Overlapping values: religious and scientific conflicts during the COVID‐19 crisis in Brazil

Abstract

Some forms of this mytho-praxis become visual and digital-hence the myriad of videos, collages and memes circulating on social networks. The satirical cartoon showing wild animals living in towns like humans while the latter are locked in their apartments can be interpreted as a new version of the classic mythological theme of ontological inversion between humans and non-humans. Myth therefore is a dispositive for generating alternative modes of explanation and action and possible future scenarios in times of radical incertitude.

Communicating About COVID-19 in Four European Countries: Similarities and Differences in National Discourses in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden

“…Furthermore, competing discourse, such as conspiracy theories or religious narratives, might also distort a message or help create the conditions for disobedience (Ahmed et al, 2020;Depoux et al, 2020). An example in this specific case is a popular belief that God will protect those who have sufficient faith, as was the case in Brazilian neo-pentecostal churches (Capponi, 2020). These might be reasons as to why the role of science, and trust in science, are emphasized in the speeches (Slovic, 1993;cf., Kasperson et al, 1999;Löfstedt, 2005).…”

Responses to COVID-19 in five Latin American countries

“…It resulted in two changes of health ministers in one month (15-05 and 16-04). Population received conflicting and mixed messages [41] , impacting the public health response, compliance levels and country's capacity to contain the spread of the virus. Moreover, there was a testing time lag, lack of transparency, authoritarianism and censorship [42] about the truth burden the country is facing has led to an outrage across the political spectrum, particularly from medical professional associations and research institutes.…”

“A Divine Infection”: A Systematic Review on the Roles of Religious Communities During the Early Stage of COVID-19

“…A total of 18 studies (Agley, 2020 ; Ali & Alharbi, 2020 ; Al-Rousan & Al-Najjar, 2020 ; Alzoubi et al, 2020 ; Atique & Itumalla, 2020 ; Capponi, 2020 ; Choi et al, 2020 ; Chukwuorji & Iorfa, 2020 ; Freeman et al, 2020 ; Hill et al, 2020 ; Jaja et al, 2020 ; Kang, 2020 ; Kim et al, 2020 ; Lan et al, 2020 ; Lorea, 2020 ; Mat et al, 2020 ; Shah et al, 2020 ; Wildman et al, 2020 ) have addressed religion as a cause for transmission, of which religious gatherings and practices contributed to the outbreak and spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 was predominantly spread through religious gatherings without adhering to the physical distancing recommendation.…”

“…Religious institutions or communities were identified as spaces where misinformation about the infection proliferated which further cultivated mistrust towards science and health care directives among religious adherents of these communities (Appendix 3 ). Specifically, studies mainly discussed how religious gatherings spread COVID-19 and the negative association between religiosity and trust in science and public health guidelines (Agley, 2020 ; Ali & Alharbi, 2020 ; Al-Rousan & Al-Najjar, 2020 ; Alzoubi et al, 2020 ; Atique & Itumalla, 2020 ; Capponi, 2020 ; Choi et al, 2020 ; Chukwuorji & Iorfa, 2020 ; Freeman et al, 2020 ; Hill et al, 2020 ; Jaja et al, 2020 ; Kang, 2020 ; Kim et al, 2020 ; Lan et al, 2020 ; Lorea, 2020 ; Mat et al, 2020 ; Shah et al, 2020 ; Wildman et al, 2020 ).…”