Awareness of similarity drove a monk to exaggerate Christian-Islamic differences.

Evidence

Anastasius attempts to erect a wall of difference between Islam and Christianity. He is not ignorant of the similarities between the two faiths; he is painfully aware of them. This is why he stresses the differences, the quasi-magical powers of the sacraments, as the most effective way to repel the demonic forces. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 304

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A compact, generalizable psychological-political mechanism: closeness breeds insistence on difference; religious boundary-making intensifies precisely where overlap is acknowledged. Resonates far beyond seventh-century polemic.
• XREF: Parallels modern identity-sharpening dynamics and the frame of ‘On Sacrifice’ — how proximity of the other sharpens the ritual boundary.