Mixing faith and State is also democracy, article argues

“‘A specter is haunting the world — populism.’ Social scientists Ghita Ionescu and Ernest Gellner noted this 50 years ago.” And last year researchers Celso Gabatz and Rudolf von Sinner wrote a provocative article that asks: after all, who are the people?

For the authors of “Populismo e o ‘povo’: precariedades e polarizações como desafio para os direitos humanos na perspectiva de uma teologia pública na contemporaneidade” (Populism and “the people”: precarities and polarizations as a challenge for human rights from the perspective of a public theology in the contemporary world; in Portuguese), it is hard to find a precise definition for either “people” or “people of God.”

They discuss the role of evangelical churches that have amalgamated with the faith a certain nationalist perception that communicates: “if you are not with us, then you are against Brazil.” By counterweight, the text has an optimistic view. All of this would still be democracy.