Espiritismo e política: os tortuosos caminhos do conservadorismo religioso e suas contradições no Brasil

Abstract

This paper thematizes the transformations between spiritism and politics. It stands out initially the predominance of the moralistic individualism in the doctrinal foundations of the Spiritism. In Brazil, spiritism emerges as a religion, and continues in a context of strong depoliticization, except in the affirmation of religious freedom in the 19th Century (Religious Question) and when public debates about abortion and the death penalty emerge. However, during the 2018 elections debate, a controversy surfaced on the internet involving the figure of Divaldo Pereira Franco in Goiânia, which has altered the way spiritists deal with political issues.