Missionary discourse framed Islam as Christianity’s inherent and inexorable nemesis.

Evidence

Zwelmer’s sentiment signals the last quality of Islamophobia that featured prominently in Anglo-American discourse: Islam as Christianity’s inherent and inexorable nemesis. … The most prominent qualities of Muslims that threatened Christians included their universal resistance to conversion, consistent success in proselytization, and their flawed belief in Jesus Christ that denied his divinity. The latter claim often meant that Western Christians considered Muslims as heretics or apostates, a threat to the doctrinal orthodoxy central to many churches. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 156

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines one of the five ‘qualities’ of Islamophobia the chapter is anatomizing — Islam as Christianity’s inexorable nemesis.
• SEED: Essay angle: fear of the apostate/heretic within the fold — the psychology of treating a rival as a corrupted version of oneself rather than a true outsider.