A secular majority depends on the religion it claims to resent.

Evidence

The “secular majority” needs this “religious coercion” more than any other party in this relationship. This coercion is what secures the maintenance and preservation of this majority’s Jewish identity in a nation-state that identifies as the state of the Jews. Being a Jew in Israel means belonging to the majority, which enjoys a privileged position in every aspect of life; whoever is Jewish enjoys a political, symbolic, and cultural capital that is reserved for Jews only. And were it not for the state’s enforcement of its narrow interpretation of “Judaism” in the public sphere, most members of this majority would be lacking the possibility to positively understand the meaning of their Jewish identity. The state, in other words, enforces “religion” in the public sphere and thus guarantees the distinction between Jews and non-Jews, as well as the privileging of the former over the latter. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 773

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Inverts the standard secular-vs-religious power narrative: the party doing the allegedly forced surrendering is the one structurally dependent on its victim. A genuinely paradigm-level reframe rather than a well-made point.
• XREF: connects to: Israeli ‘secular’ identity is only definable negatively as not-religious. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 774; The secular is conceptually dependent on the idea of religion. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 972; Secularism claims to produce religion while insisting on their sharp separation (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• The secular is conceptually dependent on the idea of religion. #corroborates (0.95) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 972
• The secular cannot be conceived without the category of religion. #corroborates (0.95) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 972
• Secularism claims to produce religion while insisting on their sharp separation #expands (0.92)
• Secularism claims to be separate from yet productive of religion. #corroborates (0.90)
• Secular modernity paradoxically claims to have produced the religion it excludes. #corroborates (0.88)
• Secularism claims to have generated tolerant modern religion #expands (0.82) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 942