> "what happened here tonight is a cause for celebration" > standing over the still-warm body of a man who just died in utter agony

I have a friend who is a missionary and has seen legit persecution of Christians (getting arrested, beaten, etc). She came home for a visit and my family asked her if she sees parallels here compared to where her work is (my family believes persecution of American Christians is a thing) and they expected her to agree with them. She said absolutely not. She went on to elaborate how christians here aren't even close to persecuted and my family tried to prod her into agreeing but every story she told contradicted what they said and believed. They didn't want to talk about it all of a sudden when she made her stance firm that American Christians are not persecuted in any capacity. It was probably one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed in my life.

"When you live in privilege, equality feels like a discrimination" - great words.

Some christians feel incredibly persecuted when they don't get to tell a ton of other people how to live their lives...

Amusingly, most Christian movies made by black Americans tend to be about facing completely non-religious hardships like dying relatives, cheating spouses, pressure at work, or misbehaving children. The Christian elements come in when the main character goes to church, starts praying and thinking about their predicament, and finds the inspiration to comfort their loved one, leave their spouse, confront their boss, reconnect with their children, etc. These white Evangelical Christian movies are meant to scare a group of people into thinking that they're losing power. Black Christian movies try to inspire you to work your way through everyday problems. Quite frankly, that says a lot about the social dynamics in the US.

When you worship a martyred god, it’s easy to get your martyr complex all mixed up in your god complex.

"don't tolerate intolerance" thank you for saying this, people don't seem to get it

The Reverend from the predominantly black church was probably just included as a weak attempt to cover their ass and try to claim it as "proof" that the the movie isnt racist.

As a Jew who has actually faced discrimination for being Jewish I always laugh at the type of persecution portrayed in Christian films. It's always so dramatic. People are being arrested or thrown in prison or buildings are being torn down. It's completely unrecognizable from the much quieter, much more subtle discrimination that comes before things get quite that bad, like odd comments, idle threats, just plain rudeness. For example, our Jewish Community Center has always been a subject of annoyance for other people in the area mostly just because it exists, and we had had to deal with weird questions, uncomfortable remarks, little acts of vandalism, and other small forms of discrimination far before it escalated into anything dangerous. Which it did, we've now gotten bomb threats a couple of times and had enough happening that we've had to fence in our property and get officers to patrol our small grounds. It ebbs and flows but hasn't gotten that bad in a while. But in Christian movies there's none of the everyday stuff, it's always so dire, and it doesn't get better with small things like a fence or some guards, it only goes away when Johnny McWhiteman destroys the libs in a battle to the death. It's allllmost as if the Christians writing these movies don't really know how discrimination feels hmmmmmmmmm

Bullies need scapegoats to maintain hierarchies. Particularly Ironic with the Christian end of the Abrahamic spectrum as they worship the ultimate scapegoat, someone who, if they were alive today, would be martyred by his own followers, especially if he acted on the beliefs he preached.

My parents always say: "Think what you want, just don't act upon it and don't talk about it." Basically: "Conform."

The kind of person who still thinks trump is a godly man, qualified and doing a good job is the type of person who thinks Gods Not Dead is a documentary

"When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." Bam. This right here is an excellent way to sum up a lot of the source of tensions in this country right now.

"I could build you a church with all the bricks thrown through my window". Okay favorite character.

Ah, I remember back when I was an evangelical Christian. I even helped promote the first God’s Not Dead when I was 16. You know something is terribly wrong with a position when you feel liberated and free just from changing your mind. I wouldn’t wish religious belief on my worst enemy.

Thank you for talking about King honestly. The other part of his legacy is that his position was the acceptable compromise because Malcom and the Panthers were a more terrifying option to the entrenched power.

You know what my favorite Christian movie is? Bruce Almighty. Like legit. It's the most Christian non evangelical movie I've ever seen. Yeah its blasphemous since the guy literally becomes god but the whole lesson behind the movie is to try and get over yourself, have faith that theres better times coming, and to help others and "be the miracle" instead of waiting around for things to magically get better. Sounds more christ like than all of GnD

My priest once said “there are many people out there who think they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. In reality they are persecuted only because of their selfish behavior.” He didn’t name names but I think he was talking about the evangelical prods.

