When Religion Is Culture: Observations About State Policies Aimed at Afro-Brazilian Religions and Other Afro-Heritage

Abstract

Religion conceived as culture is what supports government initiatives and social engagement aimed at diverse expressions that represent the legacies of Africa in Brazil. Papers by several researchers are systematized to demonstrate this argument, which serves as the discussion presented here in three sections. The first focuses on government measures that directly affect Afro-Brazilian terreiros (ceremonial places). Next, some dimensions of the struggle against religious intolerance are discussed with a look at the leadership role Afro-Brazilian religions play in this regard. Finally, the article points out connections between the Afro-religious universe and the discourse in support of designating acarajé and capoeira as heritage. Thus, some elements of the universe of Afro-heritage, especially in the area of religion, are studied to highlight what is at the heart of this universe - the notion of culture in an ethnic sense.

The Pentecostal War Against Afro-Brazilian ‘Demons’ – Politics, Selfhood and Shared Experience of Spiritual Work in Southeast Brazil

“…Instead of legitimising Candomblé, Umbanda and other Afro-Brazilian religions as 'religions' within modern society, similarly as Christian churches, they are on many occasions politically produced and acknowledged as ethnicity-based 'cultures' -and as such, 'traces from the past' (cf. Giumbelli, 2018).…”

“…The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage-IPHAN has declared several Candomblé houses as well as acarajé (a traditional West African dish) and capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art) to be an intangible part of Afro-Brazilian national cultural heritage. These examples, and here I follow the critique offered by Giumbelli (2018), are processes of heritisation in which the Afro-Brazilian religious universe is deliberately produced as 'cultures', i.e. as a conjunction of ethnicities.…”

Religiões e Raça

“…Hoje, percebe-se que a "cultura" tem sido utilizada como arma também por evangélicos, que, de alguma forma, também querem se inserir nas narrativas de nação (Machado 2018, Sant´Anna 2017. Nos últimos anos, observamos o aumento das demandas legislativas apresentadas por parlamentares evangélicos na disputa por feriados religiosos, nas disputas por patrimonialização material e imaterial (Toniol, Reis 2021) e pela construção de monumentos de símbolos religiosos em praças públicas (Giumbelli 2014(Giumbelli , 2021.…”

“Terreiro politics” against religious racism and “christofascist” politics

“…Another relevant aspect of this decision is that the judge's opinion about the meaning of religious freedom was the equivalent of the defense of a markedly evangelical Christian paradigm, (Giumbelli 2018). According to this view, the IURD could post its videos because their content was protected by the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience and creed, which was immune to State intervention.…”