THE SOCIAL REPRESENTATION OF THE DEVIL AND THE ENEMY IN CRIMINAL LAW: the duality between light and darkness in the legal environment

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.558362310022

• Palavras-chave: Criminal Law. Devil. Enemy of society. Religion.

• Keywords: Criminal Law. Devil. Enemy of society. Religion.

• Abstract:

  Far from being just an element used in literature and art, the figure of the Devil is full of meanings, myths, peculiarities, information and symbolic values, with specific and own meanings in social, political and legal dynamics. In the theological discourses that inspired the Western imagination, the Devil appears as a central figure in Christian traditions. In the Criminal Law of the Enemy, a movement that has grown a lot in Brazil in recent years, the Enemy is elected, based on values, fears and suspicions, so that it is fought and won by good society, in a true crusade against diabolical evil. This version of the communication initially made at the International Congress of the Society of Theology and Religious Sciences intends to identify and analyze the outlines and possible consequences of Manichaean thought, which propagates religious dualism, between good and evil, in the application of Criminal Law, as well as in the construction of the figure of the enemy of society. Such an analysis, based on bibliographical research, will take place through the comparison of legal provisions and books and articles written by specialists in the areas of Religious Sciences, Theology, Sociology, Criminology, Law and Psychology. As a general result, there are interweavings and complementarities between Criminal Law and religious traditions with regard to the social representation of the Devil and his identification in the image of the subject who violates the legal order.