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00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,358
(HORNS HONKING)

2
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I know of nobody that can deliver a man
from sin but God's son,

3
00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,039
the Lord Jesus Christ.

4
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And I wanna stand flat-footed
and boldly say

5
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:26,473
to God be the glory!

6
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,111
I am grateful for a saviour to preach
that can set people free.

7
00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,036
SCHAMA: There's no escaping
American fervour.

8
00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,351
You can feel its heat
right through the country,

9
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burning into politics.

10
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,480
For a long time now,
it's been the Republicans

11
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who have claimed to speak for God.

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Let it be said of our day
that we did build, protect

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00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:04,270
and pass on to a new generation
a shining city upon a hill.

14
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,553
I believe in the power of prayer
because I've felt it in my own life.

15
00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,554
The more time we spend with God,

16
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,837
the more we see that
he is not a distant king,

17
00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,113
but a loving father.

18
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,835
But in this election,
nothing is the way it's been.

19
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,189
Evangelical Christians suspect that
the Republican nominee, John McCain,

20
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,635
isn't really their man.

21
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,989
Even though they love
his choice of running mate.

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This time it's the Democratic nominee,
Barack Obama,

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who invokes faith as his inspiration.

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OBAMA: There's nothing that can stop us

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because that's God's intention.

26
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,392
(PEOPLE CHEERING)

27
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So, I just want all of you to pray
that I can be an instrument of God.

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He talks about transforming America,

29
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and what drives him is his religion.

30
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(PEOPLE CHEERING)

31
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That's an instinct with its roots
deep in the American past.

32
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Faith is what created America,
it's what gave Americans their freedom.

33
00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,390
To really understand this country,
you have to look into its history.

34
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And in America, the great historical
moments have always been acts of faith.

35
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...standing up for the freedom
of my people!

36
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For he made all things for himself.

37
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Yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil.

38
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People ask questions.

39
00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:14,108
(WAILING)

40
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And I want to tell you our God had
a purpose in Him for the day of evil.

41
00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,393
"Why would you say
such a thing, Preacher?"

42
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Because it's in this book.

43
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Whoa, blessed be his name.

44
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Brother, we trust you'll give us liberty
to talk on about Adam.

45
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How that Adam was made
just the way God wanted...

46
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,351
This is what real
American fervour sounds like.

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He said, "Comfort you
one another with these words."

48
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CONGREGATION: # In thy kingdom

49
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# Blessed saviour

50
00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,634
# Come and bid...

51
00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,951
These are Primitive Baptists
in rural Virginia.

52
00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,475
And when they began their droning song,
I was taken back centuries.

53
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# O come and reign forever

54
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All the way back,
to America's beginnings.

55
00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,668
# God of love

56
00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:29,232
# And prince of peace... #

57
00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,390
And that's where you've got to start,

58
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to understand why religion
has been such a potent force.

59
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(SINGING CONTINUES)

60
00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,833
The first settlers came to America
to escape persecution in England.

61
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They had to get away from
the heavy authority

62
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,748
of the established churches
in the Old World.

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Their hope was to be able
to worship in freedom.

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Thousands came to the new colonies,

65
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where they built their
own religious communities.

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Nearly all were Christians.

67
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But there was one group who needed
religious freedom more than most.

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My lot. The Jews.

69
00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:58,154
In 1658, 15 Jewish families sailed into
Newport Harbor, Rhode Island.

70
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They had been living in the
Dutch West Indies and Brazil,

71
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where they were allowed to practise
their religion

72
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but had few other rights.

73
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So they came to the Rhode Island colony,

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where they had been told
there was greater freedom

75
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than anywhere in the world.

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The community prospered,

77
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and they built this synagogue,
now the oldest in America.

78
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When the American Revolution began
in 1775,

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most Jews threw in their lot with
the Americans against the British,

80
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in the hope that in this new republic,
they might finally achieve

81
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what no country in the world
had ever given them,

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equality.

83
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:58,754
This place says everything to me about
the unique force of American freedom.

84
00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,959
The Jews who built this
beautiful synagogue

85
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had been living and worshipping
peacefully in Newport

86
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for more than a hundred years.

87
00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,873
But with the creation of a new republic,

88
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they had the audacity
to ask for something much bigger.

89
00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,912
Not just to be tolerated,
but to be treated as equal citizens,

90
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to have the vote
and to hold public office,

91
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,638
and that was unimaginable
anywhere else in the world.

92
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,436
When the president of
the new nation, George Washington,

93
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,193
visited Newport in 1790,

94
00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,751
the congregation made their audacious
request for full rights.

95
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,358
Washington was unequivocal in
a letter written to the synagogue.

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"Happily,Ħħ he wrote to them,
"the government of the United States,

97
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:56,794
"which gives to bigotry no sanction,
to persecution no assistance,

98
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"requires only that they who live
under its protection

99
00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,511
"should demean
themselves as good citizens."

100
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:13,071
Jews, citizens? Well, this really
was a revolutionary act.

101
00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,633
But a bigger question still remained.

102
00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,199
Would those rights be
established in the constitution?

103
00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,317
There was someone who was
determined that they should.

104
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,234
Thomas Jefferson,
third president of the United States,

105
00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,279
author of the
Declaration of Independence,

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and father of religious freedom.

107
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Jefferson believed in God, up to
a point, as the author of the universe.

108
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He thought Jesus of Nazareth
a great moral teacher,

109
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but as far as virgin births and walking
on water was concerned, forget it.

110
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,913
Jefferson was a man
of the Enlightenment,

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for whom the only God that mattered
was reason.

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That's why when he planned
one of his pet creations,

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the University of Virginia,

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he made sure
there was no school of divinity.

