The mutual construction of intolerant speeches: atheists, agnostics and religious

Abstract

We can currently observe a reassurance of religiousness in contrast with the illuminist point of view which predicted that scientific advance would lead to a decline in religious practices. On the other side, there is a growing secularization movement, which may be noted in Brazil by the increase of people who declare themselves as "non religious". Atheists and agnostics are part of this group. In this context, there is a biased speech that goes from religious to atheists and agnostics and vice-versa, producing an effect on political, economical, social and cultural scenarios. As we consider intolerance a social phenomenon whose origin is in an individual's subjectivity, this paper aims to comprehend these groups and understand their formation. By using Focal Groups methodology, we will investigate how intolerant speech circulates and how it is constructed, having psychoanalysis as the theoretical reference. (AU)