The Lord Is Not On Trial Here Today
New Day Films
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56m
Directed by Jay Rosenstein • Documentary • With Vashti McCollum • 2010 • 57 minutes
"The Lord Is Not On Trial Here Today" is a Peabody Award-winning documentary that tells the compelling personal story of the late Vashti McCollum, and how her efforts to protect her ten year-old son led to one of the most important and landmark First Amendment cases in U.S. Supreme Court history - the case that established the separation of church and state in public schools. The case is little-known by the contemporary American public, yet the McCollum decision continues to have important ramifications for current conflicts over the role of religion in public institutions - from displays of the Ten Commandments in government buildings to student-led prayers at public school graduation ceremonies.
The film recounts what Vashti McCollum later described as "three years of headlines, headaches, and hatred," and the dramatic legal maneuverings that led to a decision that shocked the nation and made the McCollums a household name. "Beautifully researched" according to the Peabody Awards, perhaps one reviewer described it best: "The Lord Is Not On Trial Here Today (tells) a little-known story of a woman, a court case, and a movement that changed American society forever."
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