HE IS one of South America’s most powerful televangelists, a billionaire preacher and media mogul who presides over one of the world’s fastest-growing and most controversial Pentecostal churches.
However, despite controlling a major Brazilian communications empire, Bishop Edir Macedo, the head of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, is urging his followers to embark on a complete media fast. Twitter- and Facebook-obsessed Christians have been told to log off and get closer to God.
“It will be a fast from each and every kind of secular information: TV, internet, newspapers, magazines, radios – from everything that is not Godly,” Bishop Macedo wrote.
Many suspect the move, however, is a tactic to divert followers’ attention from bad media coverage.
The Christian news website Gospel+ noted that Bishop Macedo had called for “media fasts” twice in the past. Both times the fasts coincided with negative stories about the Universal Church that were widely disseminated in the Brazilian media, including allegations of money-laundering.
Earlier this month the Universal Church came under attack after claims that a nine-year-old boy had been coerced into selling his toys during a televised service.
As his mother underwent a violent exorcism on stage, the boy told the preacher he hoped selling his toys and donating the proceeds to the church would stop his parents fighting at home.
Promoting the media fast on his popular blog, the Blog do Macedo, the preacher claimed: “The spirit of the Lord will descend upon all sincere participants.”
Bishop Macedo added that “in the first 21 days of August, we will carry out a veritable spiritual clean-up”, calling on believers to “abstain from all forms of media and entertainment”.
His critics believe that while the fast will prevent church-goers from following the latest developments on spicy telenovelas shown by Brazil's Globo media giant, they will be allowed to tune in to programmes on Bishop Macedo's rival Record network, as well as religious services. – ( Guardianservice)