Discovering the Truth About Our American History with Anthem For a Nation {A TOS Review}

I love learning about the history of our great nation, though I haven't always been a huge fan of history. It definitely wasn't my favorite class in high school. However, as I have gotten older, I have come to recognize the importance of knowing the truth of our great land. These days American History has been skewed to make us believe that America was not built on Christian principles. I hear it all the time and I just can't understand how people can be so blinded to what our true history is. It is obvious to me that there is a different history being taught to children these days. That is why I was thrilled when I was given the chance to review the new documentary DVD, Anthem For a Nation from New Liberty Videos. 

As a freedom-loving, patriotic, Christian American, I loved the idea of watching this DVD whose purpose is to relight "the torch of America's liberty." What has gotten me so passionate about this video? It is my great privilege to share this with you now. 

This DVD contains 10 "scenes" or chapters, which flow seamlessly from one to the other. Additionally, there are special features at the end of the program. These can be selected from the menu or you can just watch the DVD all the way through.  Here is the list of scenes:

1. Opening
2. America the Beautiful
3. One Nation Under God
4. A Christian Nation
5. A Nation Adrift
6. The War on the Unborn Child
7. Have They Died in Vain
8. America You're Too Young to Die
9. The Rebirth of America
10. God Bless the USA

There are two Special Features. 

1. The story of Hanzi (Maria Anne Hirschmann) who tells of her life in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia
2. The story of Kitty Werthmann who grew up in Austria under Hitler's regime

The video opens with a medley of "This is My Country" and "This Land is Your Land" as scenes of America's vast, majestic countryside along with aerial views of some of our great cities are shown. The viewer gets a sense of how grand our land is and is reminded that it belongs to us as Americans. As a part of this land, we should know it's true heritage so we can pass it on to our children, and that is just what this DVD helps to do. 
There are many questions asked in this documentary to help make the viewer realize what makes America so special.  Among these questions, at the beginning of the program, we hear what I feel is a very important one. "Why have we prospered?" The answer is what I have already felt in my heart. We discover that this land was dedicated to God 400 years ago by the English settlers in Cape Henry, Virginia when they planted a 7 foot oak cross in the earth. 
Throughout the video we are shown how our Founding Fathers were not only men of God, but they founded this country on the Word of God.  First of all, in the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence we find these words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." These men believed in God. Our rights in this country come from God. Our freedoms are due to the Founding Fathers basing our foundation on God. 
We are shown how the history of our country is a bold adventure. Less than 100 years after America declared its independence, 32 million immigrants had found their way to these shores. They were coming to a nation that was built on Christian principles, a land of freedom. Ellis Island is described as a "stepping stone to freedom" and the "Plymouth Rock of the 1800's."
As the new scene starts, we are treated to more breathtaking scenic views of our great land as the song "America You're Beautiful" is played. We hear how it is a privilege to live here in this beautiful land. The song leads into a brief study of how this land is truly "One Nation Under God."  As much as people want to deny it, by watching this video you can see that our Founding Fathers did build this nation on God and His word. Alexis de Tocqueville was a great political thinker and historian who visited our country to find out what the key to our country's greatness was. He concluded that it is because we are one nation under God. It is believed that he stated, "America is great because she is good and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."
There are quotes shared from our Founding Fathers that demonstrate their belief in the sovereignty of God. Our government buildings contain quotes from these great men and from the Bible itself. I have heard it said, very often these days, that our Founding Fathers were not Christians and yet, there is so much to prove otherwise. From inaugural addresses throughout history to the Constitutions of all 50 states, there are references to God to be found. I have also heard that the Bible has nothing to do with our Constitution. I was amazed to find out how false that statement is. The Preamble of the Constitution shows that these men founded our country on the Word of God. 
In case you haven't read it lately, here is the preamble to the Constitution which gives a summary of the job of civil government:
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
The DVD then goes on to show how all the main parts of this Preamble are based the Bible.  Here, let's break it down. 

• "Establish Justice"- 1 Peter 2:14
• "Insure Domestic Tranquility"- 1 Timothy 2:2
• "Provide for the Common Defense"- Romans 13:4
• "Secure the blessings of liberty"- 2 Corinthians 3:17

Even our system of checks and balances, our 3 branches of government, comes from the wisdom in the Bible found in Isaiah 33:22. 

