The Secular and the Sacred in American Life
by apjrtheme | created - 31 Aug 2011 | updated - 19 Feb 2013 | PublicWhat role does religion play in shaping attitudes about America? How does it come into conflict with the secular institutions of American democracy? Is America "one nation under God"? Who gets to decide what morality is in this country? How does religion come into conflict with the independent American spirit? Why? Are there any ways in which this spirit has influenced religious practice and belief in America? What role does our Puritan history play in our religiosity? Has our national attitude about religion changed with the many immigrants this country has? What is the difference—if any—between religion and spirituality? Must religion be organized to be effective? How much do we adhere to "separation of church and state"? Can religion and a secular state ever coexist peacefully in America? Should they?
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1. Agnes of God (1985)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery
When a naive novice nun is discovered with a dead newborn in her convent quarters, a court-appointed psychiatrist investigates her case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Anne Pitoniak
Votes: 8,046 | Gross: $25.63M
2. The Apostle (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Drama
After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.
Director: Robert Duvall | Stars: Robert Duvall, Todd Allen, Paul Bagget, Lenore Banks
Votes: 14,890 | Gross: $20.73M
3. The Believer (2001)
R | 98 min | Drama
A young Jewish man develops a fiercely anti-Semitic philosophy. Based on the factual story of a K.K.K. member in the 1960s who was revealed to be Jewish by a New York Times reporter.
Director: Henry Bean | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Peter Meadows, Garret Dillahunt
Votes: 41,076 | Gross: $0.41M
4. Black Narcissus (1947)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama
A group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird
Votes: 27,623
5. Black Robe (1991)
R | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary nicknamed Black Robe by the natives and his small party of companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada all while facing mistrust, Iroquois warring parties and harsh winter conditions.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Aden Young, Sandrine Holt, August Schellenberg
Votes: 7,663 | Gross: $8.21M
6. The Boys of St. Vincent (1992 TV Movie)
93 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage ran by a religious community in Newfoundland.
Director: John N. Smith | Stars: Henry Czerny, Johnny Morina, Brian Dooley, Philip Dinn
Votes: 1,975 | Gross: $0.20M
7. The Chosen (1981)
PG | 108 min | Drama
In 1944, in Brooklyn, two Jewish kids become friends. One is from a very conservative family, and the other is more liberal. The issues of importance of tradition, parental expectations and the formation of Israel cause constant friction.
Director: Jeremy Kagan | Stars: Maximilian Schell, Rod Steiger, Robby Benson, Barry Miller
Votes: 2,403
8. Conversations with God (2006)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Drama
Chronicles the dramatic true journey of a struggling man turned homeless, who inadvertently becomes a spiritual messenger and bestselling author.
Director: Stephen Deutsch | Stars: Henry Czerny, Michelle Merring, Frederick Charles Canada, Bill Geislinger
Votes: 2,495 | Gross: $0.42M
9. Dead Man Walking (1995)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama
A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.
Director: Tim Robbins | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry
Votes: 101,702 | Gross: $39.39M
10. DreamKeeper (2003)
TV-PG | 174 min | Drama, Fantasy
The legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic new miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: August Schellenberg, Eddie Spears, Gary Farmer, John Trudell
Votes: 1,722
11. Elmer Gantry (1960)
Approved | 146 min | Drama
A fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger
Votes: 12,809 | Gross: $11.34M
12. Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Passed | 137 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The pacifist attitude of a Quaker family is tested as a result of the American Civil War.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer
Votes: 7,729
13. Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Romance
A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm
Votes: 17,760
14.
American Playhouse (1980–1994)
Episode:
Go Tell It on the Mountain
(1985)
96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Working as a day laborer to make ends meet, an angry black preacher (Paul Winfield) vents his wrath upon his family (Rosalind Cash, James Bond III).
Director: Stan Lathan | Stars: Paul Winfield, James Bond III, Olivia Cole, Rodrick F. Wimberly
Votes: 100
15. Hester Street (1975)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Romance
In 1896, a Russian Jewish woman immigrates to New York's Lower East Side to reunite with her Americanized husband, but has difficulty assimilating.
Director: Joan Micklin Silver | Stars: Steven Keats, Carol Kane, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh
Votes: 1,873 | Gross: $5.00M
16. Jesus Camp (2006)
PG-13 | 87 min | Documentary
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | Stars: Mike Papantonio, Lou Engle, Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard
Votes: 28,770 | Gross: $0.90M
17. A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (1997)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
Hasidic Jews seem alien, and even hostile, to those outside their culture,which frequently includes other Jews. They dress differently, don't mingle between the sexes, speak Yiddish, and ... See full summary »
Directors: Menachem Daum, Oren Rudavsky | Stars: Leonard Nimoy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zeldy Abromowitz, Yaffa Eliach
Votes: 184
18. Lilies of the Field (1963)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
A travelling handyman becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino
Votes: 13,533
19. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,135 | Gross: $28.35M
20. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Director: Charles Laughton | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason
Votes: 97,234 | Gross: $0.65M
21. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 910,979 | Gross: $32.57M
22. Places in the Heart (1984)
PG | 111 min | Drama
In central Texas in the 1930s, a widow with two small children tries to save her small 40-acre farm with the help of a blind boarder and an itinerant black handyman.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan
Votes: 13,484 | Gross: $34.90M
23. A Price Above Rubies (1998)
R | 117 min | Drama, Romance
This movie is about a young woman who is married to a devout Jew and the problems that trouble their marriage because of her wanting something more out of her life.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Christopher Eccleston, Julianna Margulies, Allen Payne
Votes: 2,941 | Gross: $1.08M
24. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 77,765 | Gross: $93.74M
25. Trembling Before G-d (2001)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary
A cinematic portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.
