From Religious Populism to Civil Religion: a Discourse Analysis of Bolsonaro's and Lula's Inaugural and Victory Speeches

Religion played a major role during the presidential elections in Brazil in 2018 and 2022. Although much has been written about Bolsonaro's religious influence on Brazilian politics, there is a need to understand how politicians on other sides of the political spectrum have positioned themselves in regard to religion. Thus, through transdisciplinary research rooted in Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) explanation phase, this article seeks to assess both Bolsonaro's and Lula's victory and inauguration speeches and their intricacies that appeal to various sorts of politicized religion by problematizing contrasting meanings in discourses of these Brazilian leaders and exploring how social circumstances have enabled or provided conditions for the reproduction of power relations between these politicians and the realm of religion, primarily Christianity. Hence, the article questions: First, which forms of political religion are expressed in the two presidents' victory speeches and inauguration speeches in the aftermath of the last two general elections? Second, in what ways have both presidents been contributing to the politicization of religion and to what degree do Lula and Bolsonaro differ in this regard? It concludes by arguing that although Bolsonaro's exclusionary religious populism can be contrasted to Lula's inclusionary civil religion, there are also some important similarities in their discourses as both politicize Brazilian religion. A religiao desempenhou um papel importante durante as eleicoes presidenciais no Brasil em 2018 e 2022. Embora muito se tenha escrito sobre a influencia religiosa de Bolsonaro na politica brasileira, e preciso entender tambem como candidatos de outros espectros politicos tem se posicionado a esse respeito. Assim, por meio de uma pesquisa transdisciplinar fundamentada na fase de explanacao da Analise Critica do Discurso (ACD) de Fairclough, este artigo procura avaliar os discursos de vitoria e posse de Bolsonaro e de Lula e suas complexas relacoes com a politizacao da religiao ao problematizar significados contrastantes nos discursos desses lideres brasileiros e ao expor como circunstancias sociais possibilitaram ou forneceram condicoes para a reproducao das relacoes de poder entre politicos e o reino da religiao, principalmente do cristianismo. Assim, o artigo busca responder as seguintes questoes: de que forma ambos os presidentes tem contribuido para a politizacao da religiao? Quais formas de religiao politica foram expressas nos discursos de vitoria e de posse dos dois presidentes apos as duas ultimas eleicoes presidenciais e ate que ponto Lula e Bolsonaro divergem nesse quesito? Em conclusao, o artigo defende que embora o populismo religioso excludente de Bolsonaro possa ser contrastado com a religiao civil inclusiva de Lula, ha tambem algumas semelhancas importantes em seus discursos, pois ambos politizam a religiao brasileira.