Bosnian government’s religious diversity was erased by the phrase Muslim-dominated

Evidence

Particularly galling to many Bosnians is the phrase, popular among diplomats and newscasters, “Muslim-dominated government of Bosnia-Herzegovina.” The Bosnian executive branch of government is made up of two Catholic Christians, two Serb Orthodox Christians, and three Muslims; the Bosnian parliament and diplomatic corps contain Muslims, Jews, Serbs, Croats, and atheists. It is true that Muslims are in the majority in Bosnia and that, as large numbers of Croats and Serbs choose or are compelled by their own nationalist leaders to live under all-Croat and all-Serb governments in Herceg-Bosna and the Republika Srpska, the percentage of Muslims has increased. Yet Bosnians ask why there are not references to the “Protestant-dominated government of the United States” or the “Anglican-dominated government of Britain.” — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 316

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors Said’s Orientalism and the discourse-analysis in Communication as Culture about how labeling shapes public perception.

Related

• Serb Church leaders applied global anti-Muslim stereotypes to Bosnian Muslims (similarity 0.80)
• Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims spoke one shared language despite script differences. (similarity 0.80)
• The Bosnian conflict divided people on religious identity despite shared language and Slavic descent (similarity 0.80)
• Bosnian culture is multilayered across multiple religions and ethnicities (similarity 0.80)
• Bosnian Muslims suffered uniquely methodical persecution from both nationalist sides (similarity 0.79)
• The Muslim label trapped Bosnians between Western and Islamic stereotyping (similarity 0.79)
• Bosnian identity is civic and multi-religious, not ethnoreligious (similarity 0.78)