Name: Study Group
Start: 2025-01-22T18:00:00-06:00
End: 2025-01-22T20:00:00-06:00

At our meeting on January 22, 2025, we will discuss the book:
**American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom**
Andrew Seidel
Copyright: 2022
Pages: 320

Is a fight against equality and for privilege a fight for religious supremacy? Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney and author of the critically acclaimed book The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, dives into the debate on religious liberty, the modern attempt to weaponize religious freedom, and the Supreme Court's role in that “crusade.”

Seidel examines some of the key Supreme Court cases of the last thirty years—including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (a bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple), Trump v. Hawaii (the anti-Muslim travel ban case), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (related to a group maintaining a 40-foot Christian cross on government-owned land), and Tandon v. Newsom (a Santa Clara Bible group exempted from Covid health restrictions), as well as the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade—and how a hallowed legal protection, freedom of religion, has been turned into a tool to advance privilege and impose religion on others. This is a meticulously researched and deeply insightful account of our political landscape with a foreword provided by noted constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, author of The Case Against the Supreme Court.

The issue of church versus state is more relevant than ever in today’s political climate and with the conservative majority status of the current Supreme Court. This book is a standout on the shelf for fans of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris. Readers looking for critiques of the rise of Christian nationalism, like Jesus and John Wayne, and examinations like How Democracies Die will devour Seidel's analysis.

**Andrew L. Seidel**
Andrew is an author and attorney who has defended the First Amendment for more than a decade, both in and out of court.
Andrew has dedicated his career to challenging religious privilege and battling Christian Nationalism. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book The Founding Myth; has appeared on Fox and Friends, MSNBC, The O'Reilly Factor, and numerous radio shows; speaks and writes extensively about religious freedom; and has been profiled by BBC News, Buzzfeed, International Business Times, and more.
After a decade as a constitutional attorney and director with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, he joined Americans United for Separation of Church and State. When not litigating cases or standing up to religious bullies or defending the First Amendment, he travels the country discussing religious freedom, church-state separation, constitutional law, and other issues affecting the secular movement.

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