Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer

by John D. Wilsey

A conservative perspective on vital questions about religious liberty
 
In this timely book, historian John D. Wilsey addresses urgent questions about religious freedom in America. How have conservatives historically understood the meaning of religious freedom? How do Americans who identify as conservatives think about religious freedom in contemporary times? What are the differences between the historical and contemporary views, and why do those differences matter in the context of how conflicts relating to religious freedom are being handled today?
 
Writing for fellow Americans concerned about threats to religious liberty, Wilsey draws on US history to explain why rather than weaponizing religious freedom in the context of the culture wars, today’s conservatives need to rally around religious freedom in order to increase harmony between the interests of church and state. With wisdom and acuity, Wilsey charts a path forward for thinking about and maintaining a uniquely American the harmony between liberty and religion that each generation has received as an inheritance from the generations preceding theirs.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, History, Theology

288 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2025

Reviews

[Taylor Lazenby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilsey expertly accomplishes the task of writing a conservative primer, carefully distinguishing between conservative views but advocating for aspirational conservatism over and against any liberal/progressive ideology. I really hope Wilsey continues to write in this arena.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A conservative case, arguing the spirit of religion and liberty are mutually necessary and best defended by conservatism.

One of the sad spectacles of our current American politics is the weaponization of religious liberty. One political party uses fears over erosion of religious liberty to mobilize the religious, especially Christian, portion of its base. Others, fearful of the hegemony of a particular religious outlook, advance ideas of confining religious liberty to worship and personal devotion, creating a public square devoid of, and in some cases hostile to religious conviction. Sadly, the one thing all this has in common is fear, which has become a powerful driver of political rhetoric at the expense of harmony in our body politic.

John D. Wilsey argues in Religious Freedom that two spirits have shaped our national life from the nation’s beginnings. One is a spirit of religion. The other is a spirit of liberty. He believes both are necessary for our national life. Furthermore he contends that classic, Burkean conservatism offers the best prospect for sustaining the harmony between these two spirits.

He begins his argument by seeking to define what is conservatism. He acknowledges the contention between those who would claim this label. There are those who emphasize the permanent, sometimes inflexibly so, and others, who recognize the inevitability, of and even need for, change. However, Wilsey contends that a Burkean conservatism holds both the permanent and the evolving in a tension that moves with caution that is neither reactionary nor Utopian.

Wilsey then proceeds to unpack this conservatism under the categories of imagination, nation, ordered liberty, history, and religion. Imagination supports human dignity. In addition, it enables the forming of conscience through the embrace of the good, the true and the beautiful. Then, Wilsey considers the idea of nation, and how love of one’s nation, a proper patriotism, differs from an aggressive, ideological nationalism.

But how are order and liberty related? In chapter four, Wilsey proposes that order, particularly our constitutional order, precedes liberty. Specifically, order creates the conditions for our private and public life, including our religious life, to flourish. In turn, our religious life, ideally, points people to the highest goods. Therefore, liberty is guarded from turning into license and order into authoritarianism.

Likewise, history and tradition play a vital role in conserving the twin spirits of religion and liberty from generation to generation. They guard us from a rootlessness, seeing society, as Burke did, as a contract between the dead, the living, and the yet to be born. They offer wisdom, helping us understand when a tradition has outlived its time while guarding us from amnesia.

Finally, religion plays a crucial role in navigating the tension between permanence and change. It does so by defining the permanent things. the morality common to all people, everywhere through time. Religion helps us know where we may compromise and where we must stand.

In concluding, Wilsey asserts his thesis that true conservatism is best positioned to preserve the spirit’s of religion and liberty in our country. He reminds us that this goes deeper than politics:

“The aspirational conservative is prepolitical. The one possessing a conservative disposition aims for a higher moral destiny for persons and societies, guided by the light of permanent things, tradition, and just order. He also understands human fallibility and the real world. He reckons with the human condition marked as it is by limitation, imperfection, and change. the moral profit and ordered liberty of the human person is the primary disposition of the conservative disposition” (pp. 219-220).

Wilsey argues that this kind of conservatism may best build on our foundations of religion and liberty without losing the rich inheritance we have received.

