Christian Commitment

I grew up hearing my mother talk about the history of our country. I heard from her things that my teachers should have spoken in classroom but they didn’t. I heard of Brazilian military dictatorship, which was responsible for the disappearance of many politicians, students, priests and other. In our conversations, she always taught me about politics and I began to outcrop my critical thinking about it in Brazil.

But politics is a subject that does not please many people, especially Christians. Because I am a Christian since I was 8, I know a little about what goes on in churches and what goes on in the minds of many Christians concerning this issue. Many beat their chests and say they do not like politics and do not want to get involved in any way, not knowing they are already involved. They take all the politicians and “put them in the same bag”. They don’t know how to separate politics from policy. Bertold Brecht’s poem has an answer for such people. He calls it a political illiterate. See:

“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor it participates in the political events. He doesn’t knows the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions.
The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swell the chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that her political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupt and flunky of the national and multinational companies.” (The illiterate political – Bertolt Brecht)

Here I could end my review, but I believe that a reflection about the Christian paper in politics is always welcome. Today, unfortunately the majority of evangelical churches is empowering the capitalist system, which generates many issues in our country. It seems that we Protestant Christians in Brazil, do not really understand what it means to be Protestant. Today we don’t protest about anything! We forgot our role in society. On learning that we are “citizens of heaven” we are not thinking of the world in which we live. We are not thinking or acting to change the reality that surrounds us. We find we do not need to fight, because if we go to heaven in the end, there is nothing else to be done. And so, we go on suffering, accepting the ills and conforming with all unrighteousness. This is how everything turns to  be so normal. And talking about acceptance as I remembered the movie “Olga”. There is a scene that really caught my attention. One day Olga comes home all dirty, with marks of beatings from the police after attending to a protest in the streets of her city. When his father sees her, he asks “daughter, what do you want for your life?” And she answers “father, I do not know what I want for my life, I know what I don’t want”.

One day, while reading the parable of the rich young man, I discovered something that made me more passionate for Christ. I discovered that Jesus was against the unequal distribution of income. He tells the young DIVIDE all you have with the poor. He is against all social inequality.

After I met the genuine proposal of Christ, I knew what I wanted for my life. The day I don’t think like this any longer, something is wrong with me.

Glauce Souza Santos

Christian / Baptist Church Hosanna

Vernacular literature student – Coordinator of the Academic Center of Arts in the  State University of Southwest Bahia-UESB, Jequié Campus.

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