Pastor Silas Malafaia recently expressed his opinion against the return of gambling and casinos in Brazil. The pastor, who is already known for his involvement in major controversies and lawsuits, comments in frivolous phrases that this type of game is not of great contribution to the national economy and that it will bring a large negative balance for the nation.
VEJA prepared a complete news item with everything Malafaia commented on the agenda for the legalization of gambling and casinos.
Check out the VEJA article in full
Pastor Silas Malafaia recently expressed his opinion against the return of gambling and casinos in Brazil. The pastor, who is already known for his involvement in major controversies and lawsuits, comments in frivolous phrases that this type of game is not of great contribution to the national economy and that it will bring a large negative balance for the nation.
As Veja showed in the issue that is on newsstands, the government, which has not touched on the subject yet because of its extensive religious base, has started to consider the possibility more recently.
The reason for the idea, sponsored by the center of Ciro Nogueira, the chief minister of the Civil House, would be a way to create another source of revenue for the government, given that the possibility of an energy blackout and the permanent climate of institutional conflict will delay the recovery of the economy.
Faced with the crisis, some evangelical leaders would even have given up criticism of games of chance for the time being. This is not the case, however, for Malafaia, who says that the “addiction at stake” does not have the power to generate income as expected, since the public investment in health to treat people who will suffer from it will be much greater.
“It’s just like cigarettes. It took them years to understand that the cigarette tax does not cover its costs to society,” he said. For the pastor, not even the gambling mecca is free from the side effects of the gambling industry. “Saying that gambling can reduce the economic crisis is a joke. He goes to the outskirts of Las Vegas to see the destruction of families and people, the social cost of that”, he said.
Malafaia said he was convinced that the balance would be negative and said that the return of the casinos will only benefit shady business owners. “Since when does addiction contribute to the country’s economy?”, he asked. “This market will be a laundry of traffic money and everything that is illicit, yes.”
The history of Silas Malafaia
Silas Malafaia is one of the leaders of the Evangelical segment and has always participated in important projects, however, the pastor has a history of processes full of controversy and serious accusations, such as:
- Indictment for participating in a scheme linked to mining royalties;
- Prosecution for alleged transphobia;
- Lawsuit of Andressa Urach against Silas Malafaia for pain and suffering;
- Federal Police indictment of Pastor Silas Malafaia for money laundering in Operation Timóteo;
- Received a ‘donation’ in the amount of R$100 thousand, investigated by the Federal Police;
- Debt in the amount of R$ 4.6 million in taxes from the Church and publisher of Malafaia;
- Among others.
