The political influence of Evangelicalism in Latin America is a phenomenon that has resulted in increased political influence and activism by the Evangelical Christian community in the region.[1][2][3] Marginal at first, different news reports and political analysts have pointed the important weight that such community has and its impact in electoral politics, even helping in the electoral victories of conservative candidates.[2][4][5]
In recent decades, the Catholic Church has suffered a drain of followers, some of whom became irreligious, agnostics or atheists. Some also went to other alternative religions like Buddhism, Islam and new religious movements; but a large segment of former Catholics, particularly those of more humble origins and lower classes, went into the Evangelical Churches, with neo-Pentecostal and Charismatic movements proven popular amongst the converts.[11]Pentecostalism also became popular among the lower income classes and the most abandoned sectors of society specially those of very poor and peripheral areas who see the Churches' ideas of economic growth through faith as an opportunity for social mobility.[11] In any case, the growth of Evangelicals was quickly followed by their newly discovered political and electoral weight, with new forms of political activism and even the creation of specific political parties connected to their communities.[12] Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was one of the first Evangelical Christians in attain power in Latin America's history.[12][13]
Social conservatism: According to the Pew Research Center: "Even though the Catholic Church opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, Catholics in Latin America tend to be less conservative than Protestants on these kinds of social issues. On average, Catholics are less morally opposed to abortion, homosexuality, artificial means of birth control, sex outside of marriage, divorce and drinking alcohol than are Protestants."[11]
Evolution: Catholics tend to be more accepting of evolution than Protestants.[31][32]
Class: In Latin America most neo-Pentecostals and other Evangelicals are mostly from working class and lower-income groups, whilst Catholicism is still prevalent among middle and high classes and among professionals and the political elite.[11]
Atheist, agnostics and non-religious people are the third largest group of Latin America behind Catholics and Protestants.[11] Coincidences with the conservative neo-Pentecostal are scarce. Although exceptions exist, non-religious in Latin America tend to be strongly culturally liberal, generally more than the average Latin American,[11] being much more likely to support such things like secularism, abortion, same-sex marriage and birth control than their Catholic counterparts and specially the neo-Pentecostal community.[11] Nonreligious are also much more supportive of Palestine than Israel and come mostly from the middle and high class, especially the professional and intellectual camps.[11] Although in economic and politics nonreligious may also support right-wing libertarian, liberal and economically conservative ideas, it is also slightly more common for secularists to be more on the left and center-left of the spectrum.[39][40]
With other religions
Brazil's Spiritualist community had criticized the Evangelical position on Human Rights, social justice and economic policies.[41][42]
Prominent pentecostal politicians in Brazil have been involved in cases of corruption and law violations. Since 2007 Federal deputy Pastor Magno Malta was in involved in many scandals including embezzlement, nepotism, bribing and emission of fake bill of goods.[44][45][46][47][48]
Pastor Everaldo Pereira
In 2012, Pastor Everaldo Pereira was convicted and ordered to pay his ex-wife, Katia Maia, an indemnity of R$ 85,000 (US$ 26,350) for material and moral damage. Pastor Everaldo asked the Justice Court of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ) to overturn the decision and was acquitted by the Supreme Federal Court.[49] In 2013, Pereira's ex-wife initiated in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) a new judicial process, alleging that the pastor committed physical violence, followed by death threats. Katia Maia said that during the aggression there were "kicks and punches, that caused a puncture in [her] eardrum". Pereira, however, said he acted in legitimate self-defense after a car pursuit in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.[50]
The deputy was falsely accused with attempted rape and assault by 22-year-old Patricia Lelis, a PSC activist who attended the same church as the pastor.[53] The deputy chief of staff, Talma Bauer, was arrested for initially being suspected of kidnapping the young woman and forcing her to record videos defending the deputy in order to dismiss the initial complaint.[54] After a police inquiry, Bauer was released and the São Paulo Civil Police concluded that there was no kidnapping or aggression,[55] and requested the arrest of Patrícia Lélis for the crimes of slanderous denunciation and extortion against Bauer.[56]
Guatemala
Jimmy Morales
In January 2017, Samuel "Sammy" Morales, the older brother and close adviser to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, whose campaign slogan was, "neither corrupt, nor a crook", as well as one of Morales' sons, José Manuel Morales, were arrested on corruption and money laundering charges.[57][58] According to media reports, the arrests prompted several large protests of up to 15,000 people demanding for President Morales' removal.[59][60][61]
Furthermore, former cabinet minister Édgar Gutiérrez accused Jimmy Morales of having sexually abused young female public workers with complicity of other government officials.[65]
^ abMorris, Loveday (28 January 2018). "Long, uneasy love affair of Israel and U.S. evangelicals may have peaked". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 November 2018. Faced with the dip in support, Israel is increasingly looking to evangelical communities in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere to build international support. Guatemala, where President Jimmy Morales is an avowed evangelical, was the first country to follow suit after the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem.
