Ideological secularlism has shown its face in Brazil and persecuted the religious ways that are part of the culture of that country. Will it be the beginning of a religious persecution in the Land of the Holy Cross?
In recent years, Brazil has been witnessing a series of acts intended to exclude religion and religious discourse in public spheres. Now there are discussions in society like abortion, politics, gay marriage. A small – but noisy – group of ideologues, saying: “Brazil is secular, religion should be a private matter and can not interfere in such matters.”
Dr Clemente Aleksandro says that “secular state does not mean secularist”Yes, Brazil is a secular state, but does it means that religion is excluded from debate and addressing what you think is essential to society?
“We can not confuse secular state with secular. Secular state means it does not confess a religion and is not governed by religious norms. The opposite of this is secularism, a kind of ideology that preaches rationalism, ie everything that is not rational or has a bit of religious expression is despised, “says the lawyer Aleksandro Clemente, a member of the Committee for the Defense of the Republic and Democracy of OAB / SP, Professor of Bioethics and Biolaw.
Secularism has emerged in many places in the world as an affront to Christianity and often assuming hostile forms of persecution. In Brazil, it has advanced and extended its tentacles through small ideological-political groups, such as the Brazilian League of Lesbians who, in March 2012, asked the justice [department] of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) for the removal of crucifixes from public buildings – decision accepted by the same agency – with the argument that the Brazilian government is secular.
“When you talk about a secular state it does not meant to deny the religious culture of his people. Brazil has a culture steeped in religiosity. Just look at the name of our cities and states like São Paulo, Santa Catarina, São João da Boa Vista and many others. Would we have to demolish the Christ the Redeemer Christian symbol? “Says Aleksandro.For the lawyer, the decision to remove religious symbols from public offices is a serious offense against the democracy of our country, a clear action of secularism that wants to implement its doctrine on Brazilian soil. “In a democratic state, power emanates from the people; and a society in which the majority is religious, this feeling should be respected, so having a crucifix in a public agency is not a disrespect to those who do not believe, but expresses the religious sentiment of the majority. Take the crucifix as did the state’s justice [department] is gratuitously offensive to the religious sentiment of this majority of the population, “concludes Aleksandro.