Faith practice was repackaged as culture to win public resources

Evidence

For some groups the separation of religion from the public domain was particularly problematic, especially those for whom regular practice throughout the day, such as the five prayers, was a requirement. Modood et al. wrote, ‘Religion is perhaps the key area where the minority groups manifest a cultural dynamic which is at least partly at odds with native British trends’ (1997: 356). Authors such as Yousif (2000) and Merry (2004) discussed how minority groups would often have to repackage their faith practice as part of ‘cultural preservation’ in order to access public resources and support for faith-based activities (Merry 2004: 127). — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 186

Categorization

• DEFINE: Shows the operative mechanism: Muslims translated religious claims into ‘cultural preservation’ language to fit secular funding categories — a definitional politics relevant to how ‘Islamophobia’ itself gets framed as anti-Muslim racism vs secular neutral categories.
• ADDENDUM: Directly parallels the argument in ‘Grafting & Growth’ about grafting as metaphor — here minority faith gets grafted onto ‘culture’ as a rootstock to access public resources.
• XREF: connects to: Muslims were forced to reframe religious practice as cultural preservation to access public funds — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 181; Modern classification of cultures secularized earlier religious structures; Churches plant in public schools at industrial scale subsidized by residents — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 881

Related

• Muslims were forced to reframe religious practice as cultural preservation to access public funds (similarity 0.93)

Broader Connections

• Muslims were forced to reframe religious practice as cultural preservation to access public funds #corroborates (1.00) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 181
• Modern classification of cultures secularized earlier religious structures #expands (0.75)