A review by Parker Senska
Last week, I accompanied my mom to see the movie “God’s Not Dead 2.” Though I didn’t see the first movie, I was more inclined to see this one due to Melissa Hart’s starring role. (I loved her in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.) After seeing this movie, I have positive and negative feelings about it.
“God’s Not Dead 2” is about teacher Grace Wesley, who is tried for answering a question about Jesus in class. The movie also provides a few side plots of characters that are tangently involved. One sub plot that caught my interest in particular was Amy’s internal conflict of questioning her faith, because that’s an issue I feel quite a few Christians struggle with, myself included.
However, my fear is that Christians who watch this movie will become paranoid that that their religion is being persecuted, which is the furthest thing from the truth.
Yes, in “God’s Not Dead 2,” Grace Wesley is clearly in the right, because while answering the question, she refers to Jesus in his life as a historical figure, not the savior of humankind. However, I’ve too often seen in the news of Christians trying to use their religion as an excuse to discriminate against others, and then turn around and claim they’re the ones being persecuted when the federal government steps in to try and rectify this. My point is proven by bills in half the states across the U.S., including the one that nearly passed in South Dakota’s Congress, that allow people to discriminate against others on the grounds of religion. It’s sickening to think that someone would actually use their religion, especially a religion that centers around forgiveness, love and kindness, to spread their hatred.
Moving back to the movie, “God’s Not Dead 2” portrays the atheistic antagonists as flat characters with no motivation for what they’re doing other than the fact that they appear to be heartless or pure evil. If the movie explored their motivations and thinking processes, not only would it provide a whole new layer to the movie, it would provide insight to the viewers about why some people seem to be against Christianity.
All-in-all, the movie is obviously intended for Christians, so I can’t say you would like it if you aren’t. If you are Christian, the movie’s heartfelt moments and good points for Christians who are struggling with their faith may provide you with an enjoyable experience.