Wednesday, January 23, 2008
My family and I have seen several documentaries on American history, the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution, etc. Most of theses documentaries have been produced by the mainstream media outlets like The History Channel, PBS, or the Discovery Channel. We do not watch these programs, and as a policy, my parents preview whatever films these channels release before allowing us kids to see them. Overall, the channels have a revisionist tilt, and I personally have noticed that they seem to be aimed at portraying the negative more than the good. I think that because of this over-hyped negativity, most people are discouraged from learning about history, and instead leave it to the experts.
With the documentaries that I have seen, I would like to make an exception. The program John & Abigail was outstanding -- probably the best film that PBS is capable of producing. The reenactments were fascinating (the man who did John Adams fit the role perfectly, and embraced it with passion), and the story inspiring. The only improvement that could have been made to the film is to dare to include the mentions of the religious beliefs that they shared, and which permeated the lives of both John and Abigail Adams (John almost became an ordained Congregationalist clergyman, and Abigail Adams was the pious daughter of a Christian pastor).
However, throughout all the mainstream documentaries, including this one on John and Abigail Adams, I have noticed that the Christian background of the stories told is either carefully edited out of the picture altogether, or, if mentioned at all, is dumbed down and derided. A new "documentary" about America's Founders and Founding Era is out there though, not projected by the mainstream media, and does not exclude the Christian aspect. I refer to the video Drive Thru History America, hosted by Dave Stotts, a very talented and entertaining narrator, who has previously traveled around the world to do a series on the Greek and Roman influence upon western civilization, and the influence that Christianity had on those civilizations -- truly fascinating!* To get an idea of the movie, there are several video clips which can be viewed through the website.
I highly recommend this video to all; it is fit for all ages. If you think that history is boring, maybe this video (and a post I wrote) will help you change your mind. :) Our Founding Fathers (and Founding Mothers) were more than just a few motionless, austere faces peering down at you from the National Portrait Gallery. They were real human beings, with eccentric personalities and ordinary human characteristics. But we can learn from them, because they were guided by their principles, which in turn were rooted in their faith in God.
*Dave Stotts has previously hosted a similar video -- a series on the ancient Greek and Roman influence on Western civilization. He looks at history in light of the Bible, and the early history of the Christian Church. He visits many of the old cities that are named in the New Testament, and wonderfully adds a historical background to the church to whom the Apostle Paul wrote his famous epistles.
One note on these, however. Although the videos are harmless, occasionally several images of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, which are quite lacking in modesty, are flashed. Everything else in the videos are fine; no profanity or anything like that. The narrative is homely and hilarious, and the lessons are inspiring and educational.
