Renan equated Islam with an unchanging essence of irrationality intrinsic to the Arab race.

Evidence

Renan depicts Muslims, with the exception of the occasional Muslim child prior to conversion, as lacking reason and intelligence simply by virtue of adhering to Islam. To be a Muslim is by definition to reject “the European spirit” and all that makes this spirit superior: reason, science, and the drive for knowledge. Fanaticism and irrationality constitute the unchanging essence of Islam and the Arab race. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 196

Categorization

• XREF: This is the hinge where religious critique curdles into race-thinking — precisely the reader’s question about where rivalry becomes racial. — connects to: Renan’s lecture claimed Islam’s fixed essence makes Muslims mentally closed and inherently inferior. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 195; Orientalism converted Muslim identity from a religion into a race. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161; Crusade-era rhetoric called Muslims an accursed race utterly alienated from God. (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Orientalism converted Muslim identity from a religion into a race. #corroborates (0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161
• Crusade-era rhetoric called Muslims an accursed race utterly alienated from God. #expands (0.40)
• Muslim identity ejects Arabs from whiteness and strips them of its material benefits #complicates (0.35) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 662