The chapter focuses on the processes of political differentiation as triggered by the refugee crisis of 2015. It maps them on an empirical level by studying the reactions of major political actors in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the chapter abstracts a general theory of political differentiation, i.e. political 'othering'. It shows how the degree of differentiation can be approximated to a strong anti-liberal position mirroring the dichotomy between friend and foe. Outcomes of the differentiation processes are confronted with selected principles of modern constitutionalism, i.e. the principles of human dignity and democratic governance, that are endangered by the persistence of an extreme degree of hostile group differentiation.

Chapter 4 addresses the deceitfulness of violent speech. The psalmist reflects deep anxieties about the persistent scheming of the wicked. According to many psalms and proverbs, scheming is the constitutive quality of violent acts. More than the swinging club or shooting arrows of the wicked, it is their speech that occupies many biblical writers. I suggested that in poetic and wisdom texts, scheming is often considered part of the act of violence itself. The preoccupation with scheming reflects how biblical writers thought about the problem of violence (it is deceitful and often begins with speech). I argued that scheming was not simplistically prior to ‘real’ physical violence. Rather, it described a form of violence that afflicted the godly, and was something from which the petitioner sought protection. The concern with scheming enemies also reflects a desire for divine intervention before violence achieves its full effect. Finally, the concern with the enemy’s verbal scheming highlighted the re-expressibility of violent acts. They could be re-enacted in prayer as a provocation for God to act.