The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism

This is a fascinating book. It presents a facet of American history that I have never seen examined elsewhere with the exception of Mr. Coulombe's excellently readable U.S. history survey "Puritan's Empire". That book gives an overview of American history through the lens of Catholicism. Mrs. Hertz's "Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism" is a book chronicling the history of the Catholic Church itself in America. She tells of the influences that shaped it, the prelates who steered it and of their conflicting ideologies and what that has led to. I had never considered the idea that any country's history or form of government would or could affect The Faith. But it does! I have been reading for years that Freemasonry is evil but had never encountered an explanation of why that is so. Now I know and can clearly see the influence of Masonry in the warp and woof of our founding documents and trace exactly how these ideas have perverted the Faith here in America. But there is so much more that Mrs. Hertz discusses and it is very much worth reading. This is an engaging, thoughtful, wide-ranging but always cohesive treatment of Catholicism in America. I heartily recommend it.

I am reading Star-Spangled Heresy:Americanism in September 2020. I am almost 70 years old and America is experiencing the worst turmoil I’ve ever seen. The information in this book gives you the big picture of what has brought us here. It seems most commentators lament the past 50 years since the end of Vatican 2. However the seeds of today’s turmoil were planted way back in the Green Dragon Tavern by those rebelling against the authority of their lawful sovereign King George III. So instead of lamenting the Spirit of Vatican 2, the information in this book will convince you to lament the Spirit of 1776.

American patriotism is commendable, but an Americanism that idolizes America or refers to it as a new Israel is heresy. This book is an excellent analysis of Americanism, what it is and how to respond to it.

An easy and quick primer outlining the founding errors of America. Well worth the time, especially if you are new to the subject. To delve deeper into the subject I recommend "Puritan's Empire" by Charles Coulombe.

I'm very happy with the purchase.

When I ordered this book, I was afraid I was going to very boring, and I was going to put it down and just forget about.
This was not the case, there is so much information in this book, that it really warrants at least a second reading. This book explains the development of the Church in the United States, and documents the people and events who have shaped its development into what the Church in the US is today. There is no surprise in seeing where we ended up after understanding where we came from. This book is a must-read, and belongs on the shelves of every American Catholic, right next to "Puritan's Empire".

It talks about what mainstream historians are either too cowardly to acknowledge or have a hidden agenda

Great book ,easy read

The book was very informative. I think the Separation of Church and State was a bad idea, because it effectively cuts people off from grace and reduces it to trickle.

If one is interested in understanding the root causes of the modern world's chaotic decay, one cannot overlook America and its influence. In this book Solange Hertz clearly exposes the foundational errors that the American world order was built upon, and in doing so, highlights the only institution capable of building order in our fallen world; the Catholic Church. Unfortunately at the founding of the United States, early American Catholics were more interested in being American than Catholic. If the trajectory of the world is to be reversed it will necessarily follow upon the Catholic Church ceasing to follow the ideas of the Revolution and re-asserting her traditional doctrines.

Excellent and easy read.

Hertz has it exactly right. America is not the New Jerusalem. We should not make a God out of the Constitution. A must read for any libertarian