I'm the head of circulation at a small town library, although, unfortunately, not high enough on the ladder that I get to pick what materials the library purchases. We usually do a pretty good job, and I've managed to get a number of skeptical books into the collection, as well as make sure all of the pseudoscience/alternative medicine/feng shui/etc. junk gets Dewey numbers categorizing it as occult or quackery-but we recently got snookered into buying a lousy DVD.
It's called Saints & Strangers and is produced by FamilyNet Home Video (distributed by Vision Video). I think we bought it because it received a rather favorable review in Library Journal. It's supposed to cover the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers, and trace the influence of Christianity in the founding of the nation. The review and the back cover make it sound as if it's a balanced PBS special, but I thought it looked suspicious, so I checked in to it. It turns out (surprise) that FamilyNet is the TV network of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Vision Video sells only Christian products. Their web page, and the "study guide" they offer with the video, belies it's blatantly Christian slant.
Anyway, it's not something we can return, and we don't get a lot of funds for DVDs, so it's going in the collection. I was wondering if anyone knows of, or can recommend a counter-DVD that discusses the non-religious beliefs of the founders, or the sectarian/humanist/enlightenment goals of the founding of the nation?
Thanks
It's called Saints & Strangers and is produced by FamilyNet Home Video (distributed by Vision Video). I think we bought it because it received a rather favorable review in Library Journal. It's supposed to cover the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers, and trace the influence of Christianity in the founding of the nation. The review and the back cover make it sound as if it's a balanced PBS special, but I thought it looked suspicious, so I checked in to it. It turns out (surprise) that FamilyNet is the TV network of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Vision Video sells only Christian products. Their web page, and the "study guide" they offer with the video, belies it's blatantly Christian slant.
Anyway, it's not something we can return, and we don't get a lot of funds for DVDs, so it's going in the collection. I was wondering if anyone knows of, or can recommend a counter-DVD that discusses the non-religious beliefs of the founders, or the sectarian/humanist/enlightenment goals of the founding of the nation?
Thanks