I would love for those who embrace the label of “conservative” to read this “primer.” Likewise, religious leaders may find value both in Wilsey’s apologetic for the importance of religion in our national life, and its proper boundaries. Wilsey sets a high standard for both the religious and the political among us. However, I would like to see more exploration of situations where order conflicts with liberty. Sadly, “order” and “permanent things” have been used to subjugate significant portions of our population. It has upheld, rather than resisted, despotism.

Lastly, I affirm Wilsey’s effort as an evangelical Christian, to articulate a thoughtful and rigorous work of political philosophy. Sadly, as Mark Noll argued in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, evangelicals have been noted far more for activism than for thought. That helps explain some of the instances of our misbegotten activism. It is to be hoped that pastors, politicians, and concerned citizens will read this work. Ideally, they will act more thoughtfully to conserve and extend our traditions of religious freedom and civil liberty.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Rob Sumrall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilsey's writing style is at times dense and laborious, but his thoughts are provocative and worthy of the effort. He introduces the reader to thought leaders who helped established conservatism (don't think Fox News or alt-right; think classical conservatism). He avoids the tropes of America-first bravado ("Americans are not ontologically or morally superior to others." p. 7).

His central argument is clear: "My argument for this book is simple. American conservatives are in the best position to articulate and defend the best of the American character by receiving, venerating, applying, and handing down the tradition of harmony between he spirits of liberty and religion" (23). In other words, religious freedom and liberty go hand in hand.

If you can wade through Wilsey's deep thoughts and dense writing style (some paragraphs paginate over multiple pages... for a single paragraph), the book is enlightening. His arguments are cohesive and historically informed. Definitely on the academic side, but worth the read!

[Charles Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slightly misleading title, though the subheading clarifies. This is really a primer on “aspirational” conservatism, where religious liberty is only but one component (albeit a critical one). That said, a fantastic book. Helpfully critiques various strands of conservatism, under an umbrella term which he labels “Ottantottism” - an uncritical, inflexible conservatism that clings to the past for past’s sake.

Wilsey, in following Russell Kirk, contends that aspirational conservatism seeks to (1) preserve the transcendentals (the true, the good, and the beautiful); (2) fosters the imagination; (3) be patriotic without succumbing to nationalistic excess; (4) preserve a justly-ordered liberty; (5) gain wisdom from history rather than mere theory (what differentiates Burke from Paine, and the American from French Revolutions); and (6) preserve religious liberty, which in Wilsey’s assessment necessitates disestablishment.

This book is, in my estimation, reflects the clearest articulation of an historically *Baptistic* defense for religious disestablishment, and is thus worth engaging.

[Jared Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Wilsey is a first-rate historian and accomplished author. Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer is, perhaps, his best book to date. I found Wilsey’s argument for “aspirational conservatism” both helpful and persuasive. Readers familiar with Wilsey’s previous work will not be surprised to find figures like Alexis de Tocqueville again playing a prominent role in his latest book. Wilsey has also done us a service in drawing from lesser-known conservative voices like Peter Viereck. Though “Religious Freedom” appears in the subtitle, it probably belongs in the subtitle. The book is, at heart, a treatise on conservatism. Wilsey does, however, make a very strong case that historic conservatism is the best bulwark available for religious liberty. Highly recommended.

[Blake Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay… useful as a “conservative primer.” He deals with Stephen Wolfe pretty well, but doesn’t raise at all the argument of a Doug Wilson, who is not arguing for a Christian prince, and yet does want Christianity publicly acknowledged as the American religion. To me that is the real struggle to wrestle with, and I’m very disappointed that Wilsey said nothing at all.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched book with a few strong chapters, though the title is a bit of a misnomer (in my opinion) and I felt the structure of the book was a bit wonky in the second half.

Video review here: https://youtu.be/eF4ltdat6d8

[Adam Kareus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty indepth run through of the history of religious freedom within the Amercian context. Wilsey looks at what a conservative is, as well as how conservatism is what is needed for religious freedom. If this is a topic that interests you and you want a histocial discussion- grab it.

[Brady Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Formal review forthcoming in Modern Age Journal

[Trevor Binkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading. I’ll be taking many through this book in the years ahead.

[Samuel Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great and inspiring definition of what it means to be a conservative. I recommend this to anyone interested in the historical understanding of what it means to be a conservative.

[J. J.]

Easily the most important book I read all year.