(I put “Christian” in quotation marks not to question the faith of the characters, but because the producers of GND2 really only mean evangelical Christian mainline liberal Christians, Catholics, or members of any other religious group are conveniently absent from this film.)Īnyway, the story essentially revolves around Grace Wesley, a high school history teacher portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart who also happens to be a teenage witch Bible-believing evangelical Christian. JJ: Well, I guess we should discuss the film’s deeply problematic premise, which is clearly designed to manipulate the audience into sympathizing with the “Christian” characters. ZF: There’s a ton to unpack, to be sure, but I think we both agree that it’s worth discussing because the film is - by design - an allegory for the current fight over the fate of “religious liberty” in this country. Jack Jenkins: :: sighs deeply, squints eyes, rubs bridge of nose :: I don’t even know where to begin, Zack. We only had one pen between us to share and you held it most of the time. I couldn’t help but notice that you were furiously taking far more notes than I was. I laughed a lot, but I probably wasn’t supposed to. I have to say that I kind of liked it it’s at least watchable for the strawman farce that it is. I wanted to see this with you Jack because we always have great conversations and debates about religion and this seemed like it would be a great catalyst for another. Zack Ford: So, we just saw God’s Not Dead 2, which is the latest film from the Christian right about how persecuted they are in the 21st century (even Mike Huckabee makes a cameo to drive the point home).
This is a slightly edited version of the conversation that followed. This week, they went to see the new film God’s Not Dead 2 together. Zack Ford is ThinkProgress’ LGBT Editor and an out and proud atheist who has spoken at various secular conferences nationwide. Jack Jenkins is ThinkProgress’ Senior Religion Reporter and has a Master’s of Divinity from Harvard University.