The Founding Myth, Andrew L. Seidel

 

The Founding Myth:  Why Christian nationalism is un-American by Andrew L. Seidel

Started: May 6, 2026
Completed: May 12, 2026
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: My wife recommended Seidel to me
Media: Audio

Review:

This is an excellent analysis of how completely wrong Christian Nationalism is about Christian influence on the founding of the United States.  To the extent it is possible to tie Christianity to the founding, those influences have been detrimental (e.g. slavery) and reversed.  The detail and methodical analysis is both useful and enlightening.

American Crusade, Andrew L. Seidel

 

American Crusade:  How the Supreme Court is weaponizing religious freedom by Andrew L. Seidel

Started: June 11, 2024

Completed: July 30, 2024

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: My wife (likely the Opening Arguments podcast)

Words for which I sought help:

abstemious -- not self-indulgent, especially when eating and drinking.

solipsism -- the quality of being very self-centered or selfish

vertiginous -- causing vertigo, especially by being extremely high or steep

Review:

Reading this book, it does not feel concise.  It feels dense.  It feels heavy.  The tons of footnotes bely how detailed this book actually is.  Seidel, however, has taken a topic that could fill a much, much larger multi-volume tome and drilled down to the most important points.  Every page, every paragraph, most sentences are important.  I learned a lot.  I relearned a lot.  I feel like I know how this attack on American freedom works.  What a fantastic book.  I hope that there are no new cases to discuss in the future, but we all know there will be until the crusade is finally crushed.