It's nice to feel proud again

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American by Andrew L. Seidel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American" is a thoroughly and exhaustively researched work that presents a well reasoned and argued case which leaves no doubt that the "Christian" Nationalists claims upon our nation's founding are completely false, and in fact largely the exact opposite of fact. The author meticulously lays out every claim made, and goes back in most cases to original documents and letters to show that the "Founders" of the U.S. had no intention of establishing a Judeo-Christian based nation, but rather a nation founded on reason, natural human rights, and inclusion (not just tolerance) of any and all people as equals (gender and race aside). The book also shows convincingly the reasons and motivations that the founders drew from ancient and contemporary world history that led them to the conclusion that a secular government, apart from any religion, would be the most welcoming environment for all religious beliefs, and lack thereof, to flourish, to the good of all citizens. This is a detailed book, despite being only 300 pages. It is one that bears close reading, reading every sentence, and even every word, to extract the full and accurate meaning being presented. This book is an excellent reference (detailed footnotes and references at the end) as well as a detailed overview of the subject.

The icing on the cake for me was that this is the first time in over 20 years (since the war on terror, forever wars, etc) that i have felt more than a superficial patriotism for the United States. I was born in the US and it is my home, but the disgraceful leadership and policies have exterminated any pride and patriotism that i once had. This book, solidly based on facts and history, made me proud of our founding (albeit imperfect) and proud of what this nation was founded to be. My new pride is in spite of the rabid, insane nationalism that is so out and proud these days. This newfound pride is based on the literal concepts and foundations for our republic. It feels good to once again be proud to be American, even though we are on the brink of demise today. It gives me hope that perhaps we can revive the founding vision and spirit and save our nation before it becomes a fascist theocracy or worse. It's nice to feel some pride again.


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