Secularism can only arise from within theological discourse, not against it

Evidence

In giving attention to these Jewish views, I do not mean to claim that these tendencies have come up with a satisfactory alternative or indeed any comprehensive worldview to replace or challenge the present one. These attitudes cannot and should not be taken for themselves, but they definitely provide the only possible platform for the discussion of secularization in any meaningful sense: the existence of a Jewish political entity in Eretz Israel is a theological question that cannot be ignored, and this awareness is crucial for any genuine process of secularization. It clarifies that secularism cannot be addressed against religion, but can emerge only from the theological discourse. If the idea is to create a public sphere in which people who hold various beliefs (and nonbeliefs) can coexist, then secularism as such cannot provide the platform. In fact, it denies it. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 375

Categorization

• QUESTION: Testable against the reader’s core question: does the sacred-values literature confirm that attempts to counter sacralized belief from a secular-rational frame backfire, as this author implies?
• SEED: Angle for an essay: ‘You can’t secularize by attacking religion’ — how framing corrections as counter-sacred rather than rational changes resistance.
• XREF: connects to: The secular was originally a theological, not an anti-religious, concept; The secular as epistemic category and secularism as doctrine need separating analytically — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 16; The secular concept precedes secularism as a political doctrine — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 74

Broader Connections

• The secular was originally a theological, not an anti-religious, concept #corroborates (0.90)
• The secular concept precedes secularism as a political doctrine #corroborates (0.85) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 74
• The secular as epistemic category and secularism as doctrine need separating analytically #expands (0.75) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 16