The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American
- Downloads：2716
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-12-14 17:21:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Andrew L. Seidel
- ISBN：1454943912
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Tad
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Superbly researched。 He systematically defines and destroys every Christian nationalist position。
Chelsie Hermsen
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Excelleent Book！
Brandi McPherson
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We read and discussed this as part of our Political Action Network meetings during the pandemic lock-down。 It was a good look at the dangers of Christian Nationalists and gave some good arguments if ever confronted with Christian ideologies。
William Harmon
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You should read this important book。
Nick Meyers
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The author contrasts Judeo-Christian history， Biblical law/text with the Bill of Rights， the Constitution， and personal writings of the Founders to illustrate the argument。
Chris
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Such a great read。 Excited for more from Seidel。 I have heard him talk on various atheist podcasts， but what a good read。 He does a great job showing and proving how our founders went to great lengths to keep religion out of our founding documents and creation。 I like the chapters on all of our mottos and things， and how these really started in the 50s。 Finally， the commandment by commandment chapters showing how they are at odds with our Country's founding。 Such a great read。 Excited for more from Seidel。 I have heard him talk on various atheist podcasts， but what a good read。 He does a great job showing and proving how our founders went to great lengths to keep religion out of our founding documents and creation。 I like the chapters on all of our mottos and things， and how these really started in the 50s。 Finally， the commandment by commandment chapters showing how they are at odds with our Country's founding。 。。。more
Anthony
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A truly phenomenal work。 Andrew does an amazing job countering the accepted fallacies relating to whether or not America is a Christian nation。 He takes great care in identifying the myths around the founding of America and how religious groups and leaders have hijacked our history。 This is not an attack on religion， but he does dismantle the misconceptions that underlie the assertions made by religious leaders in American; who are more often than not， Evangelical Christians。 If you seek to und A truly phenomenal work。 Andrew does an amazing job countering the accepted fallacies relating to whether or not America is a Christian nation。 He takes great care in identifying the myths around the founding of America and how religious groups and leaders have hijacked our history。 This is not an attack on religion， but he does dismantle the misconceptions that underlie the assertions made by religious leaders in American; who are more often than not， Evangelical Christians。 If you seek to understand our history and want a clear and unbiased approach to the separation between Church and State， this is a great book。 。。。more
Michael Cox
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Well researched， demonstrated and organizedAny honest evaluation of the material within this book will lead its reader to the inescapable conclusion that America was not founded as a Christian nation， as so many claim。 The damage to our country that the erroneous idea of Christian nationalism is causing us is eluded to throughout， but not extensively handled in this work。
Cary
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Great premise， but completely unnecessarily long。 A book that should have been a paper。
Cindy Breeding
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Seidel ably dissects and dismantles the notion that America is a Judeo-Christian nation based on a Christian ethos。 He investigates the country's founding documents to find that the only religious references are the ideas of a creator and of providence， and that the founders were informed by Enlightenment principles as they dissented from the crown and constructed a new country。Doscomfiting and revealing， 'The Founding Myth' ends for a call to action: Americans should fight the steady march towa Seidel ably dissects and dismantles the notion that America is a Judeo-Christian nation based on a Christian ethos。 He investigates the country's founding documents to find that the only religious references are the ideas of a creator and of providence， and that the founders were informed by Enlightenment principles as they dissented from the crown and constructed a new country。Doscomfiting and revealing， 'The Founding Myth' ends for a call to action: Americans should fight the steady march toward Christian nationalism to preserve religious freedom。 。。。more
Emily Mellow
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I love this book。 I listened to the audiobook but we also own the hardback， and now I want to go back through it to find the wealth of amazing quotes。 Founding fathers bashing religion？ Give me more。 This book is rife with facts about American history that will squash all claims that the country was founded on any kind of religious ideals。 The author is obviously super well educated and experienced; I had never heard of him before reading this but my son， who is pursuing law， has。 I will look fo I love this book。 I listened to the audiobook but we also own the hardback， and now I want to go back through it to find the wealth of amazing quotes。 Founding fathers bashing religion？ Give me more。 This book is rife with facts about American history that will squash all claims that the country was founded on any kind of religious ideals。 The author is obviously super well educated and experienced; I had never heard of him before reading this but my son， who is pursuing law， has。 I will look for more of his work。 。。。more
Diane
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Very detailed。 No stone unturned。
Joe
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Written in excellent logic as only an attorney could， this book is a well-written mixture of American history and current events。 If you want a concise explanation of where some of our current American phrases （like "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God"） come from， Mr。Seidel explains it in plain English。 Well- and plainly- written and well-organized， this book is definitely worth the time。 Written in excellent logic as only an attorney could， this book is a well-written mixture of American history and current events。 If you want a concise explanation of where some of our current American phrases （like "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God"） come from， Mr。Seidel explains it in plain English。 Well- and plainly- written and well-organized， this book is definitely worth the time。 。。。more
