One Nation Under God

The final part of this exploration of the American dream looks at the role faith has played in American notions of a new world - from traditional religion to cults to the beliefs of the counterculture.

Faith defines America. The Pilgrim Fathers dreamt of a new world based on Christian principles. Part of the American dream has been the right to worship God in any way Americans wanted to. But in the sixties, some young people rejected mainstream religion and started reinventing the American dream. The conflicting visions produced a divided America.

This programme explores the original American dream of a faith-based nation. It takes in the post-war revival of interest in religion and healing and the traditional perspectives of popular singer Pat Boone and former beauty queen Anita Bryant, before journeying through the rise of Pentecostalism via the alternative philosophies of the Beat generation - or the Merry Pranksters - and their LSD fuelled visions of the sixties, along with hippie communes and dangerous cults.