This weekend I saw God’s Not Dead 2, the new Christian-themed movie as loved by its target audience—conservative Christians—as it’s ridiculed by the critics. Watching both the film and the audience’s reaction to it, as well as reading what the critics had to say about it, it occurred to me that it’s loved for the same reason Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have acquired great popular followings, and the film’s critics are as clueless as those of Trump and Sanders and their followers.
The movie tells the story of a history teacher who quotes the Bible while discussing the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The school district administrators, thinking that she’s preaching rather than teaching in the classroom, order her to apologize. She refuses. They try to fire her. She goes to court.
The movie’s critics claim that the movie, like its prequel of similar name, uses a contrived and unrealistic storyline designed to show how Christians are being persecuted by atheists in the public schools. They have a partial point. The story is contrived. In real life, a history teacher’s use of scripture in discussing The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. might well have been seen as rational, acceptable and probably uncontroversial. After all, Dr. King was a Christian minister who presumably took the Bible seriously as a source of motivation and a guide to action. Hence any dispute arising from the use of scripture to explain his conduct could probably be resolved by people of goodwill, without threats to anyone’s career or resort to courtroom histrionics—maybe.
But the film’s producers have a stronger point than their critics may want to acknowledge. Since the United States Supreme Court first declared school-sponsored prayer to be unconstitutional in 1963, there have been instances of local school administrators trying to stamp out all forms of religious expression in their schools, such as by banning the wearing of religious paraphernalia (rosaries, crucifixes, Stars of David) or the reading of the Bible during free time, or the publication of students’ favorite Bible verses in their yearbooks, or the acknowledgment by students of the power they believe God plays in their lives. Their efforts have supplied plenty of examples of irrational hostility towards religion and the religious.
But the purpose of the Supreme Court’s ruling was to end only mandatory school prayer led by students—not all forms of religious expression. Courts have ruled, in cases provoked by administrators’ overreach, that students do, in fact, have the right to wear religious medallions, to read the Bible and other religious materials, to form clubs which can meet on school premises, and to voluntarily pray—provided, of course, they do not interfere with the rights of others or with the normal operations of the public schools. Ironically, the American Civil Liberties Union, portrayed as villainous in the movie, has helped file some of the lawsuits which have produced acknowledgment of the rights of religious students to more freely speak, write, and otherwise demonstrate their devotion to their respective faiths in accordance with the First Amendment.
And critics seem to be missing a larger point shown by God’s Not Dead 2 and other films with Christian themes. They criticize these films not only for exaggerating the “war on Christianity,” but for their allegedly mediocre production values as well, doing their best to discourage people from seeing them and expressing consternation at those who do. But these movies are proving themselves quite popular, despite what many critics say. Perhaps they’re tapping into a deep unrest and dissatisfaction among those who consider themselves religious yet marginalized by a secular social elite. Support for these films may reflect their audiences’ rejection of the condescension and contempt with which they think they’re being held.
If so, the popularity of God’s Not Dead 2 may be akin to that of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders—two presidential candidates opposed by their parties’ respective “establishments” yet proving more popular and durable than first imagined. Trump has been criticized—justifiably—for remarks that make him appear racist, sexist, xenophobic, and ignorant. Sanders, too, has been charged with offering unrealistic and extravagant public policy proposals impossible to implement. Yet Trump remains the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, while Sanders continues to give Hillary Clinton a run for her money on the Democratic side. Nothing their critics say seems to have the slightest impact on their popularity yet.
What God’s Not Dead 2, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders seem to have in common is that they all speak for those to whom nobody—that is, nobody in a position of power to shape public opinion or public policy—ever really listens. Perhaps the critics should simply shut up and start listening if they really want to know what’s going on.
As for the movie itself—I liked it. The story could have been stronger if the teacher had been accused of wearing a religious medallion or reading a Bible on her lunch hour—offenses which have been adjudicated in the real world. But to my untrained eye the acting was fine and the script raised some interesting points which deserve further discussion if not immediate acceptance.
By the way, the standout cast member, in my opinion at least, was Ray Wise, who played the evil lawyer hired by the school district to destroy the career hapless/heroic school teacher for refusing to either apologize or quit. A few years ago he starred in a delightful TV fantasy-comedy-drama, Reaper, about the travails of a young man whose parents sold his soul to the Devil, and who therefore had to work as a bounty hunter catching and returning escaped demons to Hell. Ray Wise played Satan, a role which gave him plenty of practice for God Is Not Dead 2.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville and taught politics and government at Tarleton since 1987. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990 to the present). He was Mayor Pro Tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Stephenville Rotary Club, and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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