Dismantling Christian Nationalism: A Bold Start, but Not the Whole Story
Andrew L. Seidel’s The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American is a blistering critique of one of America’s most pernicious myths: that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. With a sharp pen and a fearless approach, Seidel dismantles the theological and historical distortions propping up Christian nationalism. And in today’s political climate, where these distortions are used to undermine democracy, that’s no small task.
Seidel doesn’t just poke holes in Christian nationalist arguments—he obliterates them. He uses history, constitutional law, and plain logic to show how the founders explicitly rejected the idea of a religious state. His style is direct, accessible, and unapologetic, making complex ideas digestible for readers outside the academic or legal professions. It’s the kind of clarity that cuts through the noise and hits right at the heart of the issue: Christian nationalism isn’t just wrong; it’s dangerous.
But while Seidel does a fantastic job dismantling the myth, his counter-narrative sometimes veers toward oversimplification. Yes, many founders were secular—or at least skeptical of organized religion—but religion still played a role in early American society, even as the founders sought to separate it from governance. Seidel’s insistence on painting the founders as champions of secularism risks creating a sanitized, binary narrative that feels like a mirror image of the myth he’s trying to destroy.
More importantly, The Founding Myth doesn’t dig deeply enough into the broader systems that Christian nationalism upholds. If you’re going to confront Christian nationalism, you have to confront the whole house of cards: white supremacy, patriarchy, nationalism, and the exclusion of marginalized voices. Seidel’s laser focus on theology leaves out these critical intersections, which limits the scope of his argument.
And for public historians, the book presents a challenge. Seidel tells us what’s wrong with Christian nationalism, but he doesn’t offer practical guidance for those of us working in digital media, film, museums, heritage sites, or classrooms, where these myths often surface. How do you engage an audience that’s been steeped in these myths? How do you tell more inclusive, honest stories about the founders while dismantling harmful narratives? That’s the kind of toolkit Seidel doesn’t provide—and the kind of work public historians have to do every day.
The Founding Myth is a bold and necessary book, especially for those grappling with the cultural and political impact of Christian nationalism. It’s a solid first step in rejecting the myth, but it stops short of the harder work of connecting these distortions to the broader systems of exclusion they perpetuate. For public historians, the real challenge is not just rejecting the myth but building something better—narratives that center the lived experiences of those excluded by the founders’ vision, both then and now.
