'Hindu nation', 'Christian nation'... countries are closing ranks using religion because religion has become a high-yield shortcut that compresses identity, loyalty, morality, and politics into a single, emotionally charged frame. It works,
- especially well when institutions feel powerless and fragile.
- because it externalises failure. When states fail to deliver, religion becomes a shock absorber, redirecting anger away from systems and toward "others".
- by redraws borders without maps. So 'our people' may live anywhere, 'enemies' may be internal, and loyalty becomes cultural, not civic. All this allows leaders to rule emotionally larger nations than their legal borders.
- because anxiety politics needs simple anchors, and religion offers that easily. 
- from a power perspective since religion is unbeatable. It demands loyalty beyond law and converts disagreement into heresy.
- because it converts cultural fear into moral panic.
- because it produces clear villains and martyrs and thrives on repetition and outrage.
And finally, it works because politicization of religion useful in fragile times since it offers authority without accountability, and unity without equality. The danger isn't religion and faith by themselves. But when belief replaces citizenship, disagreement becomes betrayal/treason and pluralism becomes a threat.
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