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And, a huge shock at the time,
no chapel.

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Instead of a long, dark nave,
Jefferson built this, a rotunda.

117
00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:43,432
Now, the circle and the sphere

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were the Enlightenment's
favourite symbol

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00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,030
for the harmony of the universe.

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It's a humane,
almost secular vision of the world.

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And at its centre, the centre of
the dome, is an oculus, an eye,

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admitting the light of reason
to banish superstition.

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Jefferson believed people
could preach all they liked,

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but the laws of America
had to make it clear

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that that was as far as it could go.

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Religion, any religion,
would be strictly voluntary.

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You would be at liberty to pray
in any way you wanted

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but you couldn't force your God
on anyone else.

129
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So Jefferson set
down his beliefs in this,

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the Virginia Statute
of Religious Freedom.

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The document I'm looking at ought
to be as well-known as the Magna Carta

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because it is the foundation
not just of religious freedom,

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and not just in America, but of
intellectual freedom in the world.

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Look at this,
a sort of brown ink and parchment.

135
00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,756
But it's dynamite. It's Jefferson's
little explosive charge.

136
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It's his bid in Virginia
to make America stand for

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freedom of conscience, freedom of
thought, freedom of expression.

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The first sentence is electrifying.

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No one had thought
of writing these words.

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"Whereas Almighty God
hath created the mind free."

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There it is, God and freedom
in the same sentence.

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00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:31,074
That's not what churches
wanted you to hear.

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He called it "a natural expression
of the American mind".

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Now, an awful lot of Americans
wouldn't have agreed with that.

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But that's how he wanted
America to stand in the world.

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00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:48,117
Secondly, he says, "The dignity
and decency and strength

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"of being able to choose our belief
or to have no belief for ourself

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"is our natural right."

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This may all sound as though
we can take this for granted.

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00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,150
No one took it for granted
until Jefferson and America said so.

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00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:13,559
Initially, these revolutionary ideas
only applied to the state of Virginia.

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But after independence, Jefferson and
Washington travelled around the country,

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campaigning for them to become
the law in the whole of America.

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They found a land
that was now home to a multitude

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of different religious sects,

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Baptists, Quakers, Lutherans,
Catholics, Anglicans, Jews.

157
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They told them that the only way their
freedoms could be guaranteed

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was if the law refused
to endorse any one of them

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as the state religion.

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And that's what happened.

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The first amendment to the constitution,
ratified on December 15, 1791,

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famously declared,
"Congress shall make no law

163
00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,239
"respecting an establishment of religion

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00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,551
"or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof."

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When he'd left the presidency in 1809,

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00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:32,314
Jefferson retired to the house he'd
designed in rural Virginia, Monticello.

167
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He tended his garden and explored
revolutionary ideas

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00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,796
in science and philosophy.

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Monticello is the physical expression
of a tidy mind.

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00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,994
But there's something
disturbing about it, too.

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Below the house are the quarters
of the Americans

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00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,078
for whom Jefferson's precepts
of freedom didn't apply,

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00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,951
his hundreds of slaves.

174
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,469
While Jefferson and the other
founding fathers argued over

175
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the finer points of freedom
of conscience,

176
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America's hundreds of thousands of
slaves languished in captivity.

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00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,071
It was in religion that they found
comfort and consolation.

178
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:40,033
Some slaves took Jefferson's fine words
about faith and freedom at face value,

179
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,113
none more so than Andrew Bryan.

180
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,716
Bryan led one of America's earliest
black Christian congregations.

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00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:56,834
It's still going,

182
00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,390
here at the First African Baptist Church
in Savannah, Georgia.

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00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,749
A non-ordained preacher, he organised
meetings of Savannah's slaves

184
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,593
to discuss the teachings of Jesus.

185
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,195
Simple stuff, really.
Nothing particularly radical.

186
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,828
But instead of welcoming Bryan's efforts
to spread the gospel to ungodly slaves,

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the city's white Christians reacted with
contempt and hostility.

188
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,319
It wasn't as if Bryan was
a revolutionary

189
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,472
calling for the immediate end
to slavery.

190
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,997
All he wanted to do was to create
a congregation of slaves.

191
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,277
But even this was too much
for the whites of Savannah,

192
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,433
who feared the blacks taking control
over any part of their life.

193
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,158
So, for his audacity,
Bryan and 50 of his followers

194
00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,915
were seized and flogged mercilessly.

195
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,877
There is a happy ending of sorts
to the story of Andrew Bryan.

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00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,519
His white owner, Jonathan Bryan,
got him released from prison,

197
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,751
and let him use his rice barn
for a church.

198
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,237
Bryan was officially
ordained a few years later

199
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,788
by a white preacher, Abraham Marshall,

200
00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,230
impressed by the black Baptists
in the barn.

201
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,595
By the time of his death,
he had achieved his dream,

202
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,436
a Christian congregation of slaves.

203
00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:01,195
But the true significance of Bryan was
not so much what he himself achieved,

204
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,510
but what he began.

205
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:09,236
The word of God spread from Savannah
out into the countryside.

206
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,594
Places like this abandoned plantation on
one of the islands off Georgia's coast

207
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,831
were visited by travelling preachers.

208
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,396
And for every Andrew Bryan with his
moderate brand of Christianity,

209
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,109
there were many with
a far more radical message.

210
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,192
When they read the gospel, it told them
not to wait for deliverance,

211
00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,910
but to rebel against their masters
and to take their liberty now.

212
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,948
The Christianity they preached,
and how they preached it,

213
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,794
took the white man's religion
and made it their own.

214
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,555
Six days a week,
the slaves on plantations like these

215
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,269
were absolutely the possession
of their master.

216
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:01,669
Sunday was different.

