08/20/2023 – 11:49 am
In an impassioned speech at the March for Jesus in Rio de Janeiro this Saturday, the 19th, Pastor Silas Malafaia attacked the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, the federal government, the press and senators. The main target of the speech was Moraes, whom the priest called a dictator and accused of being in “collusion” with the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In the end, Malafaia said to “prophesy” that the STF minister’s house would fall by the hands of God, the people, or the Senate. He gave a shouting speech to thousands of people at Praça da Apoteose, in downtown Rio.
The audience applauded at each negative mention of the magistrate, especially when the pastor said to “prophesy” the following: “Mr. dictator of the toga Alexandre de Moraes, your house is still going to fall! And I’ll take chances. Either it will fall by the hand of God, or it will fall because the Senate will be ashamed of itself, or it will fall because the people are the supreme power of this nation. And when the people put pressure on, nobody can stand it”.
Malafaia had already stated that Moraes’ house will collapse in a video released on his social networks. On the pastor’s YouTube channel, by the way, the last three videos published are critical of the STF minister. In the most recent, the priest accuses the magistrate of persecuting former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), suspected of having benefited from a scheme to sell jewelry received as gifts from foreign countries. Malafaia takes as a hook the fact that Moraes said that it was necessary to fight the extreme right.
“The minister is declaring loud and clear that he fights Bolsonaro and he wants to find any reason to put Bolsonaro in jail”, opined the pastor in the video.
At Marcha para Jesus, Malafaia stated that more than 100 Brazilians had been imprisoned for months “without having proof that they were in trouble”. He opined that Moraes did not respect due process of law by holding participants in the coup acts of January 8, in Brasilia, in detention. The religious even accused the former head of the Institutional Security Office, Gonçalves Dias, of authorizing the entry of vandals into the Planalto – although there is so far no evidence of this.
“On the day of the riot, he (Gonçalves Dias) opened the door of the Palace. Why didn’t Mr. Alexandre de Moraes have the general arrested? Because it is in collusion with this government”, said Malafaia.
The religious called the minister a dictator more than once. “We are living in Brazil a dictatorship of the toga of the dictator Alexandre de Moraes. I’m not afraid of this guy,” he shouted. “I regret what this guy has been doing these past two years, cutting down Brazilian social networks, putting people in jail that he couldn’t even put because he doesn’t belong to him.”
Malafaia also said that the press, senators and other STF ministers are colluding with Moraes. “We are seeing a cowardly and silent press. A large part of cowardly and neglectful senators. Too many members of the STF are silent and silent about what is happening in Brazil”, he said.
He asked the evangelicals present at the event to position themselves politically. “They are very concerned about the growth of the evangelical church, because the church has left the four walls and is positioning itself as a citizen of this country”, he said. “You can’t fall into the conversation: ‘stay inside the church, don’t interfere’. I am as Brazilian as anybody”.
Criticism of the fake news project
The theme of the March for Jesus in Rio was “freedom of expression”. Malafaia took the opportunity to criticize the Fake News Bill, reported by federal deputy Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP). The proposal provides for new guidelines for social networks in relation to children and adolescents, broadcasting news, dissemination of false content and promotion of electoral propaganda and political content.
“They tried to approve the restriction of freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution”, said the pastor. “At the last minute, the communist rapporteur, afraid of suffering defeat, withdrew the project from the agenda. Restricting your freedom of expression is the gateway to curbing your religious freedom. If I can’t express what I think about anything, I can’t express what I think about religion either.”
Malafaia echoed the discourse of the evangelical bench against the project, dubbed by them as the Censorship Bill. Some leaders spread the false claim that the proposal would limit the sharing of Bible verses or censor religious speech.
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