The sacred and violence on the frontier of the law

Abstract

In the absence or ineffectiveness of the State in the large outskirts of Brazil, a parallel power led by factions or militias has been taking on the functions of public power, creating its own “laws” to govern such urban spaces. In these territories, religious communities are located, which need to adapt to the rules established there and also maintain friendly relations with the leaders of these armed groups, who even appropriate symbols, vocabulary and rites, biblical or evangelical, as power strategies. Hence the use of terminologies to identify them: “Evangelical drug dealers” or “God’s new bandits”. The article also analyzes the relationship between belief and violence in other moments in the history of Brazil, which occurred on the border of the Law. The approach to this theme is relevant, especially due to contemporary discussions about tolerance, respect for diversity and the growing propensity to treat violence as something habitual, even capable of being combined with sacred practices.