217
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,558
It was in religion that they
were able to come into their own,

218
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,029
to make their own community.

219
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,194
And they did it by developing
forms of worship,

220
00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,272
some of them carried
from African memories

221
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,239
that were utterly different from
the decorum of white churches.

222
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,036
Foot-stamping, shouting, hand-clapping,

223
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,870
the sorrowful songs that
we now call spirituals,

224
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,918
the passionate rhythms
of the black preacher.

225
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,113
It was through the jubilation
of praise and prayer

226
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,313
that they were able, if only briefly,
to throw off their shackles.

227
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:42,072
MAN: # O, whoa, hold to His hand

228
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,517
# Hold on to God's unchanging hand

229
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,479
# You ought to hold

230
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,678
# Hold on to God's unchanging hand

231
00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,160
# Come on and give... #

232
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,310
Nothing much has changed.

233
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,234
The spirituals and hymns may
have a touch of Broadway in them,

234
00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,952
but the message is as strong as ever.

235
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,632
The black church,
America's freedom church,

236
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,192
the church built by slaves.

237
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,474
It's Easter Sunday in
Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta,

238
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,629
where Martin Luther King preached
his gospel of liberation.

239
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,191
REVEREND: People dare to ask
why are we angry?

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00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,478
Two hundred and forty-four years
of slavery,

241
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:43,953
and you dare to ask me why in the world
are black people so angry?

242
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:51,000
Like most black congregations
in the country, Ebenezer has a new hero,

243
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:52,553
Barack Obama.

244
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,595
They consider him one of them,

245
00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,470
a man whose political convictions owe
an enormous debt to his faith.

246
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,959
These days, when people ask me what role
does religion play in your work,

247
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,600
you're running for the presidency
of the United States,

248
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,639
the leader of the free world,
what role does faith play?

249
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,314
I say it plays every role.

250
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,073
There is God's spirit in
each and every one of us.

251
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,869
Black, white, Hispanic, Asian,
Native American.

252
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:22,791
It's waiting to be released.

253
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,273
I was talking to Pastor...

254
00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:27,635
Obama's background in the black church,

255
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,998
the church of slave rebellions,
comes with political risks.

256
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:37,428
No, no, no. Not God bless America.
God damn America.

257
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,310
The sermons of his
former pastor, Jeremiah Wright,

258
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,039
dominated the talk that Easter weekend.

259
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,716
He'd made some incendiary remarks

260
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,156
that were instantly picked up
by the American media.

261
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:55,189
Barack knows what it means to be
a black man living in a country

262
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,876
and a culture that is controlled
by rich white people.

263
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,550
Hillary can never know that.

264
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,110
Hillary ain't never
been called a nigger.

265
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,553
Obama was forced to disown
his pastor and leave the church

266
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,234
where he'd been a member for 20 years.

267
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,550
But here, the media attacks on Wright
were seen as an attack on all of them.

268
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:27,759
REVEREND: For two weeks now,
the talking heads

269
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,559
of the American mainstream media

270
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,915
have been engaged in
a yellow journalistic prosecution

271
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:39,552
of the black church.

272
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:41,437
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

273
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,830
Jeremiah Wright may be the subject,

274
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,995
and Barack Obama may
have been called to testify,

275
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,799
but in a real sense,
the black church is on trial.

276
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,196
Reverend Warnock wasn't shy of
taking his fervour

277
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,191
right into the political fray.

278
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,872
WARNOCK: The truth may get you killed.

279
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,472
The truth will get you crucified,

280
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,755
sometimes on a cross,

281
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,513
sometimes on CNN. But the truth...

282
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,351
So much for Jefferson's hope

283
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,398
that politics and religion
might be kept apart.

284
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,437
For me, it's a question of
social justice,

285
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:32,278
and justice is not
simply a political issue,

286
00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:34,351
it's a theological issue.

287
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:39,430
The prophets of the Old Testament spoke
about the God of justice.

288
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,876
They said, "Woe unto you
who crush the poor."

289
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,111
And so, when I speak
to public policy issues,

290
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,757
I am being faithful to the gospel.

291
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:52,792
Martin Luther King, Jr said,

292
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,908
"The judgment of God is upon America."

293
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:03,234
SCHAMA: It's very moving
for me to be here because of...

294
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,869
obviously because of Martin Luther King
and that whole history.

295
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,397
How important is it for you that
the black church has been essentially

296
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,199
associated with the story of freedom
in America?

297
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:20,311
I would argue that the black church
was born fighting for freedom.

298
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,199
The freedom struggle is the black
church's very raison d'etre,

299
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,236
its reason for being.

300
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,471
It is the one thing that really

301
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,474
makes the witness of the black
church distinctive in America.

302
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,196
And it has been part of the
black church's gift to America.

303
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:40,395
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

304
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,270
WARNOCK: Get up with new power
in your hands!

305
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,717
Get up knowing that greater is the one
who is within you,

306
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,390
than the one who is within the world.

307
00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,156
(ORGAN PLAYING)

308
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,274
The overthrow of slavery
needed more than black anger.

309
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:16,151
It needed the outrage of whites
who actually governed America.

310
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,712
And no one did more to equate slavery
with moral depravity

311
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,199
than Charles Finney.

312
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,629
The evangelical preacher thundered from
the pulpit of this church

313
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:36,438
in Oberlin, Ohio,

314
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:41,116
against a sin he considered so great
that if it weren't eradicated,

315
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,397
it would bring destruction upon
the whole nation.

316
00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:52,469
At 6'3" with famously piercing eyes
and long flailing arms,

317
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:54,835
Finney was an alarming sight to behold,

318
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,276
as he castigated sinners
for their evil ways.

319
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:12,308
From 1835, Finney was a professor,
and then president, of Oberlin College.