As the DVD continues the viewer becomes aware of so much more of our Christian heritage. We see that prayer has always played a part in our government. There were even church services held in the Capitol building in this country's early years. There were times in our country's history when federal funds were used to build churches and congress had Bibles printed and given to military and schools. Yes, you read that correctly. At one point, our government was supplying Bibles to schools, a place where they are kept out of in present times.  Our Founding Fathers truly were men of God.

There is one scene that has stuck with me since my first viewing. I don't know if this is just a coincidence or if it was truly designed this way, but I found this very powerful. It is said that the buildings around the National Mall in Washington D.C. are arranged in a specific shape. The White House is to the North, The Capitol is to the East, the Jefferson Memorial is to the South and the Lincoln Memorial is to the West. If the map were to be turned so west points up, here is what you will see from above:

And in the center of the cross was placed the Washington Memorial, which is the tallest building in the city. 

Even more amazing is the plaque that was placed on the top of the east facing wall. A plaque that states, "Laus Deo" which means "Praise be to God."  

Sadly, our Christian heritage has been crumbling away in recent times. It began with the removal of Bibles from public schools in 1963 and has escalated from there with more and more anti-Christian court decisions. As the religion of humanism has been creeping in to our country there have been devastating results, such as: teen sex, abortion, rape, STD's, drugs, alcohol, murder, and high school drop outs. 

According to the DVD, when Roe v. Wade was decided, the "court omitted 2000 years of Judeo-Christian influence and reached back into paganism to find a basis for its moral judgment." The results of this tragedy were illustrated in a most powerful way. The viewer was asked to close their eyes and imagine that each metal BB hitting some metal was equal to 10,000 lives lost to war. You will hear a couple to about 56 BB's hitting for each of the wars America has been involved in. In comparison, the amount of BB's representing the war on the unborn child seemed unending. Needless to say, it was a very powerful illustration. 

We then come to a very profound question. We know that these men and women who have fought for our freedom have made enormous sacrifices. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. And the question is asked, "Have they died in vain?" And another question, "Have we preserved one nation under God?" Little by little we have turned from a country that was unashamed to thank God to a country that thinks it doesn't need God. As history has shown, when nations turn their backs on God, he let's them go. This little nugget of historical truth leads right into another moving song titled, "America You're Too Young to Die." 

The viewer is then admonished and told we are all to blame for the state of our country. The conclusion is that we can not continue to sit idly by and allow evil to win. The revival of our great nation is going to be found in God's people putting their hope in him and by rising up in prayer. The main program ends with the song, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. This song has always been very moving to me and I love that it was included in this DVD.

Additionally, we can find some very important warnings by listening to the special features. You will hear from 2 ladies who have first hand experience with the Nazi regime and have some very important insights into our country and the way it is headed. 

There is so much more that I obviously can't share it all with you here in this review.  This is a program that is approximately 42 minutes long and the features are both about 20 minutes in length. Hopefully this has whetted your appetite to discover what else you may not know about the history of this great country. If you would like to get a glimpse of what our country was really built upon, I would highly recommend Anthem For a Nation. This is a very powerful program with breathtaking video and moving songs, along with wonderful narration sharing the forgotten details of our Christian heritage. I found myself moved to tears several times along with getting chills from the realizations. 

I received a physical DVD to watch with my family. Though the material contained in this disc is meant for the general audience, I would recommend viewing it first by yourself and then sharing the parts you feel comfortable sharing with your children. There are scenes that will be over the heads of young children, and some that contain subjects you may not feel comfortable sharing with them. For my husband and myself, these would be the chapters "A Nation Adrift" and "The War on the Unborn Child" as we feel the children are too young to be dealing with the subjects of sex, drugs, murder and abortion. We had begun by watching the DVD with the children, and then realized we probably should shield them a bit. Obviously, this will be up to the individual family.
This is a wonderful program that shares the true foundation of our country and one I firmly believe all Americans should watch. If you would like to watch the preview, you can find it on YouTube.  You can purchase Anthem For a Nation for $19.95.