kayedacus's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know if Andrew Seidel chose his own narrator for the audiobook or if his publisher did, but Christopher Grove does a great disservice to the important topics covered in this book by being monotone and seemingly disinterested in what he was narrating.
pandacat42's review against another edition
3.0
It’s most everything you think you’re going to read. For me it was one of those “preaching to the choir” books, so it was hard to hold my interest.
burdasnest's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
DNF, but I invested my time in about 2/3 of this book. I have a lot of complicated feelings about The Founding Myth. First, I agree with Seidel's perspective and (lack of) religious beliefs, and am also the type to be open to to the arguments he makes and the evidence he provides. With that in mind though, who is this book for? Because the people who would read this book and be receptive likely already have come to the same conclusions as Seidel and will find the content repetitive. On the other hand, people who are not already on the same page as Seidel will not be persuaded by The Founding Myth because they will find their beliefs attacked alongside the logical arguments that show the founders' clearly intended separation of church and state. Evangelical atheism doesn't lend itself to convincing religious folks to secular arguments.
I've been on a quest this year to read up on Christian Nationalism and womanhood in the US, and have come across so many good books, like Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Cultish by Amanda Montell, and Disobedient Women by Sarah Stankorb, and I can't say I would recommend this one to anyone not looking to make a legal argument about the separation between church and state. If Seidel wanted to reach a wider audience, he should have taken a note from Beth Allison Barr in The Making of Biblical Womanhood and established common ground and empathy with believers instead of demonizing organized religion and putting them off to his entire argument for secular government.
I've been on a quest this year to read up on Christian Nationalism and womanhood in the US, and have come across so many good books, like Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Cultish by Amanda Montell, and Disobedient Women by Sarah Stankorb, and I can't say I would recommend this one to anyone not looking to make a legal argument about the separation between church and state. If Seidel wanted to reach a wider audience, he should have taken a note from Beth Allison Barr in The Making of Biblical Womanhood and established common ground and empathy with believers instead of demonizing organized religion and putting them off to his entire argument for secular government.
katiemulcahy122's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
5.0
My only issue with this is that I listened to the audiobook, which was good but not helpful when I wanted to go look stuff up (and listening to the insanity got me really heated). But altogether, this was a fascinating book that really shredded the idea that the any part of the founding of the United States was influenced positively by Christianity.
leemiller2112's review against another edition
5.0
This is essential reading for anyone who has forgotten, or is in denial, that American was founded as a secular nation.
bergstrom's review against another edition
4.0
Worth the read - gets into details that I'd been vaguely aware of, but goes into the events that demonstrate how strongly the founding of our country was secular. Additionally touches on the pledge, in god we trust, and the 10 commandments - all commonly brought up as a Christian basis.
elentikvah's review against another edition
3.0
After first hearing of this book on Seth Andrews' The Thinking Atheist podcast, I have been looking forward to reading it for some time.
Taught Christian revisionist history throughout the 1980's via Abeka, BJU Press, Marshall's The Light & the Glory series, and Wallbuilders from my earliest years - now having deconstructed this indoctrination and working to see the history of America (including the Founders) through a more accurate lens - little in this book's description of the arguments of Christian nationalism are new or surprising. In fact, most of it breaks my heart, because I am the product of this fallacious teaching.
Unfortunately, this is the book that my family and childhood friends would never read. Despite the excellent points that support the historical position, in this upside-down world Mr. Seidel is "preaching to the choir."
This books does a wonderful job of elucidating the tenets of Christian nationalism and debunking them. So for the reader for whom this material is less familiar, The Founding Myth may give you at peek into the mental gymnastics that is so common within this subculture. One could have wished to see it taken a step further into specifics of how to counter the diatribe of post-2016. On a personal note, I was thrilled to see the intentional deceit, false inclusion, and anti-Semitic aspect of the term "judeo-Christian" called out.
Rating 3/5 "liked it"
12 hrs and 58 mins / ~350 pages
Audiobook / Kindle
Taught Christian revisionist history throughout the 1980's via Abeka, BJU Press, Marshall's The Light & the Glory series, and Wallbuilders from my earliest years - now having deconstructed this indoctrination and working to see the history of America (including the Founders) through a more accurate lens - little in this book's description of the arguments of Christian nationalism are new or surprising. In fact, most of it breaks my heart, because I am the product of this fallacious teaching.
Unfortunately, this is the book that my family and childhood friends would never read. Despite the excellent points that support the historical position, in this upside-down world Mr. Seidel is "preaching to the choir."
This books does a wonderful job of elucidating the tenets of Christian nationalism and debunking them. So for the reader for whom this material is less familiar, The Founding Myth may give you at peek into the mental gymnastics that is so common within this subculture. One could have wished to see it taken a step further into specifics of how to counter the diatribe of post-2016. On a personal note, I was thrilled to see the intentional deceit, false inclusion, and anti-Semitic aspect of the term "judeo-Christian" called out.
Rating 3/5 "liked it"
12 hrs and 58 mins / ~350 pages
Audiobook / Kindle