320
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,840
With him at the helm, Oberlin was the
great centre of abolitionist politics.

321
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,999
The college was so radical
it admitted women and blacks.

322
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,749
The core of the Oberlin creed was that
you could not be a Christian

323
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:46,876
and countenance slavery.

324
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,149
Oberlin turned out hundreds
of evangelical preachers,

325
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,913
who spread that word round the country.

326
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,279
Finney's fury lit their determination
to get rid of the abomination.

327
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,877
It's often said you can't really
understand Finney

328
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,556
unless you'd actually heard him.
The words on the page are dry.

329
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,950
But these aren't dry,
they just come exploding off the page.

330
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,431
And it's a lecture given at Oberlin
on the occasion of a national fast.

331
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,991
And you get both the intense zeal
and the crankiness of the man.

332
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,312
Amazingly, the first lot Finney has
a go at are the founding fathers,

333
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,632
Jefferson included, whom he thinks are
just a bunch of hypocrites.

334
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:38,271
He says, "As the very basis of the
revolution, they, the founding fathers,

335
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,035
"publicly declared that all men
were born free and equal.

336
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:47,954
"Now," thunders Finney, "at the very
time at which this declaration was made,

337
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,474
"the very men who made it

338
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,199
"and the nation that proclaim
these truths

339
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,669
"as an excuse for revolution and war,

340
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,309
"stood with their unsanctified feet

341
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,756
"upon the necks of the prostrate slaves.

342
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,319
"And from that day to this,
this nation as such has continued,

343
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,757
"publicly and practically,
when these wrongs were held up to view,

344
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,999
"to deny the principles on which
the revolution was based."

345
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,358
So he's absolutely crystal clear

346
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,831
that this was what
he called the national sin.

347
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,270
So here Finney produces
a powerful argument

348
00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:33,434
for preachers like him getting involved
with the dirty business of politics.

349
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,271
"Let no man say that ministers
are out of their place

350
00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:42,797
"in exposing and reproving
the sins of this nation.

351
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,793
"The fact is that ministers and all
other men not only have a right,

352
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:52,829
"but are bound to expose
and rebuke the national sins."

353
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,749
How much more eloquent
and powerful can you get than that?

354
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,431
Today, Christian evangelicals
have a strictly conservative reputation.

355
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,357
But here in the Oberlin archives,

356
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,718
I'm reminded of just how radical
the movement's roots really are.

357
00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:25,113
Finney's crusade began in the pulpit,

358
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,838
but it ended with the Civil War
and the emancipation of the slaves.

359
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:37,350
What started as pure faith changed
the country exactly as Finney had hoped.

360
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:02,518
# It's been ten long years
since I left my home

361
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,194
# On the river where I was born

362
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,993
# The cool fall nights
make the woodsman rise

363
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,470
# By the sun he blows his horn

364
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,632
# I fell in love with a girl
from the town... #

365
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:21,236
So if evangelicals back then
were such progressive reformers,

366
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,073
why do they seem so conservative today?

367
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,753
# Worked in a sawmill or two

368
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,155
# What have they done... #

369
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:37,231
The Appalachian Mountains of
West Virginia provide some answers.

370
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,759
# Look for a child in town #

371
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,312
The region is famous
for its bluegrass music,

372
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,837
which has always helped people to escape
the reality of their tough lives.

373
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,271
But it's also famous for its strong,
simple Protestant faith.

374
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,593
# What have they done
to the old home place?

375
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,148
# Why did they tear it down? #

376
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,158
Religion may have
helped free the slaves,

377
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,472
but it's been just as important
in the lives of the white dispossessed.

378
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,275
Everywhere in Appalachia,
you can see the debris of lives

379
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:35,114
that have somehow got left out
of the boom times of America.

380
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,629
Here, religion has provided a haven
for many whites

381
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,917
whose lives have been blighted
by poverty.

382
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,112
A sense of community,
something to lean on.

383
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,430
And it was in this world
that conservative evangelicalism

384
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,033
had its roots.

385
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:04,758
(DOG BARKING)

386
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,317
A hundred years ago,
the remote mountain communities

387
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,996
of Appalachia were transformed
by the discovery of coal.

388
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,554
The town of Thurmond in West Virginia,

389
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,029
or what little remains of it,
is typical.

390
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:24,231
(TRAIN HORN BLOWING)

391
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,359
Today, it has a population
of just seven.

392
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:34,116
But it was once a boomtown,
made rich by coal and the railroads.

393
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:39,790
In 1873, an ex-Confederate officer
called William Thurmond

394
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,634
came back home here to Appalachia,
where he'd grown up.

395
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,837
He thought of himself
as one of the dispossessed.

396
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,673
His house had been burnt
by Union troops

397
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,796
and he needed to make a living.

398
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:56,317
He was a surveyor
and he knew this was coal country.

399
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,675
Within a few years,
he built this little town

400
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,593
that was known as Thurmond,
West Virginia,

401
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,595
into the hub of that immense
coal industry of Appalachia.

402
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,911
It was an industry of great fortune
and great danger,

403
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,709
especially for the miners
who worked at the coalface.

404
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,199
And at the centre of it all,

405
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,716
because William Thurmond
was a strict Baptist,

406
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,268
as always, was the church.

407
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,037
Thurmond wanted everyone
who moved to his town

408
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:30,671
to behave with the same religious
propriety he expected from himself.

409
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,319
But as the town grew,
this became increasingly difficult.

410
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,996
By the 1880s,
a dozen mines were shipping coal

411
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,640
along the railroad through Thurmond.

412
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:12,872
And with the coal came supplies
for the miners and railroad workers.

