Secular State is also valid for African religions

African religions: Respect, but without State encouragement

I remember as if it were yesterday. We was at Pedagogy class (at that time I was studying Graduation of Science in Nature) and the teacher was talking about a dispute that was occurred in the Municipal House of Representatives about inclusion of word “gender” in the Municipal Plan of Education. During the explanation, the teacher hardly criticized the participation of evangelicals in the debate, manifesting themselves among those who didn’t want to allow the modification of the law; “that hurts the Secular State” she said, and I agree. However, another student, who was present in the mess commented: “but in your side, professor, were entities representative of African matrix cult, does not this also hurt Secularism?”. “No”, she said, “because they were in our side, the right side…”

What?? Are you saying that Secular State means only those religions with which I agree (or which agree with me) can participate in the State? Yes, unfortunately a big part of Brazilians think in this way, reaching the absurd that a pre-candidate for president (who is in one of the first places in the latest research) having affirmed that the State is secular, but Christian ...

Ok, I know that who is more meddling in the Brazilian state are Christians, both Catholics – who through the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB) is openly lobbying for topics that they consider relevant to their religion – and Protestants – who have even a bench in Congress to impose their world view on Brazilian laws. I don’t need to talk how absurd this is, an affront to the Secularity and the rights of free thinking of society as a whole.

I also know that African matrix religions aren’t just religions, but also represent cultural aspects of African-descendants; besides being religion, they are a manifestation of resistance to acculturation. But let's make it clear, African-born religions are, above all, religions! If they are right or wrong, good or evil, positive or negative is at the discretion of the individual conscience, as says Brazilian Constitution at its Article #5, VI. We must, therefore, as a society, fight against any affront to the free exercise of such cults (unfortunately in Brazil it’s common attacks both to their believers and their temples); we must punish in the form of the law who vilify their places of worship and liturgies, as well as we must to do in relation to any religion, especially minorities since religions with large numbers of believers are more likely to defend themselves by numbers.

However, the fact that we must protect the free exercise of the faith of the African matrix should not be confused with the permission to imbue it with the State (in the same way that they should not be in any way prejudiced in their free exercise by the State. So I see how worrying when public college courses (general about humanities) do incitement for such religions in something beyond cultural or anthropological interest. It is worrying when student’s unions (in Brazil called DCEs) of public colleges defend such religions in a way that is more than worth their freedom of worship, sometimes carrying out festivities alluding to African-born cults, or in any way encouraging such religions in the university (just as it would be absurd if it did with reference to Christianity, Buddhism, Flying Spaghetti Monster, or even Atheism); and even more worrisome when it comes from professors of those universities! By the way, I know that DCEs aren’t really part of universities, but students’ organizations, yet as such they should serve the interests of all students, and cannot select students by their culture or religion.

You know, I consider that any citizen, whether student, DCE member or teacher, must have full right to follow or not to follow the cult that he wants, according to his conscience, what they cannot is use the State apparatus (and public universities are part of State apparatus) both to promote or harm any religion (which hurts Brazilian Constitution in its Article # 19), and no matter how much such a religion “is on our side”; just as teachers should not curb any personal criticism of African-born religions (or of Christianism, Islam, Buddhism, Pastafarism, Atheism…) because individual rights to freedom of conscience and freedom of expression must be respected. What should not be done is representatives of the State apparatus to preach against one religion and to encourage another. It's always good to remember Secular State is for everyone, and this is true also for African religions.