Visigothic Jewish laws aimed at boundary policing, not religious conversion

Evidence

In these measures, Reccared is echoing earlier Visigothic legislation, and the concern is not to convert Jews or inhibit the practice of their religion: it is rather to keep the boundaries firm between Christianity and Judaism. The same concerns underlie laws attempting to prevent “judaizing”: King Chindasuinth (642–53) dictates the death penalty for Christians who practice circumcision or other Jewish rites. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 145

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: what gets coded as ‘religious persecution’ is often social-boundary maintenance — the stakes are group identity, not theology. Useful contrast to modern presumptions about ‘conversion’ as the goal of persecution.
• XREF: Anti-judaizing laws punishing Christians for adopting Jewish rites parallel fears of cultural contagion rather than doctrinal dissent.