Religion and nationalism mutually constitute identity and resist clean separation

Evidence

In many contexts, religion has been nationalized during the nineteenth century, and it is hard to see any political model that does not appropriate “religion” (sometimes as a national church, sometimes as a central factor of national identity) for the (re) shaping of “identity.” Distinctions between “religion” and “ethnicity” are rather protean and often context dependent. At times, “religion” confers meaning to what in other contexts is dubbed “national consciousness” and vice versa. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 292

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the frame used throughout the volume: religion and nationalism are not separable categories but reciprocal meaning-conferring constructs.
• XREF: Builds the definitional groundwork for the reader’s question about how political conflicts become sacralized — same instability between civic and sacred registers. — connects to: Christian nationalism fuses ethnic, racial, and political hierarchy with religious identity — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 66; Secularist bias hid that nationalism and religion fused while remaining distinct — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 70; Religion and nationalism fuse when religious symbols represent the nation — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 71 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Calling nationalism a religion uncritically presumes a fixed definition of religion #qualifies (0.80)
• Nationalism’s borrowings from religion do not make religion its source #qualifies (0.80) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 946
• Distinguishes ‘full fusion’ nationalisms from mere religiously-inflected ones by whether religion defines the nationalism #expands (0.80) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 102
• Religion is a foundational component of ethnic identity formation #exemplifies (0.80)
• Calling nationalism a religion begs the question of how religion is defined. #qualifies (0.80) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 920
• Nationalism functions as a world religion marked by quarreling sects #exemplifies (0.75)
• Religion fuses with nationalism only when it legitimizes actual state governance #qualifies (0.75) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 75
• Nationalist worldliness structurally depends on the secular concept #qualifies (0.75) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 943