Apartheid functioned as a genuine theology, not merely a religion-like ideology.

Evidence

Race under apartheid operated not merely like or as if a religion. It was also, and more basically, a theology in the classic conception. It offered, as Habermas characterizes religion more generally, “a comprehensive conception of the world.” Racial sacralization was both predicated upon and reproduced the idea of a constrained sense of community, of whites as ordained to lead and be served by those set apart as not white, and by Afrikaners as the Chosen among whites to steer their course through the messiness of history while lording over the land of plenty. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1584

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what distinguishes a political theology of race from race merely operating ‘like’ a religion.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1584
• XREF: connects to: Academic intellectuals guided the theological framework that formalized apartheid — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1542