Religious Tourism, Adventism and Places of Memory

Abstract

Halbwachs poses three possibilities of constitution of a religious group's oficial memory, namely 1) an event; 2) a person; o, 3) a geographical location. That author considers that a geographical space will always be the best option, due to its materiality to provide a less ephemeral memory construction. Thus, it is possible to emphasize the importance that the most diverse Christian denominations focus their efforts in strengthening religious tourism. As a case study, and within this theoretical basis, this article analyzes Seventh-day Adventism through its official magazine in Brazil, Revista Adventista, in an attempt to understand how that magazine has recently articulated the importance of places of memory of the movement and has opened itself to religious tourism, even if in an embryonic way. It concludes with an alert that the Adventist constituent memory, as well as any other religious group, must be constantly re-weighed and retransmitted to the members. And memory locations, along with religious tourism, can help maintain this project.