The sacred and the profane

reading the symbols and manifestations within the Brazilian ‘secular’ state from the perspective of Ronald Dworkin

Authors

  • Rodrigo Pedroso Barbosa Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas - FDSM https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8433-9639
  • Edson Vieira da Silva Filho Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas - FDSM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14393/RFADIR-v48n2a2020-50650

Keywords:

Laicity, Laicism, Secularity, Fundamental Rights

Abstract

The current work aims to, through an analysis of the theoretical reference and the bibliographical method, implement an initial study of the meaning of the sacred and the profane, as well its manifestations, within the context of the Brazilian constitutionalism and secularism. To that end, we begin with a review and analysis of the possible meanings and kinds of the sacred, concluding that it is not always, necessarily, linked to the religious, being possible for the secular-sacred to exist. We also analyze, using a decision of the Conselho Nacional de Justiça as the basis, the adequacy of the current argument used to allow religious symbols in Brazilian public spaces. Lastly, different forms of how States deal with the State-Religion issue as considered, using examples from the United States of America, France and Turkey, and the usage of religious iconography in public and private spaces, and how those could be applied to Brazil, concluding for their insufficiency and inadequacy, which point toward the need to a specific laicity theory aimed at the Brazilian constitutionalism. Toward this goal, Ronald Dworkin was selected as the main theoretical reference, with relevant input from Roberto Blancarte and Ahmet Kuru. Being impossible to present a conclusion on such an extensive theme, this work closes with a systemic reconstruction of the basic concepts presented, so to begin a discussion on the laicization process as something ongoing, subject to failures, abuses, advancements and setbacks, and something that requires constant monitoring and improvements but that, to that end, need an common grounds for discussions and a diagnostic of its frailties, hopefully seeded with this text.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Rodrigo Pedroso Barbosa, Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas - FDSM

Mestre em Direito pela Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas. Especialista em Direito Penal e Processual Penal pela Escola Paulista de Direito. Vice-presidente da Comissão de Direito Penal da 24ª Subseção da OAB/MG. Membro dos grupos de pesquisa “Margens do Direito” e “Razão Crítica e Justiça Penal” – ambos registrados no CNPq.

Edson Vieira da Silva Filho, Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas - FDSM

Professor auxiliar da Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas – FDSM. Pós-Doutor em Direito pela UNISINOS (2012). Doutor em Direito pela UNESA (2012). Mestre pela Universidade São Francisco (2002). Mestre pela Universidade Federal do Paraná (2006). Graduado em Direito pela PUC Belo Horizonte – MG (1986). Delegado de Polícia Classe Geral, aposentado – Polícia Civil do Estado de Minas Gerais. 

 

Downloads

Published

2020-12-08

How to Cite

Pedroso Barbosa, R., & Vieira da Silva Filho, E. (2020). The sacred and the profane: reading the symbols and manifestations within the Brazilian ‘secular’ state from the perspective of Ronald Dworkin. Journal of the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Uberlândia, 48(2), 336–362. https://doi.org/10.14393/RFADIR-v48n2a2020-50650

Issue

Vol. 48 No. 2 (2020): Journal of the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Uberlândia

Section

Articles

License 

 
FREE ASSIGNMENT OF COPYRIGHTS - By submitting the article on the website, the main author and other co-actors, if any, authorize(s) the Journal of the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Uberlândia to publish the article of their authorship. Consequently, through submission, the author and his co-authors, if any, freely assign copyright to the article, reserving only the rights to intellectual property. He/They further declare(s) that the ideas and concepts issued therein are entirely his/their responsibility, as well as expressing agreement with the graphic corrections that may be made.