Sacralization transforms mundane disputes into prolonged, nonnegotiable existential conflicts.

Evidence

Ample historical and cross-cultural evidence shows that when conflict is framed by competing religious and sacred values, intergroup violence may persist for decades, even centuries. Disputes over otherwise mundane phenomena (people, places, objects, events) then become existential struggles, as when land becomes “holy land.” Secular issues become sacralized and nonnegotiable. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 546

Categorization

• XREF: Explains why the fumi-e ritual matters: apostasy attacks the sacralization layer that keeps a community’s values nonnegotiable.
• SEED: Could frame an essay on how religious boundary rituals transform ordinary social friction into existential stakes.