Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Missionaries declared ‘essential workers’ by Brazil’s Bolsonaro

Missionaries declared ‘essential workers’ by Brazil’s Bolsonaro

Last updated on: August 17, 2020 at 1:13 pm by Barry Duke

Missionaries declared ‘essential workers’ by Brazil’s Bolsonaro 2020-08-17T13:13:26+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

EFFORTS to keep missionaries away from protected tribes in Brazil continue to be thwarted by Christian organisations and individuals hellbent on foisting their toxic beliefs on Indigenous peoples.

Image via YouTube

The worst culprit is Brazil’s evangelical President Jair Bolsonaro, above, who’s all for Christianising the natives. Last month – after the National Indigenous Foundation ordered all civilians to leave the indigenous reservations with the exception of essential workers and those involved in food distribution – Bolsonaro signed a new law declaring missionaries “essential workers.”

A simple form from a doctor vouching for a faith worker’s health is enough to allow the person to stay as an “essential worker.”

According to Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for the Indigenous Peoples Association of the River Javari Valley, known as UNIVAJA, some missionaries ignored the original the order to leave. A few villages reported that there were evangelical missionaries in their areas who refused to go away.

In April, UNIVAJA sued to force the expulsion of several evangelical missionaries, at least two of whom are US citizens, from the Javari Valley. It proved an important legal victory against a group closely aligned with Bolsonaro.

But now Indigenous groups and those who defend their rights worry that the new law will allow unfettered access by missionaries to their reservations, which have long been protected by the Brazilian government in an effort to preserve their culture.

Image via Facebook

One of the missionaries expelled in April was Baptist Andrew Tonkin, above, a member of the Frontier International Mission based in the US. One of its goals, according to its website, is to:

Establish mission work among the unreached Indigenous people groups across the world.

According to a report published by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo in March, Tonkin tried last year to get to the River Itacoaí, one of the Javari’s tributaries.

Said Marubo:

He already managed to approach an area of isolated peoples without authorization. People who know him say that he believes that the men’s rules don’t apply because (his presence) is God’s will.

In an email to Religion News Service, Tonkin said the federal government granted him permission:

To go into the reserve help and better the life of the people. The people in the reserve also have every right as a community to invite who they wish to visit their village.

Saying that he does not “preach or teach a religion of any form,” he describes his mission as an effort to empower “the people by the redemptive power of Christ,” helping “them to discover God’s plan for their life through Jesus Christ.”

Tonkin, who said he has been in the Amazon for 13 years, calls critics of his mission “self-appointed representatives” of the Indigenous peoples who live in the city.

They have learned how the system works, what keywords can bring more funding to line their pockets. They often say they are protecting the Indians’ rights. What about the right to invite who they want to their community? What about the right as a Brazilian to worship God freely?

Tonkin said his efforts in the Javari Valley are “a spiritual battle against evil and against darkness” and are not about “people and policy.”

Beto Marubo, one of UNIVAJA’s coordinators, dismissed Tonkin’s claim that he is welcomed by residents of the valley.

The only Indigenous persons who don’t oppose their presence are the ones who were catechized by them.

He explained that previous encounters with the non-Indigenous society often ended in violence, especially during the Amazon rubber boom, which ended in the 1940s and saw many Indigenous people killed in their forests.

Now they’re in the last place they found to be left alone, and these fundamentalists show up to disturb them.

Sydney Possuelo, who created the government’s National Indigenous Foundation’s department of isolated peoples in the 1980s, explained that missionaries often offer gifts, particularly much-needed iron tools.

Attracted by them, the isolated Indigenous peoples agree to listen to preachers. So, you attract them through their fragility, through the technical unbalance between our societies. That’s not exactly a Christian principle.

In the 1990s, as president of the foundation, known as FUNAI, Possuelo stopped missionaries from proselytising among the then newly contacted Zo’é people.

I suggested they should pursue activities related to health care, education and other needs of the Indigenous peoples, except religious proselytism. But that was what they wanted.

Other Christian groups that have been working with Indigenous groups for decades also say the evangelical missionaries are more interested in conversion than helping the isolated Amazonians.

Said Jandira Keppi, project adviser for the Lutheran Diakonia Foundation:

The Indigenous peoples’ spirituality should be respected according to the constitution. But the fundamentalists believe they must evangelize them for their salvation. This always meant death for the Indigenous peoples and their history proves it.

That’s no less true during the current COVID-19 pandemic, according to Keppi, who noted that “their immunity is very low.”

Cleber Buzzato, assistant secretary of the Catholic Church’s Indigenous Missionary Council, agreed that:

Every possible contact established with isolated peoples should be their initiative and not the outsiders.

Beto Marubo believes:

There’s a plan behind all this: The missionaries get into those territories, dismantle the policy of no contact and then the landowners appear to grab their lands.

In February, Bolsonaro appointed the evangelical pastor and anthropologist Ricardo Lopes Dias to coordinate FUNAI’s department of isolated Indigenous peoples. Dias worked with the Brazilian New Tribes Mission for several years.

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

News

Andrew Tonkin

Brazil

Frontier International Mission

Jair Bolsonaro

Missionaries

Previous Post

August 14, 2020

Catholic Church abuse: One archbishop dies, another resigns

Next Post

August 16, 2020 Communion cups kerfuffle: legal eagles enter the fray

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Romans, what can separate us from the love of Christ?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nothing Unbelief Disobedience Sin

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »