Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Religions in the media polis: mediatization, Protestants and politics in Brazil 155 ence of evangelicals in national politics and for the strengthening of conservative agendas in the Con- gress. Eduardo Cunha acted intensely in articulat- ing the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, in 2015 and 2016. His fall was postponed but not avoided, with him being arrested in 2016, on cor- ruption charges, by Lava-Jato Operation conducted by the Federal Police (PF). However, he continued to exercise his influence. 5. A series of guidelines guaranteeing Puritan re- ligious morality, under the label “defense of the family,” gained space in the Chamber of Deputies as of 2015, especially under the leadership of Edu- ardo Cunha, in the form of bills and constitutional amendments projects, and more space was given to guidelines regarding privileges to the public per- formance of the churches. 6. Positions of evangelical parliamentarians gained space beyond religious agendas, through alliances with parliamentarians and conservative fronts, for the review of social issues such as the reduction of the legal age and the end of the Disarmament Stat- ute. The articulation of the bench called BBB (Bul- let/Security, Ox/Ruralist, and Bible/ Evangelical) makes this process visible, as well as the support of evangelicals for the candidacy of deputy Jair Bol- sonaro to the Presidency of the Republic in 2018. 7. The Federal Police “Lava-Jato Operation” with the task force from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), which investigated crimes of corruption at PETRO- BRÁS, gained a messianic character with the lead- ership of the evangelical attorney Deltan Dallagnol. 8. The news media consolidated the figure of the min - ister Silas Malafaia, of Assembleia de Deus Vitória em Cristo, as a spokesman for evangelicals. He was accredited in the media as “the” voice capable of expressing opinions and evaluations about the evangelical-political relationship. He was accredit-