^ abLazacano, Antonio (2016-03-16). "Evolution in Mexico". ncse.com. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
^ abFreston, Paul (2004). "Evangelical protestantism and democratization in contemporary Latin America and Asia". Democratization. 11 (4): 21–41. doi:10.1080/1351034042000234512. S2CID146370768.
^ abSmith, Dennis (29 May 2015). "Changing religious landscapes and political communication in Latin America". WACC. Retrieved 1 November 2018. One additional comment about the political theology often embraced by these groups is needed. In the 1980s, a new movement known as Dominion Theology or the Reconstructionist Movement surfaced among conservative Evangelicals. This group interpreted the Bible – especially the Old Testament – as commanding believers "to restore" each nation according to theocratic principles and to promote Evangelical moral paradigms. Reconstructionists affirm an eschatological and political vision founded on the belief that Christians were destined to govern the world. Many prominent Evangelical politicians in Latin America have embraced this ideology. They seek to bring others to their faith not only because of their propensity for proselytism but also because of their conviction that, once a nation reaches a critical mass of believers, the Spirit will pour out God's justice and prosperity upon the population (Smith & Campos, 2012). Undoubtedly, this ideology is present, in one form or another, in other contexts and people need to be aware of its presence. It is worth noting that nowhere that the Reconstructionists have held power or influence – in Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador or Peru, for example – have they been able successfully to model sound public governance nor successfully resolve such issues as systemic corruption and violence. But they are present, they have money, and they often have access to media and to opinion leaders.
^"Religion in Latin America -Chapter 8: Religion and Science". Pew Research Center. November 13, 2014. Across the region, Catholics, Protestants and people who are not affiliated with any religion generally have similar views on whether there is a conflict between faith and science. But Protestants are less accepting of evolution than are Catholics or the religiously unaffiliated.
^Morales, Manuel (July 28, 2015). "Evolution and Christianity in Latin America: Context, History and Challenge". The BioLogos Foundation. Considering that the Latin American social imaginary) does not generally include science, and Christians generally do not reflect systematically on science and religion, how we can explain their acceptance of evolution? A possible answer could be uncomfortable for Christians who try to build fruitful initiatives to discuss these issues: many Roman Catholics, who belong to a centralized religion—and who are very devoted to this religious tradition in Latin America—basically follow whatever their church officially establishes at the Vatican, which accepts evolution. On the other hand, many Protestants who accept evolution do so mainly as a reaction to evangelical fundamentalism—which has generally been seen as contrary to evolution— but not as a consequence of taking science seriously in their reflections about faith and natural world. Unfortunately, this makes sense given the uses and abuses of science among Protestants in Latin America. Many Latin American Protestants are suspicious of any attempt to generate dialogue between science and faith, or they are just apathetic about these issues. But what is more problematic is that among Protestants interested in science, it is often for apologetic and opportunistic purposes, rather than as a way to generate an honest discussions about big questions or to re-examine their worldview in the context of science.
