√ Liberdade Religiosa: comunicado
Ainda em relação ao relatório da United States Commission on International Religious Freedom disponibilizamos aqui o email enviado abordando o tema da violência religiosa contra as tradições Yorùbá:
Dear Sirs,
Our best regards.
We, the Portuguese Association for Afro-Brazilian Culture (also known as Yorùbá House of Portugal) is using the present vehicle to let you know there are one big religious freedom attack happening in Nigeria, Benin and in Brazil for too many centuries you didn’t notice. We are here to ask you to believe in our good intentions to inform and offer our help to let your wonderful work goes farther and touch all religions.
As we believe you know, Yorùbá religion is one of the oldest religions on earth. It’s use say “when Jesus born, Obàtálá is already old”, to explain how old is our faith. However, Yorùbá faith still fights for equal treatment and freedom of practice. The arrive of European people to Benin and Nigeria marks a new process of horror to Yorùbá ones. The slavery market change the world and create all forms of racism and racial violence. That process – slavery market – creates the land of Brazil, with industrial system of sugar and coffee plantations based on slavery work. The Yorùbá people found in Brazil their temples – Ilé Àse and Egbé – but the persecution was so intense they have to create a system that helps them to preserve their religion – syncretism with catholic system. Even now and more than ever now, in a century of freedom and religious tolerance, the Yorùbá religion suffers the persecution. The neo-Pentecostal churches take serious an crusade against Yorùbá religion, called in Brazil as Candomblé. They accuse Yorùbá religion and their Gods of being representations of the Devil on earth, they say Yorùbá tradition is responsible for the poorness and their priests are in charge to destroy all Candomblé temples, as much as they get. That physical and psychological violence happens with the assent of local police and some politicians. In Africa the Yorùbá believers suffers the social and familiar psychological violence and physical, with the practice of exorcisms, by Christians and Muslims, new religions on Yorùbáland.
These is a very big conspiracy to destroy Yorùbá millenary identity. But the world doesn’t know, the world doesn’t care. Yorùbá believers are peaceful, don’t enter in revenges, don’t threat the occident, despite of the persecution and violence suffered in the last three centuries. That’s the reason we are not in the global process of cultural and religious dialogue. The clash of civilizations is an political and economic process, most of all.
Help us, and let us help you.
Sincerely Yours,
João Ferreira Dias
Omope Iwintosin
Maio 11 2009 | Acção Política e Social | No Comments »
