Is Brazil really a catholic country? What opinions about abortion, sex between individuals who are not married to each other, and homosexuality say about the meaning of catholicism in three Brazilian cities

The idea of being a Catholic country is quite widespread throughout the nation. What does it mean to be Catholic in Brazil? Do Catholics follow the Catholic Doctrine? The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between religion and religious involvement (measured by religious affiliation and service attendance) and opinions about abortion, sex between individuals who are not married to each other, and homosexuality in São Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Recife. Data come from the survey “Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals,” carried out in 2006. Results suggest that Brazilian Catholics are a very heterogeneous group with respect to opinions about abortion and sex between individuals who are not married to each other. In addition, service attendance among Catholics and those opinions are strongly correlated, except for the case of homosexuality, a topic which Catholics tend to have the same opinions about, irrespective of their religious involvement. Committed Protestants are, by far and away, the most conservative group.Brazil

Cultural Aspects of a Patient\u27s Symptomatology: A Case Report

Culture influences numerous aspects of human experience including behavior, beliefs, values and attitudes. A case report is presented emphasizing how cultural manifestations of a psychiatric illness may materially affect presentation of symptoms, illness perception, and explanatory model of illness of a patient. Cultural background is explored to offer improved rapport and patient care

The Spiritism as therapy in the health care in the epilepsy

Objective: to present a brief history of Spiritism, the vision of epilepsy by Spiritism, and the potential of spirituality and religiosity care as complementary and coadjutants treatments in epilepsy. Method: this is a brief review about the impact of faith, spirituality, and religiosity, particularly the Spiritism philosophy as complementary treatment to neurological disorders (particularly focusing on epilepsy) and mental health. We conduct a review of published articles (about religion/spirituality and epilepsy) in the Pubmed and SciELO databases. Conclusion: the exercise of spirituality and religiosity can be a positive coping strategy to support the traditional therapy of patients with epilepsy and other neurological disorders. However, it is necessary to demystify myths and beliefs about the epilepsy and improve knowledge about this important health dimension among professionals, patients, and caregivers to explore their full treatment and supportive potential.Univ Fed Espirito Santo, Ctr Phys Educ & Sports, Vitoria, Espirito Santo, BrazilUniv Fed Goias, Dance & Phys Educ Coll, Sect Human & Exercise Physiol, Goiania, Go, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Sch Nursing, Dept Nursing, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Physiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Sch Nursing, Dept Nursing, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Physiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Lived Kardecism - A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Brazilian Spiritism

Miller, William D. “Lived Kardecism: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Brazilian Spiritism.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2019. 327 pp. This dissertation addresses a problem that faces the researcher of Brazilian Spiritism, namely that there is a need for a particular kind of account that takes the lived experience of religion as its foundation; an account of the lived experience of Spiritists who practice Spiritism as a religion in the Brazilian context and find value in it for their spiritual journey. This study answers the question as to how Spiritists articulate what is spiritual, relate to religion, and experience spiritual significance and change in their life. In so doing, this study bridges the previous sociological treatment of Spiritism by North American sociologist David Hess and the theological treatment of Spiritism by Brazilian pastor and theologian Ingo Wulfhorst. A qualitative approach to the study that captured interviews of Spiritists from Central Brazil was used that employed a modified Husserlian phenomenological approach. Complete interview transcripts are included. The narratives that arise from these interviews provide an insider’s perspective on the largest religious movement in Brazil behind Roman Catholicism. They paint a picture of individuals who understand their spiritual journey as primarily marked out by traumatic events that send them searching for answers to the brokenness they encounter in life. And they show that a fruitful missiological response to Spiritism as lived religion lies in the church\u27s ability to take on a posture of pastoral engagement that listens to Spiritists according to their own stories

Spiritism and Umbanda in Brazil: the Indian as a Figure of Worship and the Dilution of Identity Boundaries

Brazilian Umbanda is a religion supported by trance and worship of ancestors. This religion is very close to Spirits’, codified by Allan Kardec, the magical past and with the worship of ancestors of African origin. In contrast, the Spiritism of French origin, imported by Brazil in the second half of the 19th century, developed an identity close to literacy and science, sensitizing the sociocultural elite. With those characteristics, Spiritism tried to separate from Umbanda as Umbanda tried to get closer to Spiritism. This article  discusses the figure of worship ‘the Brazilian Indian’ in Umbanda and his presence in Spiritism itself that contradict effort of his spokespersons to remove him from everything that could resemble Afro-Brazilian religions

Religious Politics: An Individual Level-Examination Of The Political Implications Of Faith In Brazil

Although Brazil is, historically, a catholic country, the Catholic Church is losing its members to the Protestant churches, mainly Pentecostal ones. Between 1940-2010, the number of Protestants increased from 2.6% to 20.2%. On the other hand, between the same period, the number of Catholics decreased from 95% to 68.5%. One of the consequences of this shift in the religious marketplace has been its impact in the political realm; more specifically, in the number of political candidates that have identified themselves as evangélicos. The presence of evangélicos in power seems to be the most studied facet of the growth of Pentecostalism in Brazil. However, the literature would also benefit from the investigation of the consequences of this shift occurring in the religious marketplace at the individual-level. Here, I use data from the LAPOP (2010) to investigate the effects of religiosity, paying special attention to Pentecostalism, on political behavior and attitudes. This dissertation is divided in three parts. First, I draw demographic patterns between members of the major religious groups (Catholics, Pentecostal and mainline Protestants). Second, I test how religious variables (religious affiliation, church attendance, and devoutness) affect different measures of political participation. And lastly, I analyze how religiosity affects individuals\u27 perceptions of democracy. My findings suggest that religion is mostly not correlated to political outcomes although devoutness shows to be a strong factor determining attitudes toward democracy. In the case of Brazil, socioeconomic variables are the strongest predictors of political outcomes

Spirit Mediumship in Brazil: The Controversy about Semi-Conscious Mediums

This article focuses on spirit mediumship in Brazil. The term mediumship refers to the communication between humans the spirit world which is the core of Spiritism. In anthropological literature it is often categorised as altered states of consciousness, however, people experiencing it reject these categorizations. This article presents excerpts from interviews with Brazilian spiritists in order to illustrate the different ways people explain mediumship to an outsider, an anthropologist from Europe. The article then discusses their interpretation within the wider academic discourse surrounding this kind of experience. The intention is that Brazilian Spiritism and the wider discourse surrounding mediumship will serve as a case study to present the complexity of this form of religious experience