Secular Zionism retained redemptive-messianic content while rejecting the messianic label
Evidence
Zionist writers insisted on distinguishing Zionism from messianism, regarded as apocalyptic and irrational, on the one hand, and as an expression of the passivity attributed to exilic Jews, on the other. In contradistinction, Zionism emphasized the rational and realistic dimension of its own activity, as a political endeavor meant to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. At the same time, Zionist discourse remains grounded on an interpretation of the content of “messianism” as reflecting mainly a desire for national political redemption in the form of an independent state. Nevertheless, we should notice that despite the anti-messianic rhetoric, the so-called secular carries the notion of redemption. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 346
Categorization
- XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s core question: professed secular/rational conviction carries unacknowledged sacralized content — conviction diverging from what is actually operational. — connects to: Zionism’s professed secularism carried hidden messianic theology — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 300; Zionist secularization nationalized messianic myth rather than replacing it — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 315; Secular Zionism reinterpreted theology rather than departing from it
Broader Connections
- Zionism’s professed secularism carried hidden messianic theology
#corroborates(0.95) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 300 - Zionist secularization nationalized messianic myth rather than replacing it
#expands(0.95) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 315 - Secular Zionism reinterpreted theology rather than departing from it
#expands(0.90)