Tracking religious liberty legislation & policy at the state level, the 2025 Religious Liberty in the States Report from the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy.
Audio recording of a plenary panel from the 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, March 15, 2026.
0:00 The Sower Episode 93 Introduction by Christopher Anadale
1:13 Panel Introduction, by Paul Mueller
3:12 A Theological Defense of Religious Liberty, by John Wilsey
17:02 Mark David Hall Introduction, by Paul Mueller
17:58 Why Religious Liberty in the States, by Mark David Hall
23:37 2025 Data on Religious Liberty in the States, by Paul Mueller
36:53 Concluding Remarks, by Mark David Hall
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Dr. Paul Mueller is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, where he champions the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and individual liberty. He holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University and spent eight years teaching at The King’s College in New York City before shifting his focus to policy research and public commentary.
Dr. John Wilsey is Professor of Church History and Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Church History and Historical Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Wilsey’s primary areas of teaching are in modern church history, history of Western thought, and American history. He supervises PhD dissertations in the areas of American church history and history of philosophy.
Mark David Hall joined the faculty of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in 2023. He is one of the most outstanding scholars of early America, whose many distinguished publications have argued persuasively for the crucial importance of Christianity in the flourishing of America’s experiment in ordered liberty. He is also widely regarded as a leading student of religious liberty and church-state relations in America. Dr. Hall earned a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College (IL) and a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia. Hall’s primary research and writing interests include American political theory, the relationship between religion and politics, and religious liberty/church-state relations.
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Mentioned in this Episode:
The Center for Research, Culture, and Democracy: https://crcd.net/
CRCD's Religious Liberty in the States Project:
https://religiouslibertyinthestates.com/
https://crcd.net/projects/religious-liberty-in-the-states/
2025 RLS Report: https://religiouslibertyinthestates.com/downloads/
Dr. Paul Mueller: https://aier.org/people/paul-mueller/
Dr. John Wilsey: https://www.sbts.edu/faculty/john-d-wilsey/
Dr. Mark David Hall: https://www.regent.edu/faculty/mark-david-hall/
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The Ciceronian Society's 2026 Fall Symposium: “Scholars and Educators in a Brave New World”, Oct 22-24 in Holland, MI
The Ciceronian Society's 2027 Spring Conference in Virginia Beach, VA, March 11-13
Proposals are due Sept 1, 2026: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference-spring/call-for-conference-papers/
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