Me watching the US election VS me watching the Brazilian elections
My family is from Cameroon. My parents decided to go back there for retirement 10 years ago now. Last Sunday October 8, Cameroonians went out to vote for the president of the Republic. The thing is, we have had the same president for the last 36 years. The man is older than Pope Francis, just to give you an idea. Yet, a big part of the population still supports him. So let's just say the results of the elections, which are still being compiled after a week, shall surprise no one.
On the same day Cameroon was voting, so was Brazil, a beloved country of mine in which I have lived, and with which I still have a strong bond, as the Community I am a part of is from there, and therefore most of my brothers in Christ. Not to mention hundreds of Facebook friends of mine. So as much as I tried not to get dirty and to close my eyes and ears to what's going on in that country, it is pretty much impossible.
Let me
make a brief recap for those who might not know the actual political situation
there. When I lived in Brazil in 2015-2016, there was a palpable political
tension in the air. The 2014 World Cup was over, with
God-knows-how-many-millions of dollars destined for it stolen by a corrupt
government. I walked in the streets and saw protesters calling the then-president, Dilma Rousseff, out of power. You could read signs in the streets saying,
" Fora Dilma " (Dilma out) pretty much everywhere. Shortly after I
came back to Canada, the Summer Olympics happened with disastrous numbers which
you could witness on TV, as the spectator seats were almost empty during some
of the games. Again, millions of dollars had been spent and stolen for that event, and
the city of Rio de Janeiro even went bankrupt right before the games. And I am sparing you
other corruption scandals involving the federal government.
 |
| Protesters against Dilma and the PT |
In the next few months, chaos began. Dilma was
impeached, President Temer took her place in interim, until now. Dilma's
predecessor, former president Lula da Silva was arrested and still is for
corruption. But even in prison, he remains the leader of the PT party, which
had led the country for more than a decade before the impeachment. Since he is
in prison, he obviously can't run for president. He is therefore represented by
another candidate named Haddad, who pretty much runs on his behalf. To be fair,
I have to mention that under his and Dilma’s years in power, many social programs
were developed and lots of people who had never had access to education or even
to some government positions were granted an opportunity to do so.
On the
other side of the election, which will have its second turn this week-end after
most candidates were eliminated, you have Jair Bolsonaro: your typical
Trump-imitating conservative politician. Talks about restoring security in
Brazil by allowing people to have guns for self-defense, among other controverted
positions. And then, he talks about abolishing abortion, in a country where it
was just approved for ladies pregnant up to 3 months. No other candidate had said anything clear about that topic.
When Trump was running against Hillary Clinton in 2016, I had a certain position. Today, when it comes to Brazilian elections, I have another one. It’s the same one really, just clearer and better defined. Let me explain.
Where/who
was I during US elections
During the US elections, I was living in Mexico, another beloved country of mine in which I like to live in/hop by every once in a while. Mexicans are probably the kindest people that I have met from all over the world, and I have been places. So you can imagine how I felt about Trump and his hate-speech against Mexico and undocumented Mexicans crossing the US-Mexico border or living in the States. There was no way on earth this guy could ever have a warm spot in my heart.
On the other hand, Hillary Clinton was a
strong, experienced woman, the true embodiment of Girl Power. But there was a
problem: not only was she pro-choice (if you’re reading this, you probably know by
now that I am not), but on top of that, her campaign was being funded by Planned
Parenthood, a nationwide abortion clinic known for selling body parts of
unborn babies to private companies. There was no way I could
ever agree with that and therefore, support her. So, let's just say I was very glad not to be American and
have to cast my vote. Trump eventually won, to the surprise and dismay of
many. Lots of people cried, including Miley Cyrus and my American co-worker in
the university where we were giving Language classes. Part of me was disgusted
by Trump and the racist acts that followed his election, yet part of me was
relieved that one of the world's biggest and most influential countries was
finally doing something to stop the funding of abortion clinics in the US and
worldwide.
Who/where am I during the Brazilian election (now)
Who/where am I during the Brazilian election (now)
About 7 months ago, I made one of the biggest decisions in my life: I followed God's calling to join the Shalom Catholic Community. I had been active in the Catholic Church for years, yet this is different. As a missionary, as a future consecrated person, I cannot take certain things as lightly as I used to. I cannot simply "pick and choose" from what I like or don't like from Catholic teachings, which is something that, like most Catholics, I have done pretty much all my life. In any decision that I make, I must ask myself not only "What does God ask of me", but also "What does my Church say about this"? I emphasize, not "What passage of the Bible can I pick to support my political opinion, but what does my Church - which has a leader, a Catechism and a Canon Law - say about this and that topic?
My position in a few words
I have tried to keep my mouth shut. I have watched the debates on Facebook, which I noticed quickly become heated. I laughed at the memes, liked posts here and there, as discretely as possible. But something led me to write this article. Something that worries me.
To see people that I have met in Brazil in University, in social groups or pretty much anywhere other than the Catholic Church support the left wing and their agenda does not either surprise me nor shock me. After all, the left wing is what I consider, in Biblical terms, the “wide road” (Mt 7:13). It's the tendency that societies are taking worldwide, starting with my beloved country Canada. It's the world, it's the enemy’s playground. Not so long ago, I was very comfortably playing in that playground myself, and since I’m surrounded by it, there’s always temptation to go back every once in a while.
Here is what worries me: to see Brazilian people that I have met in Catholic prayer groups, even in the Shalom Catholic Community (not consecrated people, thank God), explicitly show their support to the west wing opponent. Do they have good reasons to do so? Of course! Even I have chills when I hear Bolsonaro say things like "Bandido é melhor morto que preso" (A criminal is better dead than in prison). But here's the deal, and here is what our Church teaches: as Catholics, we must choose the lesser evil. Is it bad to discriminate, threaten, be intolerant? Yes, it is. Is it bad to kill a baby in his mother’s womb? ABSOLUTELY! Or so we believe! And whoever candidate supports that or doesn’t clearly says he's against that should be out of question for us.
As Catholics, we do no vote conservative because we support violence, hate-speech, discrimination or White Supremacy. We vote conservative. among other reasons, because they save lives. Not so much the lives of grown-ups who are old enough to make their decisions and face the consequences. Conservatives protect the lives of innocent beings who cannot defend themselves. Our sons and daughters, our future society. And at the end of the day, we believe this should prevail on anything else.
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