Getting Over Equality

Moving beyond stale arguments about the ‘separation of church and state' and exposing the incoherence of doctrines of ‘equality,' Smith proposes a vibrant practice of tolerance and prudence that holds high promise for our continuing debate over the role of religion in the public square. His argument is lucid, forceful, sometimes eccentric, and refreshingly free of legalistic cant. ~Richard John Neuhaus,Editor-in-Chief, First Things, and author of The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America

Steve Smith is one of the most distinguished scholars now working in the field of religious liberty. His new book, Getting over Equality, makes it abundantly clear that Smith's perspective on religious liberty issuesand, indeed, on the whole field of religious liberty scholarshipis highly distinctive as well as very important. Not everyone will agree with everything that Smith argues in these essays. (I certainly don't.) But everyone who enters into conversation with Smith's essays will achieve thereby a deeper understanding of the complex issues that Smith so thoughtfully and gracefully addresses. ~Michael J. Perry,University Distinguished Chair in Law, Wake Forest University, and author of We the People: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Supreme Court

Ambitious in scope, yet full of detailed and incisive criticisms of specific cases and theological principles, Getting Over Equality is an uncommon work of truly interdisciplinary scholarship. The provocative legal and theological theses make it a welcome addition to contemporary scholarship in both fields and a recommended text from any course that considers law and religion in the American context. ~The Journal of Religion