Amanda GB B
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I listened to this book as an audiobook on Audible。This book is difficult to review， and difficult for me to assign a rating to。 I think it probably deserves 4 stars for a persuasive thesis， but I am taking the reader's prerogative to knock off a star because some of his approach just annoyed me！ I started off loving it， convinced it was going to be a five-star book for me， but I feel that it went seriously astray about 40% through。The positive: Seidel aptly demonstrates that the founding father I listened to this book as an audiobook on Audible。This book is difficult to review， and difficult for me to assign a rating to。 I think it probably deserves 4 stars for a persuasive thesis， but I am taking the reader's prerogative to knock off a star because some of his approach just annoyed me！ I started off loving it， convinced it was going to be a five-star book for me， but I feel that it went seriously astray about 40% through。The positive: Seidel aptly demonstrates that the founding fathers were not Christian in the way many of our foundational myths display them as， and that Christianity was not a specific thing they intended to influence the Declaration of Independence and Constitution。 The discussions of the history， beliefs， and behaviors of the founding fathers is the strongest part of the book， and could have been explored at greater length。 I would have also liked to see more explicit explanations of what did influence our foundational principals， and how that made the American experiment unusual。 Seidel definitely covers this， but it felt like there was room for more。Unfortunately， Seidel then devotes a lot of the book to dissecting how Biblical law is incompatible with America's foundational documents and ideas。 Seidel is obviously opposed to religion in general and Christianity in particular， and is somewhat hostile towards the Bible。 That is all fine， and honestly a pretty understandable viewpoint， but it surprised me how much it seemed to lead him to the worst possible conclusion at all turns。 I do not particularly think that assessing individual Biblical laws， in a legalistic method， is useful for determining if Christianity strongly influenced the Constitution - because despite what Christians may attest， there is a distance between the words of the Bible and the culture， ethics， and practices of Christianity。 Do the ten commandments stipulate exactly what Seidel interprets them to， in a much less inclusive and more disturbing way than we may believe？ Quite possibly！ Is that relevant to how American Christians apply their beliefs？ I am not sure it is。 I believe that the founding fathers， and generations of lawmakers after them， can have been the product of a largely Christian culture and be influenced by that outside of the strict interpretation of specific biblical laws。 And I do actually agree with Seidel that Christianity should NOT be involved in our government and legal system。 He very clearly demonstrates that it was not intended to be involved。 I also found some of Seidel's arguments surprisingly contradictory， or at least not supportive of his thesis in the way I think he intended。 He demonstrates how the Bible was used to support slavery， which is a historical truth。 But he then says that since slavery is un-American， and the ethical standards of the Bible support slavery， American ideals are not Biblical ideals。 He also acknowledges that slavery is a stain on American history with immense consequences。 Slavery IS antithetical to the American ideal。 It also existed at the time of the Constitution， many founding fathers owned slaves， and how to deal with that was literally part of the process of starting the country。 It gave the impression that his argument is that everything Biblical is bad， and everything constitutional is good， and the times that bad things have happened in this country have been because of religion。 That is， of course， a broad overstatement of his views - but I still think that there is an element of that belief hidden under the legalism。 Perhaps the issue is that these are two separate arguments- the first shows that the founding fathers did not intend to create a Christian nation， and it does that well。 The second is that there is an American ideal， represented by the Constitution but also not yet completely achieved， that is in conflict with Christian morals and ideals。 I think Seidel tries to limit his definition of Christianity to that contained in Christian nationalism， ignoring other belief systems and interpretations， and in that case his argument is valid。 He does prove that Christian nationalism is un-American。 I'll acknowledge my biases here - I do not believe that religion is an absolute negative， and while I think religion in general and Christianity in the US has a lot to answer for， I can also see some positives。 I disagreed with Seidel's interpretation of many Biblical passages， which I may have been more comfortable with if he had been clearer that he was speaking to specific types of Christianity。 I am not completely sure that he really was， though。 Despite opening the book with an argument that "Judeo-Christian" is a meaningless term that ignores Judaism， he then blurs all elements of the Torah and Bible into one set of ideals， all restrictive， violent， exclusionary， and regressive。 He then assigns all those ideals to Christian nationalism and speaks as if that is the only interpretation that can come from the Bible， ignoring any other element of religious philosophy。 Centuries of rabbinical discourse would likely have something to say about that！ Seidel isn't even wrong - so much of the Bible is violent， contradictory， upsetting， and from a time so different from ours as to be nearly inaccessible。 If you want a book that points all that out， this is for you。 At the end of the day， I found the arguments to be too limited， intentionally hostile， and incomplete。 。。。more
Craig Reges
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For the converted onlyThis book is filled with a lot of facts and citations that make it a valuable reference。 But if your goal is to refute CN， you will definitely have to do it yourself because it’s way too “attack dog” in its style to suggest to someone else who is a believer to read and expect they will get through it。
Jeffrey
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For a large part of this book， i felt that the focus was on why Christianity is wrong， generally， as opposed to why it is wrong to refer to America as a Christian nation。 Luckily， we didn't dwell too terribly long in that overtired ground。 Good ammunition for future arguments at Thanksgiving。 For a large part of this book， i felt that the focus was on why Christianity is wrong， generally， as opposed to why it is wrong to refer to America as a Christian nation。 Luckily， we didn't dwell too terribly long in that overtired ground。 Good ammunition for future arguments at Thanksgiving。 。。。more
