Support for the estado novo coup in the pages of O Jornal Batista: Against communism, for the fatherland and for God

Abstract

Starting from O Jornal Batista - a confessional periodical published by Brazilian Baptists since 1901 - the article discusses the political and theological elements of the support of Baptist conservatism in the face of a strong anti-communist sentiment in the context of the installation of the so-called Estado Novo. The contradiction between a democratic, politically liberal discourse and, at the same time, the choices for the Estado Novo, the reduction of freedoms, and the vehement struggle against communism, are described in the background. Besides the option for the New Political History to deal with matters related to religion and the use of a periodical as a source for the analysis, an examination of the excerpts extracted from the mentioned confessional newspaper is used. The results accompany a political change supported by Brazilian Baptists and the evidence of non-Catholic religious activity including the coup of the Estado Novo.