Assimilation into secular states constitutes a subtler coercion than exclusion

Evidence

These modern secular societies offer a real possibility of separate Jewish sur­ vival as part of the larger society; of assimilation without betrayal or at least without a sense of betrayal. Even here, of course, there are the dangers which Ahad Ha’am, speaking of another more assimilated but less tolerant society, described as “slavery in freedom,” and which some anonymous Cartesian in America summarized as the philosophy of incognito ergo sum. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 333

Categorization

• XREF: Ahad Ha’am’s ‘slavery in freedom’ parallels Said’s critique that liberal tolerance of minorities can mask continued subordination. — connects to: Western secularism claims universality while resisting genuine multicultural inclusion — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 296