Radiography of a Confessional State: The Religious Spectrum in Costa Rica

Abstract

This chapter describes the results of research carried out at the Ecumenical School of Sciences of Religion at the National University of Costa Rica. It identifies the main changes in the beliefs and religious practices—linked with education, age, and gender—of the Costa Rican population, while exploring perceptions of sexual and reproductive rights and the emergence of a secular moral standard with regard to the relationship between political society and religious authorities. Through focus group discussions among religious strata and a telephone survey applied to a sample population, this study concludes that the reworking of personal beliefs prevails as a social–religious phenomenon combined with a nominal religious identity enabling social integration. This equation results in consensual dissent, which contributes to the abandonment of religious rituals and leads to a double moral standard that hampers the exercise of sexual and reproductive autonomy. There is a convergence of legal and political secularism with state support for the social projects of churches.