In Argentina, the series “His kingdom” does not have the blessing of the evangelicals

“Now I am the evil, I am the one who bears the guilt (…) They are going to have to dance on my grave. “ On trap music background energetic, the credits of the Argentinian mini-series His Kingdom (El Reino, in original version), signed by the successful singer Cazzu, gives the the of a sulphurous frame. A pastor bathed in dirty money, with a dubious moral code (we will retain the euphemism in order to avoid spoilers), candidate for the vice-presidency, is propelled to the front of the political scene after the assassination of his running mate .

The series created by Marcelo Pineyro and Claudia Piñeiro, released on August 13 on Netflix and still among the most watched in Argentina, was followed by an explosive controversy over the representation of the Evangelical Church.

The Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of the Argentine Republic wanted to clarify things in a long text: “Invent a fiction [sic] in order to create in the popular imagination the perception that the people at the head of these religious communities only have ambitions of power and money (…), is blameworthy in all points of view (…). This pastor does not exist. “

The Alliance targets in particular screenwriter Claudia Piñeiro, “To feminist activism”, and his “Animosity” towards the Evangelical Church during the debates on the legalization of abortion – in 2018, then in 2020 before its legalization, on December 30 of the same year. Progressive parties reacted without delay, defending the freedom of the author, who herself insisted on specifying in a forum: “Fiction is a lie. It may or may not be a believable lie, entertaining or not, which may or may not be the subject of debate in society. But it’s still a lie. “

A cult that recruits

Interference in national political life, solid financial base, very popular worship: “What we see in the series is close to what could be the situation of Brazil, but not that of Argentina”, assures Marcos Carbonelli, political scientist at Conicet, a public research center, and specialist in the links between politics and religion.

The Evangelical Church has however largely consolidated its presence in the country: in 2008, 9% of Argentines considered belonging to this branch of Christianity, in 2019, they were 15.3%, according to a survey by Conicet. A breakthrough that is part of a regional dynamic, with the decline of Catholicism, the majority religion in the country of Pope Francis.

And if, in Argentina, unlike Central America, the Evangelical Church remains far from the gates of power, this community has been asserting itself more and more, over the past twenty years, as an interlocutor of the State and its ‘organize politically. “From the 2000s, with the debates on sex education at school, then the debate on marriage for people of the same sex [légalisé en 2010], evangelicals speak out on subjects other than worship, to oppose it ”, traces Marcos Carbonelli.

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