EM NOME DE DEUS: O JOGO DE IDEOLOGIA E PODER DA BANCADA EVANGÉLICA NO CONGRESSO NACIONAL NAS 54ª E 55ª LEGISLATURAS E O RISCO PARA A DEMOCRACIA BRASILEIRA

Abstract

The two last legislatures of the National Congress of Brazil, namely the 54th one (2011-2014) and the 55th one (2015-2019), presented a strong numerical growth of the Evangelical Coalition, with an average of 75 parliamentarians each one. Such a number, compared to the main political parties, would form the third biggest coalition of the Chamber of Deputies, what increases the political power of a significant force with regards to the legislative process and to the propositions of several normative instruments. It is verified that the recrudescence of the Evangelical Coalition reflects the growth of the evangelical population in Brazil, around 22% of Brazilian Population according to 2010 IBGE Census. The faith in the oneness of God (monotheism) controls those parliamentarians’ more religious than political ideological spectrum. They some times recognize their Holy Text, the Christian Bible, as a conduct norm above the very Republican Constitution. This religious ideology raises many confrontations in the Parliament on the need of public policies that recognize and improve the rights of minorities communities and historically excluded, as LGBT, aiming the mitigation of prejudice and discrimination faced by those people. The religiously based conservative position resists also to women rights, specially on controlling their own bodies, on sexual freedom and on undesired pregnancy interruption (decriminalization of abortion), on the grounds of the distinct roles given by God to men and women on creation. Brazil has Christianity in its national foundation roots and was even a Catholic Christian confessional country. Nevertheless, it is actually a secular state. With regards to the recovery and maturation of Brazilian democracy after its military regime (1964-1984) and to the advances of the social policies of the left-winded Worker’s Party (PT) of Lula (2003-2010) and Dilma (2011-2016), the resistance of a more and more conservative and fundamentalist position reborn in the Parliament. This position is based on the faiths and dogmas of the Holy Christian Text, which is considered by this position supporters as the only written and revealed truth from God. This clash, inside a secular state, has threatened the Brazilian Democracy and points to the building of an Evangelical Christian Theocracy in Brazil.