Rival rational traditions can destroy each other when joined to military power

Evidence

As a tradition of rational inquiry, Orientalism directly confronts other traditions of an equally rational nature but that differ in their conception of rationality (the assumption being that every tradition has its own version of rational method derived from its own experience and view of the world, including traditions based on what—as outsiders—we might characterize as mythological, metaphysical, cosmological, or otherwise). These have been called rival traditions, not necessarily in the sense of incompatibility that bars dialogue, but rather in the sense of difference that in fact compels these rival traditions to engage in dialogue with a view to (re)evaluating their own narratives, defending, justifying, or modifying them as a response to the challenge from another tradition or traditions. In some cases, a rational tradition becomes associated with political and military power that overwhelms and eventually destroys a rivaling tradition. An example in point is Orientalism itself, as it existed and operated in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the lands of Islam. Since Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt, it has come to be conjoined with military force that ensured its victory during the process, and in the aftermath, of the institutional destruction of indigenous forms of education and intellectual life (among much else). — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 474

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to MacIntyre’s ‘Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry’ and to the broader traditions-and-rationality literature the reader has been tracking. — connects to: Forced military service paired with rights curtailment bred resentment and revolt — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1374; A dominant imperial power can cap sectarian violence while institutionalizing its basis. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 2238
• ADDENDUM: The destruction of indigenous education under colonial military power extends the ‘On Sacrifice’ article’s theme of how power-structures dismantle native institutions.