The Wolters took a trip to Mankato on Saturday and watched a movie called “God is Not Dead 2.” There is a moment near the beginning when Pat Boone, who plays the elderly father of the film’s main character, history teacher Grace Wesley (portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart), laments a future where people won’t come to know the love of God because God isn’t allowed to be discussed.
That statement stayed with me. I think ol’ Pat is onto something there.
You may agree or disagree about the importance of learning about God, but I think we may already be living in a society where a raging war is being waged against freedom of religion. All you need to do is watch the news and read about the lawsuits and threats of lawsuits to know that people of faith are being asked (one way or another) to just shut up.
The makers of “God is Not Dead 2” no doubt believe that the U.S. government, enabled by people hostile to or ignorant of their fellow Americans’ constitutional rights, is attempting to silence Christian believers as never before. The movie is a call to arms for Christians, and to anyone else who cherishes our God-given and constitutionally-protected rights, to wake up to what is happening.
The premise of the movie is one that, to many, will seem absurd. But personally, I think not.
In the film, public high school teacher Grace Wesley discusses Martin Luther King’s advocacy of non-violence with her class and a student asks Wesley whether she thinks there are similarities in King’s non-violent beliefs and those of Jesus Christ. Wesley answers the question. Yes, she says, and she quotes a Bible verse about Jesus’ doctrine of loving those who persecute you. Nothing controversial there, right? Here is a teacher answering a student’s question as best she can. She doesn’t advocate the worship of Jesus; she doesn’t proselytize.
But of course, it is reported to the Board of Education that Grace Wesley — a known Christian — disobeyed school policy by discussing Christ in a school setting. And, you guessed it, all chaos ensues from there.
I won’t tell you how the movie proceeds to its conclusion. But I will say that those of us in my movie-watching group were entertained and inspired.
There was a time not long ago when faith-based movies lacked top-flight production values. Their scripts might have been poorly-written, their direction might’ve been uninspired, and even the acting might’ve been lacklustre. They’ve gotten much better since then, surely in part because there is a large and hungry audience out there for faith-based movies.
Big-time Hollywood-style movie companies continue to miss the mark on the faith aspects of their attempts to cash in on this movement.
I have concluded, myself, that to embrace a Christian-themed movie you really need to see one produced by a company of Christians, themselves. Hollywood just doesn’t get it, and maybe it never will.
I know what some of you are saying: Frivolous legal attempts to silence freedom just don’t happen like that. This is the land of liberty, after all. Tyranny doesn’t happen here. It happens somewhere else.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to find numerous examples. Here’s one:
In late March of this year, tenured professor John McAdams of Marquette University came to the defense of a student who was told by his professor to drop a class after said student spoke out in favor of traditional marriage. McAdams didn’t defend traditional marriage; he only insisted the student had a right to his beliefs. For this McAdams was told he would be suspended without pay for the remainder of the calendar year if he refused to admit to his error and apologize for it.
As yet, McAdams has not apologized for his defense of free speech.
Oh, and by the way: Neither did Melissa Joan Hart.
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Movie Claims God Is Surely Alive, And Liberty Is Non-negotiable
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