The state has taken the place of God as sovereign

Evidence

Sovereign will therefore has enshrined the state as the new god, precisely the same status and position to which “man” was elevated by the Enlightenment as a sovereign over nature (“Man” here being of course used to the exclusion of the Afro-Asians, native Americans, tribal societies, Irish, Basques, women, children, the poor, and their “inferior” likes). — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 197

Categorization

• CANDY: The parenthetical list — Afro-Asians, native Americans, tribal societies, Irish, Basques, women, children, the poor — is a striking rhetorical move that lands as a memorable provocation.
• XREF: connects to: A state channels domestic religious zeal outward to protect its own rule. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1904