The photo performance “Bancada da Biblia e da Bala” was held in a studio in the city of Arroio Grande, Brazil. It is a critical metaphor of the relationship between politics and religion in the Brazilian Congress. We have recently observed situations where the congress is used in worship services by pastors, transforming the space for political discussion into a religious pulpit.

There is has been a growing presence of religion in politics, by those who use the Bible as a shield to achieve success in their personal goals. Advances such as women’s right to abortion, new possibilities for family formation, LGBT rights, and decriminalization of drug use are being impeded by conservative discourses supported by the Bible. The state guarantees religious freedom and Brazil is a country of diverse manifestations of spirituality. Civil rights must be discussed independently of beliefs.