INTERNET AND RELIGION: CANDOMBLÉ OF YOUTUBE

Abstract

Objective: This text argues that the Internet has democratized the dynamics of human relations and more specifically the religious culture. The YouTube channel is  one of the main venues responsible for radicalization of a virtual democratic paradigm. It helps religions, including Umbanda and Candomblé, to participate and promote themselves, so that they are empowered by exposing its rituais through videos. Methods: Videos of interviews, testimonies, religious feasts, music and rites on Youtube are analyzed in philosophical and sociopolitical approaches of communication theorists like Pierry Levy, Manuel Castells, Muniz Sodré, J. Burgess. They contribute with reflections on virtualization, media, information, culture and society; authors such as Altair T`Ogun, José Beniste, Márcio de Jagun, V. Betancourt  strengthen these arguments through materials and texts on tradition and religious dynamics. Discussion: Therefore, in a second moment of reflection, this text shows how much loss and physical weakness produce culture. Contrary to popular belief, the internet preserves and strengthens the traditions and religious identity; the web increases the possibility of learning and increases the access to hidden knowledges. Reports on Youtube on experience and trajectory of individuals reveal that culture also comes from pain and illness. Consequently, it presents another approach to tradition, ancestry and orality. Anyway, this article focuses on the interaction between information technology and religion, between body conditioning and culture.