God's Not Dead 2
The School Board brings Grace's case before a judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, hoping to secure her termination and strip her of her teaching license unless she issues an apology, which Grace refuses to do. To Brooke's horror, prosecutor Pete Kane declares that the lawsuit will "prove once and for all that God is dead". His opening argument suggests that the society of the United States will crumble should Grace fail to be found guilty. Endler defends the idea that Jesus was a literal historical figure and thus an appropriate subject of classroom debate. Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace is called as an expert witness, along with Lee Strobel, to defend the idea.
God's Not Dead 2
Brooke is allowed as a witness. Kane tricks her into admitting that it was Grace and not Brooke who initiated their first conversation about Jesus. As Grace becomes more and more discouraged, Brooke and her friends sing her a song in an attempt to build up her spirits. Martin visits David in the hospital with his friend Jude and announces that he feels his call is as a pastor in China. Using a tactic to position Grace as a hostile witness, Endler gets the judge to inform the jury not to let their bias or prejudices interfere with their verdict. The jury ultimately finds in favor of Grace, who rejoices along with Brooke and Endler as Kane stands humiliated. As they celebrate their victory, Brooke Thawley convinces the crowd that "God's not dead" so they could receive the good news, while Newsboys sing their song "Guilty", dedicating it to Grace standing up to court.
"God's Not Dead 2" is filled with a sense of paranoiac persecution and seething resentment towards secular public schools, the ACLU, government interference and those who don't care for "Duck Dynasty." The movie is loaded with simplistic "Us vs. Them" thinking, comforting, perhaps, to those in agreement, but extremely disturbing to those not on board. The atheist mother is more upset when she learns that her dead son read the Bible than the fact that he is dead. Ray Wise shows up as the ACLU attorney, a character who makes Robert Shapiro (as gorgeously played by John Travolta in "The People vs. O.J. Simpson") seem subtle. He is the personification of evil, sneering and snickering, preening and murmuring, assuring the atheist parents in an early meeting, "We will prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that God is dead."
Some evangelical Christians may find the film interesting and even inspiring if you accept the victim premise. Melissa Joan Hart's character is very appealing and she never overreaches. But if Catholic audiences in particular do not question the film they may lose sight of the issue of Jesus' nonviolence to put on the mantle of victimhood and a silo mentality of what it means to be a Catholic Christian in the modern world. They may not even notice that the sacraments and common worship to celebrate the Eucharist, the celebration of Word and Sacrament, the sign of our unity, are missing. At the end, when students are all chanting the lyrics of a Newsboys' song (they appear in the film as well), "God's not dead, he's surely alive," I got the feeling that the film thinks that if you chant or sing it long enough you'll believe and it doesn't matter if you don't understand what the film implies.
A lawyer believes he will prove that God is dead; persecution of a woman for her Christian faith; a woman is said to be a psychic; tension between characters; the father who slaps his son chastises him for becoming a Christian.
halfway through god's not dead 2: dead harder, which argues with ever-increasing excitement that christianity is systemically oppressed in america, and which thinks all its christmases (i.e. overenthusiastic enforcements of usa separation of church and state) have come at once, a christian apologist on the witness stand needs to refer to two gospels to support his textual analysis, so he asks the judge for a bible, and the judge in all nonchalance just HANDS HIM THE COURT'S OWN STATE-APPOINTED BIBLE THAT'S SITTING RIGHT THERE ON THE BENCH IN THE OPEN. HOW DO YOU MESS UP YOUR OWN PERSECUTION FANTASY THIS BADLY. HOW
When Grace Westley, a history teacher, is taken to court after mentioning Jesus during class, the school board becomes hellbent (no pun intended) on getting her fired and revoking her teaching certificate all for the ultimate goal of using the case to "prove once and for all that God is dead".
But will there be a next one? I'd guess it's likely. These are cheap movies to make, with the recurring characters all played by little-known character actors. Heavy promotion on conservative talk radio shows like Hugh Hewitt's (which the movie has been sponsoring all week) including ads that have even gotten me singing, "He's livin' on the inside, roarin' like a lion, God's not dead, He is surely alive," will bring out the faithful, and while it may not get as many crossover audiences curious about the less-interesting debate, the base should be enough to turn it a profit...if not quite the $60 mil of its predecessor. 041b061a72
