The First Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom

The First Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom was held in Rio de Janeiro, 23–25 March 2022. The symposium was organized by the Brazilian Center of Studies in Law and Religion and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. Participants included dozens of leaders from religious organizations, academic institutions, government entities, and nongovernmental and civil society organizations—from Brazil and other Latin American countries, the United States, and Europe. The following summaries provide a small glimpse into ideas exchanged at this first-of-its-kind event.

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Thoughts on Law, Religion, and Society

Ruth Junginger de Andrade is an attorney and mediator with nine years of conciliation and mediation experience in both legal and extralegal contexts. She has been a member of the São Paulo Inter-religion Forum for a Culture of Peace and Religious Belief since 2016 and a member of the Commission on Religious Freedom as part of the OAB/SP (São Paulo Order of Attorneys) since 2014.

The following is a translated summary of her remarks as a panelist addressing “Law, Religion, and Society” at the First Brazilian Symposium on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2022).

The Persistence of Religion

Law, religion, and society involve complex themes that require profound reflection. Since the beginning of time, religion and sociology have been interconnected—but the religious scene is changing.

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Law, Religion, and Society: Sociology’s View of Law and Religion

Marcio Henrique Pereira Ponzilacqua is an associate professor on the faculty of Ribeirão Preto Law School at the University of São Paulo, where he is also currently the vice director. His research focuses on the sociology of law and religion, including freedom of conscience and belief, socio-environmental rights, water rights, public policy and social inequality, ethics and citizenship, and institutions and communities. Ponzilacqua is also a Franciscan Friar.

The following is a translated summary of his remarks as a panelist addressing “Law, Religion, and Society” at the First Brazilian Symposium on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2022).

The Amalgamation of Law and Religion

It is necessary to understand that, since the beginning, law and religion have been amalgamated. At times, priests, Levites, and scribes were involved in the concatenation of society’s regulatory norms. And in such cases, it is easy to see that the values underlying them were exceedingly religious. “Religious ethics,” if we can call them that, at the risk semantic imprecision and anachronism, have always permeated the ethics of legislative texts and judicial action for legitimation, correction, or even instrumentalization.

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