Law and tensions between religious freedom and religious diversity in Brazil

Based on some examples drawn from empirical research, this article proposes to present, from the perspective of legal anthropology, the tensions between religious diversity and religious freedom in Brazil, especially concerning Afro-Brazilian religions. In conclusion, it argues in two correlated directions. The first insists that the ethnic-racial component has different weight and content in the context of specific demands. The second, in turn, highlights the fact that the law, here considered in a very restrictive way as the manifestation of judicial decisions, arbitrates in a contingent manner such tensions and, in doing so, participates in the shaping of religious freedom itself.

Keywords:
Religion; Race; Anthropology of law; Empirical research.