The editors of this product of a multidisciplinary conference hosted by Wake Forest University explain in their introduction that their aim was to explore the rule of law as governance, norms and distribution of power, in the light of recent developments. Their premises are that religion is not going away, that the rule of God and the rule of law are potentially competing jurisdictions and that the traditional separation of state and religion is not as clear as anticipated. The range of approaches is eclectic rather than systematic but makes for interesting reading.

The volume is divided into four parts, beginning with ‘Fundamental concerns’. In ‘The return of political theology’ Mark Lilla challenges the opposition of religion versus reason and law, and political philosophy versus political theology. He points to communities for whom dividing faith from life through sacred/secular and private/public distinctions is meaningless and argues that political theology needs to engage with modernity from within its own theological resources. Discussing ‘Monotheistic faith and the cosmopolitan conscience’, William Schweick critiques ‘hyper-theism’, his term for monochrome, monopolistic monotheism – a simplistic ‘dyad’ of ‘sovereign God and obedient faith’ (p 45) with tendencies to coerce faith. He challenges faith to recognise conscience as central to ‘moral and spiritual struggle’ (p 43), enjoining the symbolic and conceptual riches of religion as resources to engage with cosmopolitan ways of understanding the world.

Part II considers the limitations of secular law in separating religion and state through the ‘free exercise’ and ‘establishment’ doctrines of the US religion clauses. It is assumed that readers are familiar with these, although they may be a challenge for those in Britain and Europe. The assumption is particularly marked in Frank S Ravitch's ‘Grappling with neutrality and liberty under the religion clauses’, which argues that, as a contested concept, there is no agreed baseline for what constitutes neutrality and that, without such a baseline or objective neutral point external to the arguments, the concept adds little of substance to legal reasoning. Michael Kent Curtis considers the free exercise of religion in relation to calls for exemption from anti-discrimination legislation protecting same-sex marriage. He cites race and gender equality, both historically opposed by religious groups, to argue that religious exemptions for those opposed to same-sex relationships would undermine anti-discrimination laws unjustifiably. ‘Accommodation as establishment: state sponsorship of religious pilgrimages in Nigeria’ provides a fascinating insight by Simeon O Ilesanmi into religious challenges in Nigeria, where free exercise of religion through pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Land is supported by government subsidy and agencies. While pilgrimage to Mecca is a tenet of Islam, pilgrimage is inessential to Christianity but support has been claimed in the interests of equal religious treatment. Yet lack of funds for local pilgrimages for indigenous faiths means that this state support is unequal. Ilesanmi argues that equal treatment of religions is preferable to free exercise.

Part III, ‘The challenge of Islam’, considers the contexts of Western society, Western societies with Muslim minorities and Muslim-majority states. Andrew F March's ‘Theocrats living under secular law: an external engagement with Islamic legal theory’ argues for taking religious conservatives seriously. While stating that Muslim-majority theocracy is incompatible with pluralist democracy, he contends that theocratic minorities in non-Muslim states can be accommodated. He describes four modes of accommodation as: the ‘thin social contract or loyal resident alienage’, the ‘internal retreat model’, ‘self-governance’ and the ‘temporary modus vivendi’ seeking greater accommodation (pp 146–147). He cites Amish, Haredim and ultra-Salafists as examples of partial citizenship involved in ‘internal retreat’. Marsh also identifies a ‘religious integralist model’ (p 248), associated with Tariq Ramadan, as dissolving the problem of theocracy into personal morality, and a ‘Thicker social contract model’ or ‘purposivism’ in which overarching maqasid values of respect for life, religion, property, intellect and lineage are used to evaluate the secular state. In ‘The just war argument in Islam (Who's up? Who's down?)’, John Kelsay evaluates ‘just war’ arguments from ISIS and Al-Qaeda, in which civilians in democracies are regarded as combatants because they vote for the government. Although this overlooks the killing of innocent citizens such as children who have no vote, Kelsey cites Pew polls showing support for militancy in Muslim-majority states. He suggests that the focus in analysing division should be on the extent of military action rather than in terms of militants versus democratic moderates, as the latter are on the wane.

In ‘Veiled women in the courtroom: is the nikab a barrier to justice?’, Anita L Allen argues that the state should be reluctant to force women of good religious faith to uncover unless there is ‘compelling state interest’. She considers cases in which women who refused to remove the niqab have been denied access to courts and prison visits. She assesses the impact of the veil and calls for accommodation by using alternative means of identification and for female judges and staff, citing English courts as a good example. In ‘Terrorising the veil’, Sahar F Aziz considers how the Muslim veil has become a symbol of terrorism and disloyalty instead of subjugation. Broad assertions are illustrated by cases of women dismissed from employment or violently attacked because of wearing the veil. An example is Golden Foods, whose policy of accommodating the veil and Muslim prayers was reversed after 9/11. Aziz argues that this cause is overlooked by male Muslim leaders and by liberal feminists who still regard veiling as oppressive. America may differ from the UK, but the chapter fails to consider increased numbers of women wearing the niqab despite Islamophobic backlash. Yet Aziz's defence of veiling as consistent with American values of civil rights, religious freedom and gender equality seems timely.

In Part IV, ‘Concluding thoughts’, Richard Miller's ‘Rules of law and God: liberal democratic reflections on freedom, equality and religion’ defends liberalism, equality and neutrality, despite not defining the latter, and takes issue with the idea that theological resources such as maqasid could offer anything to accommodation in a secular democracy. He tends to bear out frustrations expressed by earlier contributors at failures to recognise that religion, respect and reason are not necessarily opposed. In a postscript about events postdating the conference, J Wilson Parker considers the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, arguing that Islamists are winning in Muslim countries, especially Syria. He also states that Lautsi & others v Italy, like the US Christmas crib case Lynch v Donnelly, reduces religious symbols to historico-cultural artefacts. Observing that religious neutrality aims to protect religion from the state not the state from religion, he argues that protecting religion from secular devaluation may make it easier to convince Islamists that a secular state can allow religious flourishing. In a fitting conclusion to the volume, he cites Justice Learned Hand's dictum, ‘In a society which evades its responsibilities by thrusting upon government rather than the churches the nurture of the religious spirit that spirit in the end will perish’ (p 266).