«Ignorance hurts, maims and kills». Religious intolerance of African-based religions.

Abstract

The article reflects on the religious intolerance experienced by followers of religions of African origin in Brazil. These religions are the result of the resistance of Africans enslaved in Brazilian lands; during the long period of slavery, blacks maintained the religious tradition of their ancestors. Although modernity considered religion as something meaningless and without a future, the search for the religious experience of the ancestors allowed the descendants of the slaves to give new meaning to the heritage of the ancestors. They used Religion to maintain aspects of their own culture. In this way, they were able to give new meaning to their religious heritage. Hus, people of African descent discovered, in their religious experience, not only the encounter with the sacred, but also the fulfillment of their material and spiritual desires. However, many groups of these religious have been victims of intolerance, racism and hatred because of expressions of faith in our Brazilian context. This scenario reveals prejudice and intolerance on the part of other religious denominations. In today's Brazilian society, the Pentecostal and Neopentecostal Churches have shown attitudes of total repulsion and aversion to these African religions. The challenge of maintaining the tradition of ancestors and confronting violence against cultural expressions of their faith makes followers of religions of African origin the protagonists of a tireless struggle for their space in the sphere of religious pluralism.