On Monday, PBS began airing a new mini-series entitled, "God in America". I haven't seen it, yet. It sounds interesting.
PBS: God in America
You can view the trailer, here:http://video.pbs.org/video/1493303211/
Not surprisingly, the show is getting both praise and criticism.
Washington Post. . .
"God in America," a three-night joint production from "Frontline" and "American Experience" that begins Monday night, blends two subjects that most folks avoid in polite company -- religion and politics. It compellingly presents an American history that has been alternately ruined and elevated by faith.
Even though the title suggests a subject that is far too broad, the series is commendably evenhanded and sober, as one would expect. If there were urgent-care centers for people who've flipped their lids watching too much Fox News or MSNBC, the nurses there would strap these frantic citizens to gurneys and administer "God in America" via a nice, slow IV drip, like a powerful PBS antibiotic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/10/AR2010101003445.html
Chicago Tribune. . .
For those who believe Christianity is as American as apple pie and baseball, the six-hour, three-part PBS miniseries "God in America" starting Monday will delight.
But for those who believe the U.S. was intended to be a beacon for all people to peacefully pursue happiness regardless of whether they worship God or how, the miniseries may disappoint.
It is perhaps divine providence that actor Michael Emerson portrays Puritan pioneer John Winthrop. Emerson is best known for his role as Benjamin Linus in " Lost," and that's precisely what this miniseries turns out to be.
Though its central premise that religious belief has shaped America's identity makes sense, its primary focus on Christianity misses the mark.
L.A. Times. . .
The ongoing struggle between the old and the new, the orthodox and the liberal, the group and the individual, the earthly and the ethereal, rules and revelations, self-protecting elites and aspiring masses has characterized the national narrative in its secular and spiritual forms since visitors from Europe first set forth upon this continent their new notions. (Brief respect is paid at the series' beginning to the less dogmatic beliefs of the people who were here before them.) "God in America" goes so far as to suggest that the Revolution itself was a foregone conclusion, having already been locally rehearsed many times over in the fight for freedom of religion -- and also, it should be said, for freedom from religion.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/11/entertainment/la-et-god-in-america-10112010