Between clamor, transition and vibrations: Controversies of conservatism and the brazilian religious domain in the context of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors have developed a reflection based on the analysis of messages exchanged within WhatsApp groups, linked to institutional and noninstitutional religious narratives regarding COVID-19. The analysed messages were collated between April and May 2020, during the initial period of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. The authors discuss the presence and the new guises of a conservative tone in the selected narratives, with the objective of considering some specificities and contradictions that the Brazilian religious domain, particularly with regard to the conservative tone, presented in this very specific context of modernity. Consequently, theoretical results pointed to the insufficiency of the term "conservatism" to express what was observed in the messages.