God in America

2010
God in America

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 A New Adam Oct 11, 2010

The origins of America’s unique religious landscape—how the New World challenged the faiths the first European settlers brought with them. A new message of spiritual rebirth swept through the colonies, kindling a rebellious spirit that fused with the political upheaval of the American Revolution.

EP2 A New Eden Oct 11, 2010

The beginnings of America’s experiment in religious liberty, examining how the political alliance between evangelical Baptists and enlightenment figures such as Thomas Jefferson forged a new concept of religious freedom—first in Virginia and ultimately in the Bill of Rights.

EP3 A Nation Reborn Oct 12, 2010

How religious belief shaped the origins of the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln’s actions during the conflict. As Northern abolitionists and Southern slaveholders clashed over the question of slavery, each side turned to the Bible to argue its cause, with each side declaring God was on its side.

EP4 A New Light Oct 12, 2010

The intellectual and cultural conflicts between traditional religious beliefs and the forces of modernity, which reached a crescendo in the 1925 trial of John Scopes, a Tennessee teacher arrested for teaching evolution.

EP5 Soul of a Nation Oct 13, 2010

A contradiction at the heart of the post-war era: while the Supreme Court embarked on decisions that required government actions to have a secular purpose, fresh religious energy surged through the nation, fueling the Cold War fight against “Godless Communism” and driving the civil rights movement which produced leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.

EP6 Of God and Caesar Oct 13, 2010

In the present day, exploring the political aspirations of the religious right, the dynamics of the contemporary religious marketplace, and the re-emergence of a religious voice in the Democratic Party.
7.4| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 11 October 2010 Ended
Producted By: Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/
Synopsis

God in America explores the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America, from the first European settlements to the 2008 presidential election. This series examines how religious dissidents helped shape the American concept of religious liberty and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena; how religious freedom and waves of new immigrants and religious revivals fueled competition in the religious marketplace; how movements for social reform -- from abolition to civil rights -- galvanized men and women to put their faith into political action; and how religious faith influenced conflicts from the American Revolution to the Cold War.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Trailers & Images

Reviews

rgcustomer A miniseries like this is likely to be controversial... as is a review of it.This was an interesting, if biased, three-part miniseries (in six parts each about 55 minutes long on the web) on Christianity in the US. I found the first 4 hours to be the most useful, perhaps because I didn't have as much familiarity with early US religious history as I do with the last 80 years or so.The title "God in America" does tell you what to expect -- it's not Allah in America, or Buddha in America, or even Religion in America. Although the series does make some very brief examination of other religions ("Judism" as one person calls Judaism, and Islam) and also very briefly looks at atheism, it's almost entirely about Christianity, and presenting it in as positive and patriotic a light as possible, subtly questioning the First Amendment separation of church and state, while still appearing educational.More time should have been spent on discussing the religion of native Americans, as their god(s) have been in America far longer than any more-recently-imported gods. Other than a brief prelude in the first episode, they are completely ignored.Also ignored, Lief Erikson discovered and temporarily settled somewhere in America (perhaps Newfoundland or Massachusetts) for the European Vikings in the decade 1000-1010. He had battles with native Americans, although there didn't appear to be an attempt to convert them. Lief was a Christian at the time, and had spread Christian beliefs in Greenland.I didn't know much about the original European religions imported to the US, so I was surprised to learn of the strong Anglican roots of the southern colonies, something they share in common with English-speaking Canada of the times. It was surprising that they omitted the fact that it was forced to become the Episcopal church, to avoid allegiance to the monarch of England, while the Catholic church was not required to do the same for its allegiance to the head of state of the Vatican.All favorable religious claims are taken at face value, and unfavorable religious claims (such as those supporting slavery) are glossed over. They seem to have missed the New Testament verses Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22-4:1, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10, and 1 Peter 2:18-25. Slavery is wrong, but you can't say it's not Christian. If the US Civil War came to be about a Christian argument about slavery, then some explanation as to why these verses don't count, and yet deserve to remain in the Bible, really needs to be there.The series strongly links Christianity to liberty. For example, it is shown as the underpinning of the black civil rights movement, but it is not shown as also the religion of the anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-black KKK at the same time (in fact, I never heard KKK mentioned at all, despite their infamous flaming crosses), and it is not shown as also the primary opposition to the LGBT civil rights movement of recent decades (not mentioned at all as a civil rights movement). Last, the Christian hostility to atheism is viewed mostly as how atheists used the courts to attack Christianity, and were viewed as un-American. Despite now being the second-largest group in the US, after Christians, their own story is largely ignored except as how Christians viewed it. We never learn of their thought processes, and their world views.The Christian activist Rick Warren is mentioned in the final episode as an example of the way religious groups were stepping back from politics. But later, the series omits his controversial appearance at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration (they show the inauguration, but don't mention Warren here), after his anti-LGBT advocacy in Uganda in 2008, which likely contributed to the Ugandan "kill the gays" bill the same year he spoke at Obama's inauguration.For perspective, it would have been useful to compare the religious history of Canada, a nation that I wager is at least as diverse of religious opinion as the US, despite the video's bold (and wrong) claim that the US is the most religiously diverse country on the planet. In both countries, Christians are said to make up about 82-83% of the population, and no religion is the next largest general group at about 12-13%, followed by Judaism at about 1-2%. The largest Christian denomination in each is Catholic. This doesn't seem diverse to me, and certainly doesn't indicate the US as unique when Canada has strikingly similar numbers. The UK, which plays the role of "baddie" in this series turns out slightly more diverse, with about 47% Christian, 46% no religion, 3% Muslim, and 1% Hindu.I'm also baffled that the series omits almost entirely the Mormons, with only a brief mention of the Latter Day Saints, not mentioning that they dominate one state, and are a fast-growing religion. They should have said whether, for purposes of the miniseries, they were considering Mormons to be Christians, as many Christians do not.And although Scientology is a small movement, it has very big name publicity, and being grown in the US it deserves a mention.Perhaps most bizarrely, the series paints Obama as a new unifying Christian president, despite the fact that he rejected his own United Church of Christ pastor when the election campaign got tough, and that nearly 20% of the US population now say he is Muslim.Anyway, to sum up, I recommend the first 4 hours or so, because (assuming they are accurate) they present a basic outline of the history of Christianity in the USA, which is useful to understand how the past is influencing things today. The final 2 hours or so are less useful. I'm certain that the 20th century and current events are covered better elsewhere, although perhaps not in a single film.