Religious Intolerance in Brazil: An Analysis of the Social Reality

Abstract

Brazil has an increasingly varied society in which religious diversity is inherent. Processes that occurred in the context of the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century were referred to as the first wave of Brazilian secularism, having in the separation of Church and State and religious freedom some of the elements that characterised that moment and suffered resistance in different fields. The start of the twentieth century sees a situation in which religious freedom and pluralism coexist with the rise of cases of religious intolerance. There is today, early in the twenty-first century, a diversity of beliefs and non-beliefs, often combined, that require the State to have awareness and reflect, with civil society, with public bodies, religious organisations and universities, aiming to produce knowledge for the development of actions that promote respect for religious diversity. Available official data has been incapable of capturing this diversity and unable to produce information which permits understanding of the complexity of religion in the Brazilian context. This work, after a brief historical contextualisation, discusses national-level data gathered through the production of the Report on Religious Intolerance and Violence in Brazil (2011–2015) by the Secretariat for Human Rights from data collected by ombudsmen, judicial processes and the media. An increase in cases of religious intolerance was identified, with one episode occurring on average every two days in the five years studied, a total of 965 cases. Victims were most commonly from Afro-Brazilian religions followed by Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics. Significant rates of psychological attacks and attacks against property have been seen in different areas of the country. The home was the primary location of attacks, demonstrating proximity between victims and their attackers. Though there is little information about the aggressors, it is possible to identify that, among other religions, there are a large number identified as Evangelicals and to a lesser extent Catholics. Atheists also appear as aggressors in various groups, while each religious group has some followers that promote intolerance. Importantly, a significant number of cases occur within the school environment, this being a situation that requires a rapid resolution and represents a fundamental step in overcoming religious intolerance in Brazilian society.

Translated by Jonathan Nunn.