God In America

God in America debuts on PBS

Since the days when the Puritan “city on a hill” beckoned on the horizon of the New World, religious faith and belief have forged America’s ideals, molded its identity and shaped its sense of mission at home and abroad. For the first time on television, PBS’s new documentary series 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. The series details, with astonishing breadth, the role religion played and continues to play in shaping the United States culturally, politically and socially. Gathering together the foremost among historians, religious scholars and leaders, PBS examines how religion shaped the foundational documents and ideals of American government, how it informed passionate debates surrounding slavery and the Civil War, the ways religion was a driving force behind the Civil Rights Movement, the unique atmosphere of modern American religiosity, and everything in between. As the Council begins its collaboration with Sacred Space International, we celebrate their contributions to this project, in which they provide resources for individuals and groups to engage the wonderfully diverse religious communities in several major U.S. cities through self-guided tours in conjunction with the God in America series.