The same colonial influence that established secularism also provoked Buddhist communalism

Evidence

The ideological basis for a secularist tradition includes colonialism, especially under the British; the Western-educated elites’ belief in the virtues of secularism, exposure to universal franchise, and attempts, together with the British, to ensure the country evolved into a liberal democracy; and the tolerance espoused by the Buddhist religion. Yet if these antecedents buttressed secularism, they also influenced the Buddhist nationalist trek toward communalism. For example, colonialism may have exposed the elites and many others to liberal ideas and ideals, but the colonial influence also deliberately marginalized Buddhism. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 135

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The very forces that built Ceylonese secularism also cultivated Buddhist communalism.; Colonial secularism in India actually created the possibility of Islamism; European secularism emerged by externalizing religious violence through colonialism (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The very forces that built Ceylonese secularism also cultivated Buddhist communalism. #corroborates (0.97)
• Colonial secularism in India actually created the possibility of Islamism #expands (0.82)
• Modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism’s founding figure emerged from Buddhism’s colonial marginalization #expands (0.78) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 111
• European secularism emerged by externalizing religious violence through colonialism #qualifies (0.72)
• Early modern secularism emerged from controlling the poor, hostile sects, and colonial expansion #expands (0.72)
• Secular concepts of religion arose through colonial encounters that recoded native practice as illusion #expands (0.72) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 161
• Secularism as a category masks the colonial dimension of settler nationalisms #expands (0.72) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 301
• Legal and ethical transformations in colonial Egypt created social spaces that made secularism thinkable #expands (0.72)
• Christianity obscured itself by promoting secular critique during colonial expansion #expands (0.70)
• Capitalism and colonialism drove Muslim empires toward secularization #qualifies (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 298