Islam functioned as an opposing foil shared by secularists and Christians alike.

Evidence

Second, the perception of Muslims and Islam as a threat pervaded so broadly that even the most ardent secularists and Christians (these groups were not mutually exclusive) could utilize them as foils serving quite divergent agendas. Prideaux saw Islam as the anti-Christian product of a power-hungry imposter. Voltaire viewed Muhammad’s excesses as a warning to governments that espoused religion. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 107

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the reader’s ‘immodesty’ article, where factions on opposing sides (Spartan vs Athenian, Senecan critics) each weaponized dress claims - here mutually hostile camps share one scapegoat. — connects to: Secularists and Christians alike weaponized Islam as a foil despite opposite agendas. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear:…, 30