ABSTRACT
The precarious tension of opposites is a useful conceptual starting point for thinking about sectarianism and how claims about identity invariably emphasise insecurity and security simultaneously. If sectarianism is a rigid adherence by individuals to particular groups and organisations, then the question arises as to how this rigidity operates and what it depends on. In acute form, where the moral becomes subject to disputed meanings, tensions rise and this creates the ground for sectarianism. Compromise undermines the sectarian tendency because, while sectarianism emphasises the disadvantage of dialogue and the advantage of monologue, compromise does the opposite. However, compromise brings problems since it flows in the opposite direction to the sectarian impulse which requires ‘keeping people principled position uncompromised’ and views co-operation as a diminution of security and identity. Fear exists as a response to death or annihilation, where the greater the fear the greater the call for the reassertion of security, order and identity.