413
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,111
Food, clothing, equipment, tobacco,

414
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,949
and of course, girls.

415
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,192
Thurmond became notorious in the area
for its saloons and brothels.

416
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,709
Needless to say, General Thurmond
was not happy about this.

417
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,952
He was all in favour of modernity
if it was good for business,

418
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,190
but not if it was good for sin.

419
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,148
He could ban liquor in Thurmond itself,

420
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,028
but just outside town,
the good times rolled on.

421
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,791
It was the same problem
right across America.

422
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,953
Industrialisation brought wealth,
especially to employers,

423
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,828
but it also encouraged
countless social evils.

424
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:10,750
Old-time religion was all that stood
between America and moral collapse.

425
00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,871
The church declared war
on the greatest sin of all, liquor.

426
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,393
And preachers up and down the country
took up the fight.

427
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,598
I am the sworn eternal uncompromising
enemy of the liquor traffic.

428
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,830
I ask no quarter and I give none.

429
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,070
What means this assault
against the 18th Amendment?

430
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,470
Oh, it's nothing under heaven
but an attempt to bind and rivet

431
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,676
the old breweries
and the old distilleries

432
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,718
around the neck of the American people
for their own profit.

433
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,310
No preacher came bigger
than Billy Sunday.

434
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,709
...and one billion five-hundred million
dollars in revenue.

435
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:44,915
But where will it come from?

436
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,558
It'll come from the pockets
of the poor devils

437
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:48,119
that drinks the stuff, of course.

438
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,509
A onetime professional baseball player,

439
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,718
he toured the country,
railing against the evils of drink.

440
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,350
His theatrical style held millions
spellbound.

441
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,353
He preached the gospel to more people
than any other person in history

442
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,078
up to that point.

443
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,476
I'll kick it as long as I have a foot.

444
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,596
I'll punch it as long as I have a fist.

445
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:16,673
I'll butt it as long as I have a head.
I'll bite it as long as I have a tooth.

446
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,316
(INAUDIBLE)

447
00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,154
In his most famous sermon he thundered,

448
00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:26,073
"I am the sworn enemy
of liquor traffic.

449
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,550
"I will go on fighting
that damn dirty rotten business

450
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,108
"with all the power at my command."

451
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,193
Billy Sunday made several tours
of the mining towns of Appalachia,

452
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,635
sponsored by the mine owners.

453
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,549
For as well as temperance,
Billy Sunday preached hard work

454
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:52,790
and obedience to the bosses.

455
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:01,478
He made little mention
of the grinding poverty

456
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:06,350
and deadly working conditions
that blighted the lives of the miners.

457
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:15,428
His message was much more concerned
with the dangerous influence

458
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,397
of secular modernity.

459
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:26,560
Evolution, illicit sex, swearing,
dancing, playing cards,

460
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:31,430
even reading novels
were all sins to be resisted.

461
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:39,192
I'm sick and tired of hearing
about all of the radicals

462
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,878
and the perverts and the liberals
and the leftists

463
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,349
and the Communists
coming out of the closets.

464
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,876
It's times for God's people
to come out of the closets,

465
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:55,114
out of the churches
and change America. We must do it!

466
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,829
Sunday left a huge legacy
in terms of what he had to say

467
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:01,354
and certainly how he said it.

468
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:07,115
Like him, Christian fundamentalists
have used showbiz to thrill the flock

469
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,954
and damn the heathens
who have been sending America to hell.

470
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:16,909
I'd like to challenge all of my friends
watching by television,

471
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,150
and all of you here in this auditorium,

472
00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:21,151
to do something for God and country.

473
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:24,277
Ministers like Jerry Falwell
used the airwaves

474
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:29,195
to crusade against modern iniquities,
abortion in particular.

475
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,430
Thank you. You may be seated.

476
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:35,876
What America needs
more than anything else

477
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:40,351
is that God might one more time
shed his grace on this great nation.

478
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:43,079
They also mobilised
millions of the faithful

479
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:44,593
to go out and vote.

480
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:49,151
First for Ronald Reagan
and then for George W Bush.

481
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:54,673
That way, they hoped to bring America
back to the gospel.

482
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:58,230
...soul-winning,
aggressive local church somewhere.

483
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,719
But in this election,
everything has changed.

484
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:13,158
He has been ornery, arrogant,

485
00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:16,550
and one day he called and he said,
"I'm fed up, I'm ready to go."

486
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,552
Pastor Johnny Hunt of Woodstock, Atlanta

487
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,712
is one of the stars
of the Mega-Church movement,

488
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,189
the fastest growing
evangelical community.

489
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:30,955
I know of nobody that can deliver a man
from sin but God's son,

490
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:32,473
the Lord Jesus Christ.

491
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,438
And I wanna stand flat-footed
and boldly say

492
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:37,033
to God be the glory!

493
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:42,274
I am grateful for a saviour to preach
that can set people free.

494
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,477
Mega-Church is basically
a new phenomenon,

495
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,711
and people seem to be drawn
more to a church.

496
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,350
Some are saying it's like a family

497
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,271
looking for what mall
they're going to attend.

498
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,909
It's the one that offers
the services they're looking for.

499
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,959
Like it or not, the terminology
is people kind of shop for a church.

500
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:03,837
So it's a lifestyle choice for them,
you think?

501
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,309
That's our desire,
is to become so holistic

502
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:10,678
that whatever
their spiritual or material,

503
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:12,751
physical need, maybe, emotional need,

504
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,115
we would like to think
that we could help them.

505
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,670
HUNT: Often times,
when I stand here and say

506
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:21,911
I'm grateful for you
and I love all of you,

507
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,117
I would think
that it would not be unreasonable,

508
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:26,997
periodically, for one of you to say,

509
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,517
"How can he say he loves us
when he doesn't know us?"

