'First Freedom' on PBS examines religious rights sought by Founding Fathers

Published: 12/14/2012 - Updated: 2 days ago
BY ROB OWEN
BLOCK NEWS ALLIANCE

PBS's First Freedom: The Fight for Religious Liberty (8 p.m. Tuesday) takes a look back at the religious rights America's Founding Fathers intended through a mix of dramatic re-creations — filmed in Colonial Williamsburg and elsewhere, mostly along the East Coast in historic, colonial settings — and on-camera interviews with contemporary historians.

The 90-minute documentary begins in 1630 and advances through the years to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and drafting of the Bill of Rights.

"The great flaw in the Puritan experiment was the inability to allow serious dissent," narrator Brian Stokes Mitchell says. "But democracy in the 1600s seldom extended to faith. It would take another century to carve out the great American achievement of religious freedom. It would take a revolution."

While the notions of religious freedom and separation of church and state might seem like topics out of a musty history book, look no further than the most recent presidential election to see how the topic remains relevant. As I went to watch First Freedom, a tweet on my Twitter feed showed just how relevant as it linked to a WhiteHouse.gov petition that argued for stripping religious institutions of their tax-exempt status for tax-code violations that involve the mixing of religion and politics.

http://www.toledoblade.com/TV-Radio/2012/12/14/First-Freedom-on-PBS-examines-religious-rights-sought-by-Founding-Fathers.html

Previews at link.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2291371326/