Electing Trump shows that the religious right will vote in someone who just plays at being a good Christian if that person also embodies and enacts the rest of their ideology.

Amazing how they always put Dr. King on a pedestal about his non-violence, but they also always skate past the fact that he was still murdered, despite not being violent

6:22 That "The enemy is both strong and weak. Don't think about it. It's not a contradiction, really guys!" schtick seems rather similar to how the Nazis portrayed Jews.

"When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression" To me it feels like common sense and I've been pretty privileged all my life

22:35 "Tolerance for oppression itself is not an equal concept". I couldn't agree more. That sentiment is beyond beautiful. I want to express gratitude from the bottom of my heart for Renegade Cut. In these bleak times, watching these videos is like gratifying water for my super parched throat.

Every single one of their examples of discrimination are "you need to be tolerant of my intolerance."

Change through civility is a privilege many people don't really have.

Those poor persecuted Christians in America..... Will their suffering never end?

Lmao my dad says that christians shouldn't have to serve gay people if it makes them uncomfortable but little does he know that I'm bisexual and now I'm terrified that he's gonna hate me if I get a gf but I'm in the wrong for wanting equality, right? 🙃🙃🙃🙃

THERE'S A THIRD MOVIE!?!?

"Heaven help you if you are an atheist seeking public office." Best line ever.

Holy shit. I just have to say, the part about protests and ulterior motivated calls for 'civility' really just ripped open my brain. In a good way. You're absolutely right about 'goalposts moving' in terms of protesting and the perceived manner of protest. Anger is still a slippery slope, and even with good intentions, rage can cloud better judgement. No matter who it's coming from. But it is TOTALLY possible to make an energized but focused protest that is loud and disruptive enough to turn all the right heads but not do more damage than it's worth. I love this video. I'm so glad I watched it. The communication of ideas and explanations for feelings and actions is so clear and relateable. Definitely makes you stop dead and really think. And in my case, rethink. A lot. Thank you so much for writing this, editing this, and posting this; thank you SO MUCH for making this. And sharing it. I hope it will find its way to and speak equally crystal clearly and persuasively to people who can definitely affect this much needed societal change. Kudos! Keep up the amazing insightful work.

Every time I remember the end of the first movie I have to go stand in the corner and think about what they did, because they obviously never will

The bill of rights conflicts with the Bible. For instance the bill of rights says you get freedom of religion, but the Bible says you worship God or die. The 13th amendment outlaws slavery, the Bible has multiple passages on who you can enslave and how you treat them.

"We're under no obligation to tolerate intolerance" what an excellent line... I love this succinct explanation, definitely stealing it lol. Great video!

Great video, thanks for making it. These types of Christians are terrifying and seriously worry me as an (atheist) American citizen, not only for their disregard of other religions and/or non-believers, but the increasing focus on the 2nd amendment and their misplaced importance on gun ownership (like how an NRA spokesperson was cast in this film).

this is one of the few movie analysis channels i like because he actually discusses the politics of the movies

i just want to say thank you so much for this. your words pretty much vindicated about 11 years of my clinical depression. i’m atheist and was once in a toxic relationship with someone who was devoutly catholic. she would tell me that supporting gay rights (it was 2007) was being intolerant of her religion and would say things that made me feel like i was kevin sorbo for trying to explain otherwise. she basically told me that tolerating religious intolerance was necessary for respecting religion. science be praised that we broke up after she cheated on me with a counselor from youth group.

"christian exploitation films". Most accurate description I've heard.

Watching this in June 2020 is eerie. King is out again, being misrepresented to the degree that I was surprised to see that this video came out a year ago about a movie.

There are six God's Not Dead fanfics on AO3 and of those two of them are smut fics of Josh and his professor

As someone who left these people in her late teens and became athiest, you succinctly stated my frustrations

To a group that has received special benefits for a super long time, being treated equally seems like persecution EDIT: As I watching, I realized that he said a very similar thing at 11:07 , and I think he phrased it better

I like how that boy from the first movie has also been in the first Disney Channel series to feature a gay couple.

