Two Reviews: Inazu on Smith, Movsesian on Russell

A couple of interesting new book reviews. First, a review by John Inazu of Steve Smith's most recent book, The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom, over at the Hedgehog Review (though John's original title, "Steve Smith, Optimist" really sang). Here's the ending:

Smith published Rise and Decline just prior to the Supreme Court’s decisions in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Holt v.Hobbs, and it’s worth considering how those cases fit his story. Both were wins for religious liberty, but both were statutory rather than constitutional decisions. In one sense, the focus on statutes is completely unsurprising given the state of constitutional free exercise concerns. But it’s not clear that these statutory protections by themselves alter the direction of Smith’s narrative of decline. For that kind of directional change, we would need the Court to re-examine its reasoning in the 1990 peyote case, Employment Division v. Smith. Such a re-examination would be entirely warranted. As Laycock rightly noted in an amicus brief filed just this month, the rule announced in the peyote case came unexpectedly (the rule “was neither briefed nor argued” to the Court) and the decision “cannot be said to have become embedded in the law.” But the Supreme Court has thus far not budged. And as long as that decision stays on the books, Smith may have been better off basing the title of his latest book on an article he wrote in the Harvard Law Review a few years ago: “Discourse in the Dusk: The Twilight of Religious Freedom?” Even then, Smith’s question mark might be too optimistic.

Second, my colleague Mark Movsesian's review over at the Liberty Law blog of Gerard Russell's book, Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms. Here are Mark's concluding paragraphs:

There is a danger in treating Copts and other Middle Eastern Christians like this. A major obstacle to getting American Christians interested in the plight of Middle Eastern Christians is the fact that they seem so foreign, so distant from the lived experience of Christianity in the United States. Accounts like Russell’s inadvertently emphasize the “otherness” of Middle Eastern Christians, thereby making it even less likely that they will draw the attention of Americans in a position to help. Of course, this is not Russell’s intention. As I say, he has genuine sympathy and admiration for all these groups, including the Christians. But his portrayal of them may have an unintended and unfortunate effect.

Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable and valuable book, instructive and a pleasure to read. It should appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of religion and the Middle East—indeed, anyone with an interest in the human spirit itself.