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In response to his followers on social media, Pastor Hermes Fernandez blasted the obscurantism of Andre Valadao, leader of the Laguinha Baptist Church, who began a series of attacks to try to prevent evangelicals from sending their children to universities, which he classifies as “places of prayer.” “the darkness”.
The product of a religious dynasty known for sporting expensive clothing and decorations online, Valadao started the criminal controversy by asking the faithful not to send their children to college and, instead, “sell popsicles in the garage.”
“Don't send your kid to college. Go sell popsicles in the garage. 'Oh, but I didn't raise my son like that.' Why did you create that? For him to go to hell? Did you raise your daughter to be a whore, or to be a holy, generous, God-filled family woman?” He said to applause. “Then I got a diploma and it’s amazing and crazy,” he said in a video clip that went viral on social media.
The controversy raised doubts among believers, who asked Hermes Fernandez about an old video clip, in which Valadao and Silas Malafaya were nominally classified as “messengers of Satan.”
At the time, the priest refuted anti-gay speeches made by two of his colleagues allied with the Bolsonarianism, who were the decision-makers.
“The thorn in the flesh of a homosexual is not his desire. It is homophobia. Because this world is full of messengers of Satan. There are people who take to the pulpit not to preach love and grace, but to preach hate. Andre Valadao, I hope you will listen to me. You are a messenger of Satan. Silas Malavia, you are a messenger Satan,” the priest said in the video.
Fernandez was asked on Friday (January 21) if he “still believes that Andre Valadao is a messenger of Satan” and explained the tirade that went viral at the time, also focusing on the attacks on university students.
“If you're referring to what I said a year ago, know that I'm not going back a millimeter,” he began.
“The difference is that I previously believed that Andre Valadao was the devil's messenger for the LGBTQIAPN+ population. Today, I realize that he is the devil's messenger for all our youth,” he adds.
The priest then comments on the Laguinha leader's speech about not sending children to universities.
“It is Christ who calls us forward. To say that parents who enroll their children in college would rather see them in hell? To say that a Christian girl who enters college becomes a prostitute? If that is not a messenger of Satan, then what is?” Asked.
He concluded by saying: “Unfortunately, he is not alone. Like him, there are many who use their platforms to incite moral panic and reinforce our social backwardness.”
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