Political sociologist Christian Joppke (University of Bern) is a prolific student of immigration, integration, identity, and Islam. He feels comfortable on both sides of the Atlantic and writes insightfully about liberal society in both its American and European forms. His central concern — indeed, his great fear — is that the “liberal-democratic state” has passed its zenith and illiberal religious forces threaten the hard-won gains of liberalism in the West.

Jobbke begins with two substantial chapters defining “religion” and describing its transformation from an all-encompassing way of life to “merely private ‘belief’” (8). Chapter 1 contains a useful review of the giants of sociology: Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Emil Durkheim, Max Weber — as well as Robert Bellah, Peter Berger, and José Casanova. Two important themes emerge: the “substance” of religion — as opposed to its mere social function — matters; and over time Christianity has moved from fusing religion and politics to separating church and state. This deep-seated secularism (characterized by both the decline and privatization of religion) is an essential foundation of a liberal-democratic state.

In Chapter 2, Joppke details the historical process of separating religion and politics in Latin Christendom. The story is familiar, but his thesis is jarring. Following Charles Taylor, Joppke asserts that “secularism is not optional in the modern age” (46). But he goes further, arguing that “Christianity, and only it … has propelled secularization, which entailed not just its but all religions’ exit from the political stage” (47). Drawing heavily on Ernst Troeltsch, Marcel Gauchet, Silvio Ferrari, and others, he identifies five secularizing “elements of the Christian religion that mark it as different from other world religions” (49): the content of Jesus’ gospel (specifically, that it was possible to rise above the world without negating it); dualism (positing two realities — the realm of God and the earthly sphere — united in the Incarnation); the church (institutionalized dualism that creates two authorities, church and state); natural law (a law apart from divine law, applicable to all); and legal pluralism (the enforcement of canon and secular law in separate spheres). Each unique characteristic drove a wedge into the fusion of Christianity and politics, setting the West on an inevitable secular course. The process took centuries, as Joppke details, but the result was a “long Christian exit” from Latin Christendom.

Joppke knows that secularization has not produced a uniform relationship between religion and politics. America, committed to a separated church and state, nevertheless remains both “modern” and “Christian” by allowing religion to permeate secular society, to bring it into conformity with Christian values (75). Thus, in the United States, most aspects of the modern secular state — including nationalism and market liberalism — carry a distinct “Christian glow” that ironically deprives religion of transcendence and otherworldliness. In the end, Joppke sees American secularism as a particular type, “modest separation” (73).

Europe's experience is not only quite different from America's, but also more variegated. Joppke deals quite skillfully with both the range of “laicization” in Catholic countries — including a discussion of the radical anti-modernism of the 19th-century Vatican that led to the thoroughly secularized contemporary Christian Democratic parties — as well as “secularization” of both state church and church-supported state in Protestant nations. Although many European countries still nurture an official or semi-official religion, in Joppke's terms they demonstrate only a “modest establishment” and remain deeply secular.

Having argued that secularism is “necessary for a liberal-democratic state,” that without Christianity “we would not live in a secular age,” and that — more implicitly — Islam “did not or could not launch a similar ‘exit’ from religion” (84), Joppke comes to the heart of his argument: the Christian Right in America and Islam in Europe threaten the liberal-democratic state. Devoting a chapter to each, Joppke describes the challenges, which he identifies as mostly legal on both continents. In the United States, Joppke sees Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) as the “undisputed peak of legal secularism” (99), which combined with the new morality of the counter culture to fire up evangelical political and legal campaigns. He believes the Christian Right has peaked politically, but that its legal influence is growing. In a telling phrase, Joppke argues that recent Supreme Court decisions have breached the wall of separation, bringing America close to “legal theocracy” (110). Oddly, he concludes his discussion of the Christian Right on an optimistic note, suggesting that an “integrationist” approach to religion and politics will, in fact, resemble Europe's “modest establishment” secularism. He remains convinced that “America is still better equipped than most other countries to fold into one nation believers and non-believers alike” (127).

Joppke is less sanguine about Europe's ability to meet the challenge of Islam, a conclusion hinted at frequently in comments over the first three chapters, but underlined in Chapter 4 and the Conclusion. He argues that Muslim elite discourse demonstrates elements of an “adversarial culture” that threatens the “essence of Europe” (138). Muslim elites reject separation of religion and state, which undergirds religious pluralism, human rights, and secular law — in short, liberalism. Joppke doubts Islam will liberalize anytime soon, but the picture is not entirely gloomy: ordinary Muslim Europeans are less skeptical of liberalism than their elites, and liberalism itself is capable of peacefully incorporating small non-liberal minorities. He assumes European liberalism will rise to the challenge.

In the end, though, religion and liberalism are incompatible: “a choice has to be made, between respecting religious rights and human rights” (182). The granting of religious rights threatens the secular state, the great defender of “human rights.” Joppke's stark assertion will warm the hearts of secular liberals, but set on edge the teeth of religious liberals. The Secular State Under Siege is not the last word on the subject, but Joppke cogently clarifies the issues.