Director: Sandi Simcha Dubowski | Stars: Shlomo Ashkinazy, Steve Greenberg, Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Naomi Mark
Votes: 948 | Gross: $0.62M
26. What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole (2006)
PG | 156 min | Documentary, Drama
Interviews with scientists and authors, animated bits, and a storyline involving a deaf photographer are used in this docudrama to illustrate the link between quantum mechanics, neurobiology, human consciousness and day-to-day reality.
Directors: William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente | Stars: Marlee Matlin, Elaine Hendrix, Barry Newman, Armin Shimerman
Votes: 2,921 | Gross: $0.14M
27. Wise Blood (1979)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
Fresh out of the army, Hazel Motes attempts to open the first Church Without Christ in the small town of Taulkinham.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Brad Dourif, John Huston, Dan Shor, Harry Dean Stanton
Votes: 6,455
28. Angels in America (2003)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Several disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
Stars: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 29,757
29. There Will Be Blood (2007)
R | 158 min | Drama
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer
Votes: 640,413 | Gross: $40.22M
30. Band of Sisters (2012)
88 min | Documentary
Band of Sisters tells the story of Catholic nuns and their work for social justice after Vatican II of the 1960s. For Catholics who wonder what became of the nuns they knew in habits and ... See full summary »
Director: Mary Fishman | Stars: Margaret Brennan, Carol Coston, Kathleen Desautels, Theresa Kane
Votes: 9
31. God in America (2010)
360 min | History
How has religious belief shaped American history? What role have religious ideas and spiritual experience played in shaping the social, political, and cultural life of what has become the ... See full summary »
Stars: Campbell Scott, Michael Emerson, Keith David, Toby Jones
Votes: 114
32. Doubt (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Mystery
A Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Votes: 136,022 | Gross: $33.42M
33. Raw Faith (2010)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
This surprisingly open and revealing documentary follows two years in the private life of a minister. Marilyn Sewell is successful and beloved in the pulpit, but behind the scenes she is ... See full summary »
Director: Wm. Peter Wiedensmith | Star: Marilyn Sewell
Votes: 73 | Gross: $0.00M
34. Witness to Jonestown (2008 TV Movie)
120 min | Documentary
Stars: Terri Buford, Tim Carter, Bob Flick, Hue Fortson Jr.
Votes: 160
35. Hell House (2001)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
Each Halloween, youth members of Trinity Church, Texas construct a 'Hell House'; a modern-day fire-and-brimstone sermon, presented in the form of a haunted house, seen by over 10,000 visitors each year.
Director: George Ratliff | Stars: Aria Adloo, Ashley Adloo, Amy Allred, Gabriel Allred
Votes: 1,725
36. Let the Church Say, Amen (2002)
Not Rated | 87 min | Documentary
In Washington D.C., one church becomes the symbol of a local community dedicated to one another.
Director: David Petersen | Stars: Darlene Duncan, JoAnn Perkins
Votes: 68
37. A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (1997)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
Hasidic Jews seem alien, and even hostile, to those outside their culture,which frequently includes other Jews. They dress differently, don't mingle between the sexes, speak Yiddish, and ... See full summary »
Directors: Menachem Daum, Oren Rudavsky | Stars: Leonard Nimoy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zeldy Abromowitz, Yaffa Eliach
Votes: 184
38. Brother Born Again (2001)
Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Julia Pimsleur used to make up elaborate lies about her brother Marc, rather than explain that he had dropped out of college, turned his back on his Jewish heritage and moved to a... See full summary »
Director: Julia Pimsleur | Stars: Julia Pimsleur, Katy Chevigny, Lucas Clark, Stan Koehler
Votes: 64
39. Praying with Lior (2008)
Unrated | 87 min | Documentary, Biography, Family
Praying with Lior asks whether someone with Down syndrome can be a spiritual genius. Many believe Lior is close to God -- at least that's what his family and community believe -- though ... See full summary »
Director: Ilana Trachtman | Star: Lior Liebling
Votes: 132 | Gross: $0.08M
40. For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)
Unrated | 95 min | Documentary, Romance
An exploration of the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community.
Director: Daniel G. Karslake | Stars: Imogene Robinson, Victor Robinson, Gene Robinson, Isabella 'Boo' McDaniel
Votes: 4,519 | Gross: $0.31M
41. Lilies of the Field (1963)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
A travelling handyman becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino
Votes: 13,533
42. A Serious Man (2009)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed
Votes: 149,778 | Gross: $9.19M
43. Arranged (2007)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
ARRANGED centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn... See full summary »
Directors: Diane Crespo, Stefan C. Schaefer | Stars: Zoe Lister-Jones, Francis Benhamou, Mimi Lieber, John Rothman
Votes: 3,101 | Gross: $0.02M
44. Inherit the Wind (1960)
Passed | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York
Votes: 32,742
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