In a new documentary to be broadcast on PBS next week, producer Marilyn Mellowes will follow the role of religion in American history and politics. The New York Times said the premise of the series, titled God in America, is that “America cannot possibly be understood without understanding the role that religion has played over the centuries,” and, as Mellowes puts it, “while the founding fathers may have wanted to separate the institutions of church and state, they didn’t want to separate religion and politics.” Mellowes and other filmmakers on the project are not believers but, according to the NYT, offer a “respectful though not reverential treatment of religion” in their feature. David Belton, the director of the series, commented, “America constantly revisits what religion means…The orthodoxy had to be challenged by the fact that people keep arriving in this new land. Orthodoxy is disabused by the rupturous, revolutionary spirit of America.” God in America will air in a six-hour series for three nights beginning Monday, October 11.
