Relation Between Politics And Religion In Brazil
Inherited from Portuguese colonization, Catholicism was the official state religion until the Republican Constitution of 1891 established the secular State. But religion in Brazil is very diverse and characterized by syncretism. As a matter of fact, religion is so entangled in Brazilian daily life that it could not be kept apart from politics, as it would have been expected in a secular country. In this article, we will look at the relation between Politics and Religion in Brazil.
Politics and Religion belong to different fields and there can be harmony if these do not interfere with each other. In secular countries, such as Brazil, the government keeps a neutral position towards religions. However, evangelical churches are growing, as does the number of religious leaders in the legislative power of Brazil. Thus, more conservative tendencies tend to become more popular, hindering the adoption of laws that are disapproved of by religious morals.
Despite Politics and Religion being different fields, it is important to state that Brazilian social norms are strongly based on Catholic behaviours, but has also been largely influenced by both Protestant and African-Brazilian religious norms.
In a country like Brazil, where 92% of its population says that they are religious, it is difficult to dissociate religion from political debate. This close relationship can be explained in part by popular religiosity and the influence that Catholicism and traditional Protestant religions exercised in the formation of Brazilian social movements from the 1980s, under the influence of Marxism and Liberation Theology.
The religious politicians' discourse is not opposed to the secular State. However, they position themselves against what they call "secularism", which represents a sort of absolute denial of the relationship between the political and religious spheres.
The issue is complex because both religious people and religious scholars in Brazil assume that Catholics and Protestants expanded human rights and the guarantee of citizenship of minorities in the country in the past decades.
We will see that in Brazil, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as their variations, are the only religious faiths that have major effects in politics. Other religions such as African-Brazilian religions, Islamism, Buddhism and any forms of spiritualism do not have any significant, direct effect in Brazilian politics.
Political Religious Parties
As of 2013, five political parties, from a total of 32, are based on religious faith.
- PTC - Partido Trabalhista Cristão - founded in 1985
- PSC - Partido Social Cristão - founded in 1990
- PSDC - Partido Social Democrata Cristão - founded in 1997
- PHS - Partido Humanista da Solidariedade - founded in 1997
- PRB - Partido Republicano Brasileiro - founded in 2005
The Partido Cristão is collecting signatures throughout Brazil to fulfill the requirements set by the Superior Electoral Court in order to be recognized as a legal party.
Besides these parties, openly devoted politicians of different faiths are affiliated with other parties that do not necessarily defend any kind of religion.
Religious orders in the Chamber of Deputies
The Assembleia de Deus, biggest evangelical order in the world, is the religious orders to which 22 federal deputies, of a total of 513, are affiliated. It is also the most expressive religious order in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus is the second most influential religious order in the Chamber of Deputies, where 7 deputies are confessedly members of the religious order.
Evangelical Parliamentary Front
Founded in 2003 and organized by the Parliamentary Association of Evangelicals in Brazil, the Evangelical Parliamentary Front in the Chamber of Deputies consists, as of 2014, of 73 members who are, admittedly, members of any evangelical religious order. This represents almost 15% of the total number of deputies in the Chamber.
The Evangelical Parliamentary Front has a network that works together, collecting information and providing support both internal and external to the political field. Whenever a bill of interest to the Front is introduced in the Chamber, their staff is mobilized, informing and mobilizing other politicians, both religious and not, to vote in accordance to the Front.
Famous politicians who are priests/representatives of some religion
Among federal and state representatives, there are actually 87 deputies who declare themselves as religious leaders or members of any religious order. Listed here are the most prominent religious leaders that were elected and are still in charge of their posts:
- Everaldo Dias Pereira, vice-president and soon-to-be candidate of the Partido Social Cristão to the presidency of the Republic, religious leader for Assembleia de Deus
- Magno Malta, senator for the Partido da Republica, religious leader of Igreja Batista
- João Campos, federal deputy for the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, religious leader of Igreja Assembléia de Deus and president of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front
- Marcos Feliciano, federal deputy for the Partido Social Cristão, religious leader of Catedral do Avivamento and former president of the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities, despite his homophobic and racist declarations
- Lincoln Portela, federal deputy for the Partido da Republica, president of Igreja Batista Solidária
Defended agendas
The Evangelical Parliamentary Front articulates itself against certain themes, such as racial equality and the right to abortion, euthanasia, and marriage between persons of the same sex gender. They are also opposed to the criminalization of discrimination against homosexuals and physical punishments imposed by parents to their children.
The Front also tries to take down resolutions by the Federal Council of Psychology that prevents psychologists from treating homosexuality as a disease. The decision of the Federal Council of Psychology complies with the 1990 Resolution of the World Health Organization, which withdrew homosexuality from the list of mental disorders.
Using religion to gain influence
Evangelicals inaugurated the act of confessing one's religious beliefs in the political field. By declaring themselves linked to a religious order, evangelicals cause other religious politicians to announce their religious affiliations, in order to access a specific audience. This process is done in order to enlarge or ensure their electoral support.
The Evangelical Parliamentary Front’s staff also acts outside the chamber, relying many times in charismatic religious leaders who spread their version of what is happening in the Chamber. For instance, Silas Malafaia, the third richest religious leader in Brazil, according to Forbes, draws a chaotic scenario for the 2014 presidential elections in order to lure the evangelicals' votes for candidate Everaldo Pereira. According to him the Christian concept of family, among other Christian and capitalist morals, are under intense attack in Brazil.
Robson Rodovalho, founder of the Sara Nossa Terra and former federal deputy, alleges that a great number of evangelicals vote in a certain candidate only because of his title as “religious leader”.
There are also accusations concerning the gathering of signatures inside some orders’ churches. These signatures were allegedly used in order to obtain enough signatures for a new Partido Cristão.