Religious Discrimination Against Candomblé in Brazil
On Sunday, September 14th, 2014, Zoe Sullivan and Lydia Barros reported in an Al Jazeera article that followers of the Candomblé religion are being discriminated against in Brazil. In this article, I shall describe the Candomblé faith, I shall briefly discuss its history in the context of Brazil, as well as the various human rights abuses against those who adhere to Candomblé, all the while stressing the importance for complete religious freedom as it relates to human rights.
Candomblé
Candomblé is a religion initially from Afro-Brazilian faith, brought over during the slave trade (Matory, 2005). Regarding the faith, the “Practitioners Candomblé believe in one all powerful God called Oludumaré who is served by lesser deities. These deities are called orixas, voduns and inkices.” The term Candomblé translates to “dance in honor of the gods” (BBC, 2007) (For an overview on Candomblé, see the BBC article Religion: Candomblé). There are said to be about 2 million adherents to Candomblé in Brazil (BBC, 2009); the Candomblé population is said to be under 5 percent of the total population in Brazil (Garcia-Navarro, 2013).. Regarding the faith, as Matory (2005) explains:
Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion of divination, sacrifice, healing, music, dance, and spirit possession. The only rival to its beauty is its complexity. Though this religion is headquartered in the coastal Brazilian state of Bahia, it has counterparts and offshoots all over urban Brazil. Believers attribute miraculous powers and exemplary flaws to gods known variously as orixás, voduns, inquices, and caboclos, depending on the Candomblé denomination. The adventures, personalities, and kinship relations of these superhuman beings are described in an extensive mythology and body of oracular wisdom, which also serve to explain the personalities and fates of their human worshipers, as well as the worldly relations among those worshipers. Through blood sacrifice and lavish ceremonies of spirit possession, the gods are persuaded to intervene beneficently in the lives” (1).
In addition, those who practice Candomblé worship at a temple or “house,” which also functions as a social meeting place for followers of the faith, and an also serve to provide economic support for the community (Matory, 2005).
Discrimination Against Candomblé in Brazil
The Candomblé have been victims of religious rights violations for centuries. For example, during slavery from Africa, the BBC (2009) explains that “many Christian slave owners and Church leaders felt it was important to convert the enslaved Africans…” Furthermore, Candomblé has continued to be targeted by some Christian groups, such as the Catholic Church (BBC, 2009). One adherent of the faith discussed the level of isolation due to the political and religious climate in Brazil, saying that: “Candomblé was once very hidden, very isolated,” he says. “Candomblé wasn’t accepted here. People always had a preconception about it because it was African — black people aren’t accepted in society here. We do animal sacrifice. Our religion is very different than any other. People didn’t understand it” (Garcia-Navarro, 2013). And because of this fear, many Candomblé did not disclose their religion, instead claimed to be Catholics in order to safeguard themselves from discrimination (Garcia-Navarro, 2013).
Unfortunately, there have been recent reports that the group is currently being targeted by some evangelical Christians groups in Brazil. As the Al Jazeera explains,
“One of the central figures in the conflict between evangelicals and Afro-Brazilian worshippers is Edir Macedo, the controversial founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the largest neo-Pentecostal congregation in Brazil. This church has 8 million followers in more than 200 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Forbes called Macedo “one of the world’s richest religious leaders and a prominent media baron.” He heads the Rede Record television network and a communication group that includes newspapers, radios and TV stations.
Macedo has sent preachers to the poor outskirts of Brazil’s major cities to gain followers and combat Afro-Brazilian religions, which he describes as “diabolical.””
His church has also published material speaking out against the Candomblé. And Carlos Alberto de Souza, who is the “ombudsman for the Department of Politics to Promote Racial Equality” believed that such neo-Pentecostal churches are actually committing hate speech in the churches as well as online (Tappin Coelho, 2013).
Of course, the majority of Christians (both evangelical and Catholic) respect various faiths; it seems that it is a minority encouraging discrimination of the Candomblé group (as is the case with religious discrimination, whether speaking of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc…). According to Al Jazeera, the reason is that some Christians are taking issue with the Candomblé is that the group uses music; “Drums call the gods, according to worshippers, and music and dance allow the faithful to enter into meditative trances. Sometimes a particular god or goddess (worshippers focus their faith on one member of the pantheon) will enter a person’s body. This possession is why many Christians, particularly evangelicals, reject the religion as devil worship.” In Candomblé, “Music and dance are important parts of the Candomblé ceremonies. Specially choreographed dances are performed by worshippers to enable them to become possessed by the orixas” (BBC, 2007).
There have been a number of reported crimes against the Candomblé. For example, in 2013, there were reports of a couple who practiced Candomblé. However, “their neighbor, who attended a local evangelical church, disapproved. On a balmy day one year ago he shot and killed the husband as he was screwing in a light bulb in his yard” (Tappin Coelho, 2013). His wife was quoted as saying that “[w]e suffered years of abuse for our religious beliefs from our neighbor and even though we complained to the police about it many times, we were told it was not serious enough for them to take action” (Tappin Coelho, 2013).
In response to hate crimes and threats against the group, a couple of years before this incident, “In 2011 the state of Rio de Janeiro created a special agency to deal with the growing number of hate crimes. According to the secretary of human rights, the number of calls made to a federal religious intolerance hotline jumped from 109 in 2012 to 231 in 2013. It began recording such incidents in 2011″ (Al Jazeera, 2014). In addition, “The number of complaints received by the religious intolerance Dial 100 hotline set up by the government in 2011 grew by a whopping 600 percent, to 109 reported incidents in 2012, up from 15 the year earlier. The majority of complaints were made by members of the African religions, Candomble and the closely related Umbanda faith” (Tappin Coelho, 2013).
Such stories are alarming, as they continue to illustrate intolerance for all religious belief systems. The international human rights movement protects all religious freedoms; there should be no favoritism towards Christianity, or other Abrahamic monotheistic faiths with large numbers, such as Islam. All individuals should have the complete human right to practice their faith without fear of being targeted or attacked. However, as the article explains, one of the reasons for the tension is because of the monotheism versus polytheism divisions between Christianity and Candomblé.
It is important to continue to advocate for the religious freedoms of all individuals. And the human rights movement, both in Brazil and internationally, should continue to stress the importance of the right to practice (or not practice) any faith. Unfortunately, there are often biases associated with certain religions, with often go hand in hand with economic power, thus leaving such smaller faiths marginalized. It is critical for us, as a global community, to bring further attention to the plight of the Candomblé in Brazil and elsewhere.
References
BBC (2007). Candomblé: Religions. Available Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/candomble/
BBC (2009). Candomble: History. 2009-09-15. Available Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/candomble/history/history.shtml
Garcia-Navarro, L. (2013). Brazilian Believers of Hidden Religion Step Out of the Shadows. National Public Radio. Parallels. September 16th, 2013. Available Online: http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/09/16/216890587/brazilian-believers-of-hidden-religion-step-out-of-shadows
Matory, J.L. (2005). Black Atlantic Religion, pages 1-38. Available Online: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i8101.pdf
Sullivan, Z. & Barros, L. (2014). Followers of Afro-Brazilian Religions Feel Under Attack. Al Jazeera America. September 13th, 2014. Available Online: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/9/13/prejudice-againstcandombleworshippersincreasesinbrazil.html
Tappin Coelho, J. (2013). Brazil Tries to Combat Religious Intolerance of Minority Faiths. Religion News Service. October 10, 2013. Available Online: http://www.religionnews.com/2013/10/10/brazil-tries-combat-religious-intolerance-minority-faiths/
