"Neste texto, analisamos a trajetória eleitoral da deputada Cantora Mara Lima, procurando perceber como a candidata construiu seu carisma nas eleições estaduais paranaenses em 2014, 2018 e 2022, em sintonia com o projeto político da Assembleia de Deus (AD). Procedemos à coleta e sistematizaçã
...
o de materiais publicados em suas mídias sociais, problematizando a instrumentalização de elementos simbólicos e performáticos para construir sua identidade, mimetizando sua “unção” gospel em capital político. Nesse movimento, a AD forneceu uma série de recursos institucionais por meio de um modelo de representação corporativa, propício para a dramatização político-religiosa e a formação do carisma da cantora, mobilizando os afetos do público-fiel. Observamos como a articulação entre a agência carismática da artista e a força da estrutura eclesiástica tem alcançado bons resultados nos pleitos analisados, em tempos de recrudescimento das polarizações e difusão de uma religião pública." (Resumo)
more
"For many years now, the sphere of the main Pentecostal denominations has gone way beyond their physical churches and members. To some extent, they operate like businesses, and they use the media to exert a strong influence on society. Some of them own national TV stations and publish high-circulati
...
on newspapers. Their direct influence on politics has also increased steadily. Many members of the state parliaments and the National Congress also hold positions in the Pentecostal churches. The churches have not yet succeeded in getting one of their members directly elected to the highest political positions, but they have been able to use their close ties with certain politicians to exercise significant indirect political influence for the benefit of their own clientele. The Pentecostals are particularly powerful in the favelas, which receive little assistance from the Brazilian welfare state. In many areas that are ruled by the drug gangs, the only safe way of getting out of the drug trade is to join one of the Pentecostal churches, as this is deemed acceptable by the gangs. In contrast, other churches or religions are being squeezed out – sometimes violently. The image of the Pentecostal Church is therefore something of a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it is often stressed that it provides its members with a sense of stability and direction. The strict ban on alcohol and drugs, the feeling of belonging to a strong community, and the inclusion of certain rituals from the Afro-Brazilian animist religions that can turn spiritual experiences into a state of religious ecstasy – all these elements can help the Church’s followers to feel they have the power to break out of the vicious circle of poverty and despair. On the other hand, however, Church members have to pay a high monetary price for this; money that is not only reinvested in social projects but which also goes to line the pockets of the Church’s leaders, who are often not whiter-than-white, despite expecting this of their congregations. The most extreme example of this must surely be that of the founder of the Universal, Edir Macedo." (Conclusion)
more