Optimism, Tragedy, and Irony on Religious Freedom

Marc: I wonder how your commendation of Justice Scalia's "optimism" on the willingness of the majority to make religious accommodations ("in the long run, optimism is not so bad a bet") fits with the "tragic" approach to religious freedom. In our back and forth a few months ago, you argued that tragedy is the most accurate outlook  and that even my "ironic" outlook was too sunny for today's religious-freedom clashes.