God's Not Dead II

[SGOS]

Yep, I rented it.  Mostly just for laughs and giggles, and I even wondered if I could watch all of it.  I was thinking it might be entertaining the way a really bad cult film can be entertaining.  I did fast forward two or three times, as the movie would put itself on hold and take a time out to do some heavy handed (and boring) proselytizing.  But I'd only jump ahead maybe 3 to 5 minutes.  How bad was it?  Well, I've seen worse, but it was pretty bad.  I was always aware of actors acting.  There was one dynamic actor who was convincing.  The others did what they could, and I don't want to be too hard on them.  I don't think any of the Hollywood heavyweights could have done much better, given the content.

The title is misleading.  It's not about God being dead at all, although early in the movie the lawyer for the ACLU gets a girl's parents to sign onto a law suit to "Get the teacher" (not the school), and to prove "once and for all that God is dead."  <Que the chills up and down Christian spines>  But those lines appear to be one of those cheap attempts to make a connection between the title and a movie that doesn't have much to do with the title.  After that, it's never mentioned again and the movie becomes a courtroom battle over separation of church and state, but it offers plenty of opportunities for Christians to express shock and hurt over how mean the government is to them, when all they are doing is being sweet, gooey, humble, and oppressed.

The courtroom scenes utilize an assortment of Christian cliché and examine issues, like the words "separation of church and state" actually do not appear in the constitution (but avoids noting that the purpose of the establishment clause is to create a separation), and that Jesus did actually exist, because some atheist writer gave reasons for why Jesus obviously existed.  There was also a cold case forensics expert that explained how Biblical truths can be divined without witnesses over things that might have happened 2000 years in the past.

While the ACLU did actually stick to the issue of separation of church and state, the Christian defense was the same thing we see in real life:  "Yeah but all we want our constitutional freedom to practice our religion."  A last minute revelation put the Christian defense in serious jeopardy just as the jury was sent out to deliberate, and things looked really bleak.  But then the jury came back and found in favor of the defendant.  And why not really?  She had been devastated, victimized, and she was in tears because the government was going to ruin her life.   So in the end, everything was joyful, as the moral Christian majority prevailed, and celebrated their victory over their oppressors.

I hope I will not be accused of creating a spoiler.  Everyone who can breath knows how the movie was going to turn out.     

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Whistling in the dark.

[Blackleaf]

Did you notice a funny pattern between the first and second movies? The first one is about a teacher imposing his atheist position on his students. The second is about a teacher imposing her Christian beliefs on her students. They switched roles, and somehow the Christians are still the good guys.

[TomFoolery]

Did you notice a funny pattern between the first and second movies? The first one is about a teacher imposing his atheist position on his students. The second is about a teacher imposing her Christian beliefs on her students. They switched roles, and somehow the Christians are still the good guys.

Much like American history class, when we're taught that George Washington and his minions were heroes and patriots for deciding to reject Britain and form their own country, but the South was full of traitors and scoundrels who dared to secede from the North for damn near the same reasons (plus some slavery). History... told by the winners for the winners. 

Christian films... told by Christians to the mocking delight of atheists. :)

[SGOS]

Did you notice a funny pattern between the first and second movies? The first one is about a teacher imposing his atheist position on his students. The second is about a teacher imposing her Christian beliefs on her students. They switched roles, and somehow the Christians are still the good guys.

Yes, winning is always determined by the depth of one's faith.