A six-hour TV series slated for showing by WEDU-TV from Oct. 11-13 will document the role that religion has played in American public life in its 400-year history.

The documentary, “God in America is a co-production of American Experience and Frontline. It will be aired on all three nights from 9 to 11 p.m., according to their website.

Unlike other TV specials that have dwelt on spiritual beliefs, “God in America” seeks to understand the role religion played in shaping American history, and how ideas and experiences of faith have affected the cultural, social and political life of the U.S., Tampa Bay Online reported.

Executive producer Michael Sullivan told Tampa Bay Online that all faith traditions are given fair and equal treatment. The chief editorial consultant for the series is Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University and author of “Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t.”

Prothero told American-Statesman, “Americans are awash in a sea of faith, but their knowledge about religious faiths and religious history often runs as shallow as their commitment to religion runs deep. A series like ‘God in America’ can help correct that imbalance and provide the basis for a common understanding.”

“God in America” begins with how Europeans came to America and shared their Christianity with the American Indians, sometimes forcefully; then proceeds to show the role of Christianity in slavery and in the Civil War, American-Statesman said.

Also covered is the interaction between Protestants and Catholic immigrants in the 19^th century, and the Scopes monkey trial which exemplified the clash of science and religion, American Statesman said.

The series also includes civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., moral majority leader Jerry Fallwell and evangelist Billy Graham, Tampa Bay Online said.

“God in America” was made in partnership with the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, the Fetzer Institute, The Freedom Forum, the First Amendment Center, Sacred Space International and other organizations, according to BeliefNet.

The timing of the series approximates a time when the most recent Pew Forum survey findings showed that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons scored highest in religious knowledge, Tampa Bay Online said. (For background, see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/09/agnostics-atheists-score-higher-on-religion-test-than-christians-13862).

They were followed by white evangelical Protestants, while Hispanic Catholics scored lowest, despite the fact that six in 10 U.S. adults considered religion to be “very important” in their lives, according to Tampa Bay Online.

American-Statesman said that it is hopeful that “God in America” will allow viewers to have an understanding of the contextual implications of current conflicts regarding issues such as abortion, homosexuality, health care, war and the economy.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

The Christian music festival, Rock the River West’s next stop will be at Edmonton’s Telus Field in Canada on Aug. 28, from 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The festival, which is a project of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, will feature Christian bands such as Starfield, Skillet, Flyleaf, Hawk Nelson, Downhere and Lecrae. There will also be sermons from Franklin Graham, the Edmonton Journal said.

Of the event Graham said, “For so many young people, their lives are upside down and in a mess and they don’t even know why. That’s why I’m so excited to have this opportunity to share the message of God’s love with all of these young people. It’s a chance to change thousands of lives,” the Edmonton Journal said.

Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, is known for being straightforward when he preaches the gospel. He was disinvited from speaking at the Pentagon on the National Day of Prayer upon the instigation of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation due to comments he made about the Islamic faith (see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/05/national-day-of-prayer-observed-nationwide-despite-ruling-controversy-12004).

Over 170 churches are involved in this Christian rock event. Fred Weiss, executive director of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada said, “That’s one of our goals: to help the church work together to impact a community,” the Edmonton Journal said.

Weiss also expressed pleasure that the event will bring together young people together in faith. The first Rock the River tour took place last year and some tens of thousands came to the series of daylong Christian concerts that were held along the Mississippi River.

Tim Neufeld, lead singer of Starfield said of the concert,  ”My hope always is that Jesus is the star and that it’s an event that points people toward Him and mentors people in that relationship. I think the Billy Graham Association has done a great job of that over the years. And if that’s what’s happening and people are coming to Christ and lives are being changed because they were able to come to this event, I’m all for it,” Edmonton Journal said.

Of Christian music in general Neufeld said, “It’s never going to be the cool, accepted music of the culture. It shouldn’t be, I don’t think. It’s not designed to be. The Gospel is supposed to be offensive and it’s supposed to dig (at) and annoy people. And if it’s not doing that, then it’s probably not truly Christian music,” the Edmonton Journal said.

Neufeld does see music as a way to convey one’s faith journey more realistically. He says, “I think it’s an inaccurate one-dimensional representation of what Christianity is about if it’s just all happy, happy, joy, joy all the time, because it’s certainly not my experience,” the Edmonton Journal said.

According to Neufeld, Christian music is evolving and getting more risky in the topics of songs, choosing themes that are culturally relevant. “Christian music is a niche. And it’s not ever going to be accepted as the cool…but I think it can do a great job at what it is,” the Edmonton Journal said.

For tickets go online at RocktheRiverTour. com. The cost is $10, the Edmonton Journal said.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage to pray with Billy Graham, the American preacher who harnessed the media and made Christian evangelism a global phenomenon, recently.

Evangelist Billy Graham in 1966. Graham has met with every U.S. president since Harry Truman.

Obama rode in his motorcade to Graham’s mountainside log cabin in Montreat, which is near Asheville, N.C., upon the conclusion of his North Carolina vacation with his wife, Michele, and friends.

It was Obama’s first meeting with the ailing evangelist who has counseled commanders in chief since Dwight Eisenhower.

This makes Obama, 48, the 12th president of the United States to meet with the 91-year-old Graham.

He is also the first head of state to call on the famed evangelist, who is ailing, at the latter’s mountaintop home.

The visit lasted about 30 minutes and included aides and advisers to both men.  Obama had a private prayer and conversation with Billy Graham.

Graham gave Obama two Bibles, one for him and one for the first lady, according to the Associated Press.

The AP report said the older Graham and Obama did most of the talking. They reminisced about their roots in Chicago, where Graham attended college  and began some of his ministry in the region.

Obama moved to Chicago after college and began his political career there.  They also talked about golf.

When the president got ready to leave, the two ended in prayer, according to the AP. The elder Graham prayed for the nation and asked God to give Obama wisdom in his decisions.

The president prayerfully thanked God for Billy Graham’s life, Franklin Graham told the AP.

Obama confided, like other presidents before him, how lonely, demanding and humbling the presidency can be, according to Larry Ross, presidential spokesman.

“That is a discussion that Mr. Graham has had with previous presidents who realize not only the demands but the loneliness of the job. And they’re humbled by that,” Ross said.

“The only way one can do [the job] properly is to draw on spiritual resources,” the AP reported.

The president also spoke to Graham’s son Franklin, also an evangelist.  The Army cancelled an appearance of the younger Graham to pray at the Pentagon for National Prayer Day a few days before.

Billy Graham has met with every president since Harry Truman.  Eisenhower once mused about recruiting Graham as a speechwriter, and the two often read the Bible together.  John F. Kennedy played golf with Graham in Palm Beach.

Graham ministered many times to Lyndon Johnson.  With Nixon, Graham conducted regular worship in the White House.

Gerald Ford played golf with him, Graham visited the Carters in the White House, and with Reagan they had a relationship that spanned 50 years.

George H. Bush vacationed with Graham half a dozen times, and Graham counseled Bill and Hillary in the White House. George W. Bush credits Graham for his spiritual rebirth.

Be Sociable, Share!

•