510
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,359
Politically, Johnny is
a social conservative,

511
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,319
vocal on issues
like abortion and gay marriage.

512
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,029
My love for you
is not contingent on me knowing you,

513
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:47,556
my love for you is based
on my relationship with Jesus Christ.

514
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:49,676
- CONGREGATION: Amen.
- The Bible says the love of God...

515
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,832
But he doesn't think the church
should get so deeply involved

516
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:54,831
in electoral politics.

517
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,193
I don't believe the answer
is in the White House.

518
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:00,111
I believe it's in our homes.

519
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:04,716
We're making the decisions.
You can't legislate morality.

520
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,712
You can't pass laws
to make people better.

521
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:12,751
But we feel like maybe... We almost look
at a presidential candidate

522
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,957
sometimes as a saviour
that can come and rescue our country,

523
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,759
when we really need to be
rescued ourself.

524
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,034
That's what salvation is.

525
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,031
It literally means
to be delivered or rescued.

526
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:23,792
So I think that Christ is the answer.

527
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:29,395
# Jesus is here, see His grace

528
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,790
WOMAN: # We need you, Jesus

529
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:35,872
This reluctance to shape elections
may be because

530
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:39,157
evangelicals have been disappointed
about what they've got

531
00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,357
from Ronald Reagan and George W Bush.

532
00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:46,234
# Send us your mercy

533
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,550
The legal right to abortion
is still there

534
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:51,313
and there's still no prayer in schools.

535
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:53,511
# Jesus will find us

536
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:58,913
# If you love the Lord #

537
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,874
And it's also because
they don't really trust John McCain,

538
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,793
a man who once described
some evangelicals

539
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,394
as agents of intolerance.

540
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:18,799
In this election, it's the black church
that's mobilised to change America.

541
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,036
They've done it twice before,
to end slavery

542
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,396
and 40 years ago, to end segregation.

543
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,676
I don't think any white person
can really understand

544
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,320
what it is to be a Negro in America.

545
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:44,513
Even though the law of the land says
that a passenger can ride interstate

546
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,912
and participate in the lunchroom,
waiting rooms and bathrooms,

547
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,356
that even though the law says this,
everyone cannot,

548
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:53,714
particularly the Negro.

549
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,234
We want equal rights.

550
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,959
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s

551
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:02,032
wouldn't have happened at all
without the black church.

552
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,953
I want my freedom
just like everybody else.

553
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,031
It may mean going to jail...

554
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,749
Many of its leaders had come up
through that church.

555
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,308
Martin Luther King
was a Baptist minister.

556
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,870
...that I will die standing up
for the freedom of my people,

557
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:18,951
God has spoken to me.

558
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,834
Its fiery words came out of the pulpit,

559
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,229
its songs out of gospel music,

560
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:31,313
its hatred of segregation
as un-Christian out of the Bible.

561
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:38,157
You can never whip these boys
if you don't keep you and them separate.

562
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,152
You've got to keep the white
and the black separate.

563
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:43,708
Pigment of skin isn't the problem.

564
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,394
The problem is that the Negro
in this country today

565
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,873
stands for venereal disease,
prostitution,

566
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,679
the numbers racket and crime.

567
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,715
Of all the leaders
of the Civil Rights Movement,

568
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,634
there's one in particular
who's always inspired me.

569
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:11,389
A deeply religious cotton picker
from the Mississippi Delta,

570
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:12,879
Fannie Lou Hamer.

571
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,509
ALL: # Go tell it on the mountain

572
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:20,229
# Over the hills and everywhere

573
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,471
# Go tell it on the mountain

574
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:27,633
# To let my people go

575
00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:30,678
This is Fannie Lou,
with the amazing voice,

576
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:35,231
at the Democratic Convention
in Atlantic City in 1964.

577
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,392
# Just like the children
of the Israelites

578
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:41,233
She's leading the protests
on the boardwalk

579
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:42,639
outside the convention centre.

580
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:45,518
# Go tell it on the mountain #

581
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,036
Fannie Lou was protesting
that every delegate at the convention

582
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,271
from her home state of Mississippi
was white.

583
00:43:56,040 --> 00:44:01,239
She had helped form an alternative party
known as the Freedom Democrats

584
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,117
with her own delegates.

585
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,510
Fannie Lou demanded that
the Freedom Democrats be regarded

586
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:17,229
as the only legitimate
Mississippi delegation.

587
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,354
REPORTER: Will you identify yourself
for us, please?

588
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,635
My name is Mrs Fannie Lou Hamer.

589
00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:25,757
I'm the vice chairman
of the Freedom Democrat Party.

590
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:27,956
Duncan, how about this?
You going to seat this lady?

591
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,157
No, there are no seats there
and I'm supposed...

592
00:44:31,240 --> 00:44:33,071
She can stand

593
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,993
but I'm not suppose to let anybody
through this aisle.

594
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:38,992
HAMER: To us,
this is a closed society to us.

595
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,073
All we want is a chance
to be a part of America.

596
00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:48,833
Her chance came
when she was invited to speak

597
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,992
to the party's credentials committee.

598
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:05,078
If the Freedom Democratic Party
is not seated now,

599
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:06,878
I question America.

600
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:09,516
Is this America,

601
00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:12,751
the land of the free
and the home of the brave,

602
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:17,914
where we have to sleep
with our telephones off the hooks

603
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,992
because our lives
are being threatened daily

604
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,676
because we want to live
as decent human beings in America?

605
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:34,911
I was there in Atlantic City
that hot summer day in 1964.

606
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,309
I saw Fannie Lou Hamer.

607
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:41,632
I was a young reporter
for a student magazine in England,

608
00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:44,757
and when Fannie Lou walked in,
it was extraordinary.