AdamWho
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A well researched and written book destroying the myth that America is a 'christian nation'。Of course anybody who has bothered to read the constitution and/or the bible understands that such a claim was absurd。。。 Unfortunately the loudest proponents of this myth seldom have read either。 A well researched and written book destroying the myth that America is a 'christian nation'。Of course anybody who has bothered to read the constitution and/or the bible understands that such a claim was absurd。。。 Unfortunately the loudest proponents of this myth seldom have read either。 。。。more
Mike
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A thorough and well laid out argument。 And surprisingly readable given the subject matter。 Seidel keeps the tone human—almost conversational—while still building a rock-solid case for his premise。 No mean feat。
Casey
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An easy read。 Well-written in short focused chapters。 Recommended。
Bill Sawyer
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Stunningly Great BookWhile I expected a good book， I was surprised by a great book。 It systematically destroyed arguments about a Christian founding of the U。S。 Read this now。
Kimathy
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Spoiler alert: It's not a Christian nation。 And when it tries to be: it's worse than bad。 Spoiler alert: It's not a Christian nation。 And when it tries to be: it's worse than bad。 。。。more
Pat Lawlor
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Interesting arguments to prove the United States of America was not founded as a religious state。 There are many quotes from our founders， and many historical events。 3 men added "In God We Trust" to our coinage during the Civil War， which was totally fought on religious grounds， both sides totally convinced that their religious point of view was correct。 The same phrase was added to our paper money during the Cold War。 Much religious nationalism was pushed on the citizenry to counteract Rooseve Interesting arguments to prove the United States of America was not founded as a religious state。 There are many quotes from our founders， and many historical events。 3 men added "In God We Trust" to our coinage during the Civil War， which was totally fought on religious grounds， both sides totally convinced that their religious point of view was correct。 The same phrase was added to our paper money during the Cold War。 Much religious nationalism was pushed on the citizenry to counteract Roosevelt's pro-union stance。 Madison Avenue of the 40's and 50's put their most talented admen to the task to convince Americans that being religious was patriotic。 "Under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance during Eisenhower's presidency as a stop agains communism， as well as "In God we Trust" on postage stamps。 The early 50's saw the addition of a National Day of Prayer as well as a National Prayer Breakfast， again part of Madison Avenue's quest。 President Wilson was the first president to add "So help me God" to the oath of office。 This book also goes through each of the 10 commandments， explaining how the life they outline is the opposite of any humanitarian good will like the Golden Rule。 Enough said 。。。more
Dylan
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If you’re going to read this book， you’ve probably already made your mind up， or know what way you’re leaning in regards to how you’ll feel about this book。 That’s a long run on sentence。 But my point is， you’ll either agree with the title， or you don’t。 What follows inside is just a backup of the title。 Do you want that？ Do you want to hear what the author has to say about the thesis statement on the cover？ I did。 So I read it。
Billy
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Excellent readA well articulated narrative on why christian nationalism has perverted our founding principle of separation of church and state。 Those holding the flag in one and the bible in the other should hang their head in shame。
Christopher Baker
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Excellent， factual， well researchedThis is an excellent book。 Meticulously researched， factually sound with citations that would please any professor。 The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is due to the writing style of the author。 This book contains more commas than any other book you’ve probably read。 For me， it really hurt the flow of some ideas when they’re punctuated or divided by another， albeit related， idea。 It’s almost as if the author dictated the book and then didn’t quite edit enough。 Excellent， factual， well researchedThis is an excellent book。 Meticulously researched， factually sound with citations that would please any professor。 The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is due to the writing style of the author。 This book contains more commas than any other book you’ve probably read。 For me， it really hurt the flow of some ideas when they’re punctuated or divided by another， albeit related， idea。 It’s almost as if the author dictated the book and then didn’t quite edit enough。 Still， this book is fantastic， and given the events that happened at the US Capitol on Jan 6， 2021， the author should be considered nothing less than prescient。 I look forward to reading future works by this author。 。。。more
Josh Carter
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A very solid read， would recommend。
Zach
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Great。
Bob Lyons
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Mr。 Seidel makes quick work of the lie that christianity influenced the creation of the Constitution in any way。 In fact， the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were reactions against centuries of religious brutality and at that point were the most 'Godless' documents ever created。 From there he eviscerates the Bible and makes brilliant observations about the Civil War。 Don't expect entertaining humor。 This reads like a law school text book。 But totally worth the effort。 5 stars！ Mr。 Seidel makes quick work of the lie that christianity influenced the creation of the Constitution in any way。 In fact， the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were reactions against centuries of religious brutality and at that point were the most 'Godless' documents ever created。 From there he eviscerates the Bible and makes brilliant observations about the Civil War。 Don't expect entertaining humor。 This reads like a law school text book。 But totally worth the effort。 5 stars！ 。。。more
Brent
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Would've made a great essay。 Would've made a great essay。 。。。more
BK
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