Andrew Seidel is a constitutional and civil rights attorney and the author of two books: The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American and 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.

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

Andrew Seidel 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 considerable congressional interest. He has appeared on Fox News to debate Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC, and hundreds of other media outlets. 

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.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

What Ginni Thomas and Leonard Leo wrought: How a justice’s wife and a key activist started a movement https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/10/ginni-thomas-leonard-leo-citizens-united-00108082

Another Right-Wing Supreme Court SHAM RULING is Exposed for FAKE FACTS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEh5R3Bkf4

Oklahoma’s Religious Public Charter School Would Be an Affont to Taxpayers Everywhere https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/religion-schools-constitution-oklahoma.html

Oklahoma sued for funding US’s first ‘state-sponsored’ religious charter school https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/13/oklahoma-lawsuit-religious-public-charter-school

Religious identity and Supreme Court justices – a brief history https://theconversation.com/religious-identity-and-supreme-court-justices-a-brief-history-146999

CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM AND THE JANUARY 6, 2021 INSURRECTION https://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/Christian_Nationalism_and_the_Jan6_Insurrection-2-9-22.pdf

Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-other-billionaires-sokol-huizenga-novelly-supreme-court

Trump’s assault on American justice gives inspiration to authoritarians everywhere https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/06/donald-trump-assault-american-justice-gives-inspiration-authoritarians-everywhere

Americans United applauds updated federal guidance on religion and prayer in public schools https://www.au.org/the-latest/press/guidance-religion-prayer-public-schools/

COURT FOR SALE Supreme Court Corruption | Don Caron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fXwDifHPds

This lawmaker and rabbi was scheduled to deliver an invocation. His colleagues replaced him with a Christian  https://forward.com/news/547677/montana-lawmaker-rabbi-invocation-prayer-legislature-ed-stafman-legislature-house/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20was%20never%20given%20a,the%20rest%20of%20the%20session

Montana Rep (And Rabbi) Confronts Christian Lawmakers after Invocation Cancellation https://momentmag.com/montana-rep-and-rabbi-confronts-christian-lawmakers-after-invocation-cancellation/