609
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:47,479
It was like someone from another world.

610
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:52,111
Her speech was full of a kind of
tragic pain and defiance.

611
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,590
And no one who heard it
will ever forget it, I think.

612
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:57,238
It changed America,

613
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,756
and called the country
to a kind of reckoning.

614
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:18,029
Fannie Lou Hamer,
the youngest of 20 children,

615
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,032
was born and raised
in the Mississippi Delta.

616
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:27,548
Like most blacks in the Delta,
her family were sharecroppers,

617
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:30,996
and she was forced to work
in the cotton fields from the age of six

618
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,116
just to help them survive.

619
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,993
She married and stayed working
on the plantations

620
00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:44,916
until one day, in 1962, aged 44,
she went to a church service

621
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,833
in her hometown of Ruleville.

622
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,191
It was her epiphany.

623
00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:01,479
A civil rights activist
was speaking that day,

624
00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:04,074
and he inspired Fannie Lou
by the way he linked

625
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:07,596
the gospel to social justice
and freedom.

626
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:14,190
When he asked for volunteers
to go to the courthouse

627
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,716
in nearby Indianola to register to vote,

628
00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:20,473
Fannie Lou, who'd never
been involved in politics,

629
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:22,790
was the first to raise her hand.

630
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:33,037
Charles McLaurin
was a civil rights activist

631
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,908
who was leading the volunteers
on the bus the following day.

632
00:47:38,080 --> 00:47:40,230
McLAURIN: You know,
people on the bus were...

633
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:44,199
These were people who were going to
the courthouse to register to vote.

634
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,273
And it was dangerous,
in a sense, to them

635
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,352
because many of these people
had never been to the courthouse before

636
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:52,714
to register to vote.

637
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:56,076
You know,
the courthouse represented power.

638
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:04,399
As in many southern states,
Mississippi's deliberately complicated

639
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:09,270
procedures of registration had kept
most blacks from the vote.

640
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:13,598
Of the 450,000 blacks of voting age
in the state,

641
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:17,468
just 7,000 were actually registered.

642
00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:20,556
(INAUDIBLE)

643
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,791
On that day, their attempts to register
were rejected.

644
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,838
So they got on the bus
and headed back to Ruleville.

645
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,072
And that's when they were stopped
by the police.

646
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:45,755
Their offence,
impersonating a school bus.

647
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:48,149
It was deemed too yellow.

648
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,477
All the while that bus is sitting there,

649
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:03,793
trucks are driving by
with white men in them and guns,

650
00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:09,000
and they are saying things
like, "Niggers, you gonna get killed.

651
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:13,631
"Niggers, you shouldn't...
There ain't gonna be no niggers votin'."

652
00:49:13,720 --> 00:49:18,874
And they are hanging out of the windows
and just gesturing toward us.

653
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:27,398
So then as we're sitting there
and all worried,

654
00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:34,352
a church song
just kind of eases out of somebody.

655
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,318
And somebody on the bus said,
"That's Fannie Lou."

656
00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:47,312
You know, when she starts to sing,

657
00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:52,838
now they're looking to her
for inspiration.

658
00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:57,869
They're looking to her now
to help calm them,

659
00:49:57,960 --> 00:49:59,757
make them feel good.

660
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:09,836
- Was it a big deep voice or...
- No, no, it was not.

661
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:12,070
- No, it was smooth.
- Smooth.

662
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:16,915
I mean, it was... You remember
I mentioned it just kind of eased out.

663
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:23,917
And then it come out and then it rises
softly, sweetly.

664
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:29,037
I mean, she was deep.

665
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:31,395
I think that was the beauty about her,

666
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:34,756
was that she made you feel
what she felt.

667
00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:41,434
I... I'll never forget her.

668
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,799
So began a career
as a civil rights activist

669
00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:49,677
that would inspire millions.

670
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:51,910
MAN: Roll 30, sound 19.

671
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:55,955
Fannie Lou would be shot at,

672
00:50:56,040 --> 00:51:00,352
imprisoned, beaten up,
but nothing would stop her.

673
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:09,751
But then, that's what she thought
happened to people

674
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,115
who believed in the gospel.

675
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:16,113
There were saints and martyrs
for every age, including her own.

676
00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:25,918
She changed a lot of American minds
with the unbeatable force of faith.

677
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:37,438
Fannie Lou never had any children
of her own.

678
00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:42,793
But her adopted daughter, Vergie,
still lives near the Delta.

679
00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:48,911
She was a very powerful woman
when it come to the word of God

680
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:52,788
because her father was a minister.

681
00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:57,236
She was raised up, you know, with God.

682
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:03,433
And you couldn't get it
no better than that.

683
00:52:03,520 --> 00:52:06,637
Because she believed in Him,
she constantly prayed,

684
00:52:06,720 --> 00:52:08,995
she constantly read her Bible.

685
00:52:09,080 --> 00:52:13,039
And she constantly
spoke verses of the Bible.

686
00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:20,277
Did Fannie Lou sing at home?

687
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:22,794
She sung at home, she sung at church,

688
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:27,635
she sung in the fields.
Wherever, she was singing.

689
00:52:27,720 --> 00:52:32,032
- Can you remember any particular songs?
- I remember all her songs.

690
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:37,990
She loved This Little Light of Mine
and Go Tell It on the Mountain.

691
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:42,949
And then she would sing songs to us
that Grandmamma had taught her,

692
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:47,158
and she'd sing them to us
and now I sing them to my grandchildren.

693
00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:49,629
I've passed it on, you know.

694
00:52:49,720 --> 00:52:54,236
But her favourite song was
This Little Light of Mine,

695
00:52:54,320 --> 00:52:55,548
and it would go...

