Andrew L. Seidel (he/him)
Vice President of Strategic Communications
Americans United for Separation of Church & State

Virtual Program Meeting
American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom

Critically acclaimed author, constitutional attorney, and noted Fake Christian Andrew L. Seidel looks at some of the key Supreme Court cases over the last decade to show how a hallowed legal protection, freedom of religion, has been turned into a tool to advance privilege and impose conservative Christianity on others. His book of the same title hit shelves in September; autographed copies available from A Room of One’s Own, Andrew’s favorite independent bookstore in Madison. During checkout use the comment field to request a signed copy with the name to whom you’d like it inscribed. This will be one of his first book talks for this work. Seidel, who works at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been in this fight for more than a decade.

Andrew L. Seidel is no stranger to the Triangle Freethought Society. A constitutional and civil rights attorney, his last visit to the Triangle was to talk to us about his first book, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, and now he returns to talk about his second, American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom. He's also co-editor of an academic text, Law and Religion: Cases and Materials 5th Edition, with Prof. Leslie Griffin of UNLV law school.

Andrew’s been fighting to keep state and church separate for more than a decade. Currently, Andrew is the VP of Strategic Communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the largest organization fighting for that founding principle. Previously, Andrew served as a constitutional attorney at the Freedom From Religion Foundation beginning in 2011 and later as the Director of Strategic Response, running a nimble unit known as the Strategic Response Team.

Andrew is a Senior Correspondent at Religion Dispatches, a prolific author of op-eds and scholarly articles. He organized and contributed to the groundbreaking report “Christian Nationalism at the January 6, 2021, Insurrection,” which was published by the Baptist Joint Committee and FFRF and which aroused congressional interest. He’s appeared on Fox News to debate Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC, and hundreds of other media outlets. Visit Andrew’s YouTube Channel for many of these appearances and other excellent content.

Andrew graduated cum laude from Tulane University ('04) with a B.S. in neuroscience and environmental science and magna cum laude from Tulane University Law School ('09, part of the first post-Katrina class), where he was awarded the Haber J. McCarthy Award for excellence in environmental law. He studied human rights and international law at the University of Amsterdam and traveled the world on Semester at Sea. Andrew completed his Master of Laws at Denver University Sturm College of Law ('11) with a perfect GPA and was awarded the Outstanding L.L.M. Award for his work as the Erik Bluemel International Environmental Law Fellow.

Before dedicating his life and law degree to keeping state and church separate, Andrew was a Grand Canyon tour guide and an accomplished nature photographer.