The chapter explores the role of Christianity in the Ethiopian national narrative and in state policies. The first part analyzes the Ethiopian national narrative as embodied in a semi-divine imperial genealogy and tied to a territorial state viewed as demarcated by God. The chapter subsequently discusses the notion of Amhara peoplehood, underscoring its religious (Christian) dimension. This serves as the basis for understanding the Amhara’s expansionist ideology and encounters with different ethnic and non-Christian groups, and the chapter discusses how the state’s expansionist endeavors were accompanied by the Amhara notion of exceptionalism that paved the way for civilizational policies, in turn leading to the demarcation of rigid boundaries and asymmetric relationships with non-Amhara groups. The latter part of the chapter focuses on how this paved the way for a policy of withdrawal as well as resistance from Muslim groups. It underscores how the Muslims viewed the state as a Christian opposite and the negative treatment of the Muslims as religiously based. It moreover discusses how this reciprocally led to the strengthening of the religious dimension of peoplehood among Muslims from different localities and also became a powerful force for mobilizing action against the Ethiopian state.

The chapter circles back to the locality of Bale and to the role of local actors. Detailing the many different aspects of the local conflictual dynamics, it starts by revisiting the question of class. It explores in particular the relevance of class in relation to religion and ethnicity, arguing for interpretations that view these categories as interrelated. It connects the notion of peoplehood to a discussion of how the insurgents themselves formulated and articulated the movement’s objectives. It subsequently investigates the role of the highland activists, arguing that these were instrumental for further elaborating the movement’s ideological thinking and, moreover, that religion and ethnicity remained foundational in this regard. The questions of religion and ethnicity are further fleshed out in the chapter’s second part, which discusses how deeply affective and embodied the religious and ethnic dimensions were in the broader population, and how the insurgency represented an expression of deeply felt popular sentiments. The chapter also discusses how Amhara exceptionalism was articulated and experienced in Bale, focusing on the role of religion and ethnicity as integral to politics of domination. It demonstrates how this strengthened the notion of Islaama peoplehood in Bale, cementingantagonistic attitudes – eventually becoming manifest through the insurgency.