696
00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:58,677
# This little light of mine

697
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:02,036
# I'm gonna let it shine

698
00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:05,157
# This little light of mine

699
00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:08,312
# I'm gonna let it
Let it shine

700
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:11,312
# This little light of mine

701
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:13,755
# I'm gonna let it shine

702
00:53:13,840 --> 00:53:18,516
# Let it shine,
let it shine, let it shine #

703
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:20,318
She loved it, that one.

704
00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:23,710
And then she would do
Go Tell It on the Mountain.

705
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,998
# Go tell it on the mountain

706
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:32,596
# Over the hills and everywhere

707
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:36,036
# Go tell it on the mountain

708
00:53:36,120 --> 00:53:39,556
# To let my people go #

709
00:53:39,640 --> 00:53:45,112
Fannie Lou never did succeed
in replacing the all-white delegation.

710
00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:47,350
But she did wake America up.

711
00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:51,831
Mr Speaker, Mr President,
members of the Congress,

712
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:58,915
I speak tonight for the dignity of man

713
00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:01,195
and the destiny of democracy.

714
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:03,548
The following year,

715
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:07,838
Lyndon Johnson introduced
the voting Rights Act in Congress,

716
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:11,435
which finally outlawed
racist voting practices.

717
00:54:14,240 --> 00:54:19,678
Many of the issues of civil rights
are very complex and most difficult.

718
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:24,918
But about this
there can and should be no argument.

719
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:33,272
Every American citizen
must have an equal right to vote.

720
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:35,669
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

721
00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:45,119
And what a difference
that has made for today.

722
00:54:45,560 --> 00:54:48,757
- Hey, my brother.
- What's going on? How you doing?

723
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:50,319
Hey, sweetie.

724
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:52,994
Activists like Mark Anthony Green

725
00:54:53,080 --> 00:54:55,514
don't have to fight
for the right to vote.

726
00:54:55,600 --> 00:55:00,116
They're campaigning to elect an
African-American to the White House.

727
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:02,350
- What's going on?
- What's up?

728
00:55:03,560 --> 00:55:05,391
- How you doing, sir?
- Fine. How are you?

729
00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:07,596
- Good, you gonna vote tomorrow?
- Yes, I am.

730
00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:08,669
Who you gonna vote for?

731
00:55:08,760 --> 00:55:12,150
GREEN: Less than 40 years ago,
Barack Obama

732
00:55:12,240 --> 00:55:17,234
would have been considered
less than human to a lot of Americans.

733
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:20,232
Less than a hundred years ago, you know,

734
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:23,676
it wasn't necessarily illegal
to kill them in certain areas.

735
00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:26,433
They weren't considered human beings,

736
00:55:26,520 --> 00:55:30,479
they weren't considered
something that was made from God.

737
00:55:30,560 --> 00:55:31,993
- How are you?
- I'm good. How are you?

738
00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:33,752
Great, great, great.
Are you gonna vote tomorrow?

739
00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:37,674
And God is never very far away
from Mark Anthony's thoughts.

740
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:39,990
Would you agree that it's God's will
for him to become a president?

741
00:55:40,080 --> 00:55:42,913
That's what I'm saying now,
that I know...

742
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:46,390
Me being out here today
and me pulling for Obama

743
00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:50,075
and me, you know, organising this
and going so hard

744
00:55:50,160 --> 00:55:56,235
is simply because
I know that he won't get elected

745
00:55:56,320 --> 00:56:01,189
and God's will will not be done
unless we all step up.

746
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:05,592
And you can either sit back
and be one of those that hope...

747
00:56:05,680 --> 00:56:08,069
And in the Bible,
it speaks a lot about hope,

748
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,276
but it also speaks about action.

749
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:14,956
And you have to have those
that are quick to, you know,

750
00:56:15,040 --> 00:56:19,830
that are quick to do God's will,
quick to put something into action.

751
00:56:19,920 --> 00:56:23,879
I mean, faith and freedom mattered
in the 1800s,

752
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:27,999
and then they mattered again in Martin
Luther King's day and in civil rights.

753
00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:31,993
And that's also part of
its importance to you?

754
00:56:32,080 --> 00:56:34,640
- It is. It definitely is.
- Yeah.

755
00:56:34,720 --> 00:56:38,156
I honestly feel like there's something
special about this man,

756
00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:42,552
that God wants him to change
the demographic of our country.

757
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:45,438
(ALL CHEERING)

758
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:48,230
(INAUDIBLE)

759
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:57,753
So this year,
the fervent call to save America

760
00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:01,355
has gone out from the liberal side,
the Democrats.

761
00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:10,235
John McCain is doing his best
to win back the evangelicals.

762
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:15,915
He hopes his choice of running mate
will have them flocking to the polls.

763
00:57:17,680 --> 00:57:21,309
But it's Barack Obama
who talks of redemption.

764
00:57:23,240 --> 00:57:26,152
It's okay, it's true,
I talk about hope, Pastor.

765
00:57:26,240 --> 00:57:28,117
I talk about it a lot,

766
00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:31,789
because the odds of me
standing here today

767
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:39,349
are so small, so remote,

768
00:57:43,560 --> 00:57:46,632
that I couldn't have gotten here
without some hope.

769
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,910
Obama may have come
from the history of the black church,

770
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:56,310
the church of slavery,
the church of the Civil Rights Movement,

771
00:57:56,400 --> 00:58:00,678
but now he's reaching out
to the rest of America.

772
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:12,395
His message brings together
the two great themes

773
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:14,994
of America's religious history,

774
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:21,356
the passion of belief

775
00:58:23,080 --> 00:58:25,071
and the zeal for freedom.