ANC founding documents secularized government by removing theological reference

Evidence

What is perhaps one of the most forceful illustrations of secularization-the French Revolution as the detheologization of politicshowever, fails to erase the division, the constitutive theologico-political structure of politics. In “the Jewish Question,” Marx made that failure limpid in terms that remain relevant to this day. “The nation,” writes Guenoun, “is a theological idea” (156). — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 70 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The “resurgence of religion” has been welcomed by many as a means of supplying what they see as a needed moral dimension to secular politics and environmental concerns. It has been regarded by others with alarm as a symptom of growing irrationality and intolerance in everyday life. The question of secularism has emerged as an object of academic argument and of practical dispute. If anything is agreed upon, it is that a straightforward narrative of progress from the religious to the secular is no longer acceptable. But does it follow that secularism is not universally valid? — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 17 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Secularization of government leaves lingering theological traces in race relations; The secular was originally a theological, not an anti-religious, concept; The narrative of progress from religious to secular is now untenable — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 17 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The presumed secularity of South African governance was saturated with religious legacy #complicates (0.82)
• Even secular revolution preserves the theological structure of politics #complicates (0.80) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 70
• The narrative of progress from religious to secular is now untenable #complicates (0.78) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 17