Religion and Politics in Brazil: a case study from the point of view and influence of American religions

Resumo

The Brazilian Census of 2010, besides showing the decline of Catholicism in the country, revealed a large increase of an "original" Protestantism of the United States, primarily the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. The two groups, founded in the nineteenth century - the Jehovah's Witnesses are a dissidence of the Seventh-day Adventism - boast more than 3 million active members - the majority of the middle class - and have particular political characteristics. It highlights, among them, exemption from military conscription and especially little or no political activity. In many of her thousands of handwritten pages, Ellen Gould Harmon White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, advised the members of the Church about the danger of political involvement in the spiritual life. In addition, she advocated the total separation of church and state, highlighting the misdeeds of their union from the Middle Ages to the present day. However, although Brazil is a secular state, the church's influence on society is enormous - both Catholics and Protestants. The intention of this paper is, from texts on conceptual policy of its founders, to analyze the performance of these political groups in Brazil, sensing approaches and breakthroughs in relation to American theology.