God's Art on PBS | DC

I am convinced that ignorance of US religious history underpins some of the most serious problems the country currently faces. So, I have been more than pleased with the new PBS approach to religious themed programming. The Story of India kicked off 2009 and was followed-up this past April with the two-hour series on the Buddha which included an online art exhibit.


This past Fall there was the fascinating, if somewhat slanted, God in America and a rich website which features self-guided tour information for visiting America's Sacred Spaces. And the momentum continued with the recent series The Calling, which was an absorbing and sometimes wrenching American education about the diverse clergy in America, and their challenges outside of the Sunday morning pulpit. Now PBS's long-running series Religion & Ethics Weekly is suddenly on my radar because of these series as well as the insightful examinations being done on PBS NewHour, The American Experience and Frontline. 

So like many others who are interested in increasing US religious knowledge, we are looking to PBS to increase its work with documentaries such as Freedom Riders, coming May 2011, and we will be encouraging many others to do the same.