human Rights and for the LGBTI cause.
