Imperial conquest is redeemed through an idea that justifies taking land from others

Evidence

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 504

Categorization

• DEFINE: This passage articulates the core of the civilizing-mission ideology that Orientalism analyzes: the ‘idea’ that redeems otherwise ugly conquest.
• XREF: Connects to the ‘burden’ / white man’s burden discourse that Orientalist scholarship naturalized, a concept the Islamophobia readings will build on. — connects to: Locke justified private land ownership by divinely commanded labor and dominion. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 360; Nationalists borrow another movement’s sacred-claims template to justify land conquest — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 184; Vague statutory language enabled a park commission to seize land at will — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 804
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 504