Homeschoolers vs. the Government in God’s Not Dead: We the People

God's Not Dead: We the People
By Teri Olsen

This October, a new movie is coming to theaters for three days only – God’s Not Dead: We The People. The fourth installment of the popular movie franchise will focus on educational and religious liberties, specifically as they pertain to homeschooling!

That’s right, Reverend Dave is the Bible teacher in a homeschool co-op. It’s not quite clear why (maybe they were targeted for their beliefs?), but the homeschool group receives an impromptu inspection by an overzealous anti-Christian social worker.

At first the plot seemed dated, because I never hear about social workers going around knocking on homeschoolers’ doors any more. Maybe in some states they still do that, I don’t know. But if the government is allowed to continue on its current course, I’m sure it will start happening again with a vengeance.

Believing that the homeschooled kids and teens are receiving an inferior education, the social worker reports them. A judge orders the parents to enroll their children in the public school system or else face exorbitant fines and contempt of court.

Pastor Dave is taken aback by the interference of the government, believing that parents have the right to choose how to honor God in educating their children. He decides that this is an important freedom worth fighting for, so he comes to their defense. He rallies those parents to not bow to the pressures to silence their faith, and they all travel to Washington DC to testify in a congressional hearing on a proposed national education law.

Freedom is Fragile

I got to see an advance screening of this movie and all I can say is wow! The plot may have seemed far-fetched just a few years ago, but the way things are going these days, it was very believable. Especially the tagline: Freedom is Fragile. The movie starts with one of my favorite quotes by Ronald Reagan:

“Freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those in world history, who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.”

“We feel honored to provide our faithful audience another installment in the God’s Not Dead franchise that provides a compelling, timely, and convicting message,” said Pinnacle Peak Pictures founding partner Michael Scott in a statement. “The themes in this film reflect news headlines and encourage believers to remain strong in their fight to protect their spiritual rights and God-given freedoms.”

We’ve all seen what’s been happening with various government entities restricting freedom of speech and religious liberties without listening to their constituents. In God’s Not Dead: We the People, Congress plans to enact a national curriculum, and the lawmakers have absolutely no respect for people of faith.

The actors who play the Senators had it easy – all they needed to do was pattern their behaviors after our real Senators in Washington, DC. The arrogance and disdain shown by those in the movie was just as infuriating!

All of the acting in God’s Not Dead: We the People was great, including the interactions between the homeschooled teen and the other high school student. I like how the movie portrayed the homeschooler as being a normal teenager and showed that he could be respected by a non-homeschool student of his same age.

If you have seen any of the other movies in the God’s Not Dead series, you will get to see some familiar characters make their appearances. I loved seeing Reverend Dave again, and was happily surprised to see Reverend Jude (no, it’s not a continuity error!).

God’s Not Dead: We the People also stands on its own for those who haven’t seen the previous movies. The flashbacks were effective either way; for refreshing our memory of past events, or filling us in on the character’s backstory.

As usual with this movie franchise, there will be plenty of courtroom drama – but the character development (and some unexpected twists!) keeps it interesting. Different scenes in this movie will make you laugh, cry, cheer, and even shock you.

We the People

Michael Scott told Newsweek that the film tackles the relevant issues in society today. “There’s a lot of societal issues we take on. What are our freedoms? What are our liberties? And how much should government control us? It’s timely, considering debates about critical race theory, revisionist history and prayers taken from schools. The movie is a defense of parental choice,” he said.

Freedom is definitely worth fighting for. What makes God’s Not Dead: We the People so intriguing is that its plot comes straight from today’s headlines. The realistic drama prompts audiences to ask the compelling question: “If your individual liberties are threatened, what would YOU do?”

Well, for one thing, Christians have a duty to be active in politics, schools, and the government. Christians started dropping out of the public sector and look what happened – the humanists, communists, and atheists stepped in to change what freedoms we have. Now finally the Christians, conservatives, and patriots are waking up and taking matters into their own hands.

Christian homeschool teens and families will love God’s Not Dead: We the People – and Christians and freedom-loving patriots in general will enjoy it. It’s always a pleasure to watch a Christian-made movie, especially one in which the characters stand strong and refuse to give up, no matter the challenge. They’re an inspiration to us all.

God’s Not Dead: We the People is an important and timely film. Be sure you mark your calendars for October 4th-6th, and get the message out to your friends and family!

Actors in this movie include David A.R. White (from the other “GND” films), Isaiah Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Antonio Sabato. Jr (“General Hospital”), William Forsythe (“Dick Tracy”), Grammy-winning Christian artist Francesca Battistelli, and Judge Jeanine Pirro (“Justice with Judge Jeanine”).

About God’s Not Dead

The film series began in 2014, adapted from a book, God’s Not Dead: Evidence of God in an Age of Uncertainty, written by Rice Broocks. The first movie is about the story of a freshman college student who challenged his philosophy professor over the argument that God does not exist. God’s Not Dead grossed over $65 million at the box office, becoming one of the most profitable faith-based movies of all time.

God’s Not Dead 2, released in 2016, tells the story of Christian high school teacher who was accused of preaching in class (she was just answering a student’s question truthfully), forcing her to take the matter to court. For their defense strategy they decide to make the case that Jesus was a real historical figure, just like Gandhi and MLK. God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness was released in 2018, is about defending a historic church building’s existence on the grounds of a college campus.

About Pinnacle Peak Pictures

Pinnacle Peak Pictures, formerly Pure Flix Entertainment, is a leading faith and family-friendly film studio created in 2005 by Michael Scott and David A.R. White. The Christian studio based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is responsible for such films as God’s Not Dead, The Case for Christ, and Do You Believe?, and the forthcoming God’s Not Dead: We the People (Fall 2021).

Pure Flix Entertainment changed its corporate name to Pinnacle Peak Pictures in 2020 as it began production on God’s Not Dead: We the People. The rebranding came after AFFIRM Entertainment acquired the Pure Flix subscription VOD service last year.

Pinnacle Peak Pictures has a mission to establish itself as a full-service production and distribution company “focusing on theatrical film and international TV & video distribution in the family and inspirational marketplace.” It is their goal to tell stories that are not only entertaining and compelling, but to do so in a way that the whole family can enjoy.

Official web site: www.GodsNotDead.com

God’s Not Dead: The Complete Blu-ray + DVD Combo Triple Feature Collection – God’s Not Dead / God’s Not Dead 2 / God’s Not Dead 3: A Lightness in Dark [Bluray & DVD Combo Faith Set]

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