Several Brazilian cities pass laws banning public mockery of Christianity

(LifeSiteNews) — Several Brazilian cities have introduced laws banning publicly mocking the Christian faith.

Zenit.org reported that the Salvador de Bahia City Council in Brazil approved a bill on January 24 that imposes sanctions on dressing up as nuns or Jesus Christ during Carnival celebrations, especially if the costumes are meant to mock the faith.

According to Zenit, the law prohibits “any form of direct or indirect, implicit or explicit attack against symbols of the Christian religion throughout the city.”

The stated purpose of the new legislation is to combat “Christianophobia.”

Under the new law, educational activities that actively promote the rejection of the Christian faith will be forbidden. It also encourages the creation of channels to report cases of Christianophobia.

Artists or organizations convicted of crimes against this law will be barred from being hired with public funds from the city of Salvador.

The bill, which was approved with 35 votes in favor and four against, will now go to the city council to be approved by Mayor Bruno Reis.

Councilman Cezar Leite, who proposed the bill, said, “The culture and expression of the Christian faith must be respected. The law will hold accountable and punish those who attack the Christian community, and those who use the image of Jesus or Christian symbols in a sensual, derogatory, or disrespectful manner, especially at events like Carnival.”

Similar bills against Christianophobia have been passed in several Brazilian cities in the past year, including in Lauro de Freitas city, São Paulo, Maceió, and Sete Lagoas.

In Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, a municipal day to combat Christianophobia, was established in September. Pablo Almeida from the Liberal Party (the party of former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro) said that there is a “growing wave of abuses and attacks against the Christian faith.”

He recalled a video shared by the Salvador city government during Carnival, where two attendees, one dressed as Jesus and the other as the devil, are seen kissing each other. He mentioned another Carnival performance in which someone impersonated Jesus while wearing only underwear.

Cezar Leite said that Christianophobia is “a growing problem” and that, particularly, Evangelical Christians “have been the target of insults and discrimination in different social spheres.”

Despite Socialist President Lula da Silva winning the national elections in 2022, conservatives have gained ground in local legislatures, allowing cities to pass bans on anti-Christian behavior in recent years.