By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia announced that he has become a “born-again” Christian during the New Progressive Party Public Servants Convention over the weekend, stirring a wave of criticism over what some said was an attempt to garner voters from the religious sector.
“I have today, possibly because of the responsibility on my shoulders and the years I have, I am nowadays today surrendered to the Lord, totally surrendered to the Lord,” he said at the convention on Sunday, according to a video posted in X (formerly Twitter). “Everything that will happen in my life’s future and in your future is in the hands of the Lord. And I accept the will of God.”
Pierluisi said God has given him abilities, skills and opportunities and that he will use all of it to help Puerto Rico for four more years.
“Lord Almighty,” noted former Popular Democratic Party and now independent Rep. Luis Raúl Torres Cruz on his Twitter page about a video of the activity showing Pierluisi announcing he is a born-again Christian.
A lawyer and radio panelist, Marilú Guzmán, also criticized the governor.
“How far would he go in his political demagoguery?” she asked.
Another person on social media noted that “the most disgusting thing a person can do is use religion as a scheme to politicize and get rich.”
“To sell himself as a believer in front of those people and use it as a political platform, you have to be disgusting,” the commenter said.
Michael Corona, a pro-statehood lawyer, said that “When a left-wing democrat like Pierluisi talks about surrendering to God, what it means is that he wants them to give him the power so that the giant government apparatus that he runs can continue doing whatever it wants.”
“The difference with the communist left is that they are atheists,” Corona said. “They rule with absolute power but do not need to invoke the Creator to do so.”
La Fortaleza had not answered requests for comment as of press time. However, surveys tend to show that candidates from different religious backgrounds fare better than those who are atheists.
In the case of U.S. presidential candidates, for instance, Gallup data shows an increased willingness among members of the public to support presidential candidates from a wide range of religious backgrounds, with a small proportion of the public still unwilling to vote for an atheist, Mormon or Muslim.