Funny that there was no mention of Edir Macedo.
He really preys (pun intended) on the poor. She should see his cathedral in Belo Horizonte. It's right across the street from the local PT office.
No mention of Bispo Estevam Hernandes, either.
It's not really a bad introduction to the subject, though. I don't know what the effect of the evangelicals is in the Southeast, but in the Northeast it strikes me as almost entirely negative with regards to the culture here. They don't dance frevo, the don't dance forró, and some of them won't even eat canjica or pomonha in June (because corn-based foods are so strongly identified with the São João parties).
The government has never done much to help these people, the Catholic church has all but turned its back on them, and the rich either don't care what happens to them or say out loud that everyone living in the favelas should be killed. I can't imagine what life would be like if I had been born in a favela, but I imagine I'd be grasping for anything that could give my life some kind of structure and meaning -- be it a gang or a church, both of which would occupy most of my time.
In fairness to the RC Church, the Commissao Pastorale Terra has been a major force in pushing for land reform in Brazil with some, (e.g. Dorothy Stang) paying withtheir lives.
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