i wish our experiences with christians were the same. my grandparents and everyone at their church LOVE these movies and i was actually sat down and forced to watch the first two on several occasions under the guise of "family time" back when i lived with them. i'm an lgbt pagan and they knew this (they actually invaded my privacy multiple times in my teens to find that out and punished me for it) and their reactions, as well as their church friends' reactions, to these movies was actually kind of scary. especially when i personally researched those cases, came to the same conclusions as you, and brought that evidence to them as well as attempted to start a debate about the series's message only to get shot down and further mistreated. they literally watched the first one every night for almost a month after buying it. many christians in my experience LOVE these movies because they validate them and allow them to be comfortable with their ignorance. i have no idea if they like the new one as i'm out of that unfortunate situation but i feel they'd enjoy it a well because its arguments parallel theirs to such an extent it's almost disturbing. i'm glad to know there are christians who argue against these movies though. it's very comforting to have someone confirm that many frown on the movie for giving their faith a bad name and using poorly constructed caricatures of nonchristians and "enemies" of the faith, sometimes punishing them with death or making them endure abuse until they convert. it gives the whole faith a bad name. as a former christian who read the bible front to back and actually respects the religion itself, i know these movies are in no way and accurate portrayal of actual christianity but rather bigoted christians with a martyr complex who hide behind their beliefs to oppress and silence minority groups. unfortunately, because of their popularity and the fact that the movies really are shoved down the throats of those who have different opinions, a lot of people are just gonna walk away with a newfound discomfort regarding the religion and its followers while those who laud these films as revolutionary will walk away with a false sense of moral superiority and higher intelligence compared to their so called enemies. there are few movies i genuinely hate and feel physically uncomfortable watching but these movies are some of them because of the people who watch them and say "yes! this is what i've been saying!". they truly scare me.

I was devastated to see Melissa Joan Hart in one of these unpalatable Christian movies, you've fallen so far Miss Spellman

I came to see someone rip this movie to shreds. I got someone putting all my angry thoughts into words. This is amazing and I'm subscribing off of this video alone. Thank you, KZfaq algorithm for working, for once.

I'd try to show this to my mom, but she isn't "ignorant", just a tad sensitive about "Christian movies" being called out for being exploitative.

"When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression".

As of June 2020, this video has a massive amount of weight in the current climate. This might be about God's not dead but so many of the points ring even more loud and clear about what is happening today.

I liked David White better when he was the 'Hey Scotty, Jesus Man!!' guy

"Now, that does not mean white Americans or Christian Americans do not have problems, because everyone has problems" Insane that this needs to be said when discussing privilege EVERYTIME!

Christianity is based off of martyrdom. My dad reads this magazine "voice of the martyrs" religiously. He buys all of the books that it advertises, donates to all of its causes, etc. I'm not educated enough on the condition of Christians in Iraq, but I do know for a fact that Christians are just FINE in the US. However, my dad feeds off these magazines in a way that lets him feel opressed and strong for being a white christian male in the US and it's so embarrassing.

22:30 I love how Leon's voice sounds more aggressive when running down that clip saying minority groups should be more "tolerant". 😁

The part about "civility" hits even harder now with incidents of violence during protests getting the media and political coverage that SHOULD be going to the underlying causes. It's a convenient red herring by the status quo to prevent dealing with the real problems. Instead of wondering "why are these people so bad", it goes to "these people are mad". That's why the Ferguson protests and subsequent riots led to today's situation: the problem wasn't addressed sufficiently the first time because of this "both sides are out of control". And this is extremely hypocritical with the religious right: Christ was executed by the government, given to the government by the religious establishment, and who had attacked religious fundraising...like this movie. Christ today would go to a church, see this video on the shelf, and then knock off the shelf and the church's little store selling religious propaganda. He'd be called an atheist and go to jail.

Who knew this would suddenly become so incredibly topical?

"Angry is good. Angry gets shit done." -- Mr. Nancy, _American Gods_

Jilly Juice conversation therapy should be seen as illegal too.

I see a distinct pattern in their examples. 1. Christian does something dickish, usually involving refusing service to homosexuals or actively trying to harm them. 2. Christian gets in legal trouble. 3. Christian claims their religion demands they do the action in 1. 4. HELP HELP I'M BEING OPPRESSED!

Watching this in June 2020 and realizing how exactly right every word in this is.

oh my god they’re using the facist logic “you’re enemy must be both overwhelmingly strong and incredibly weak”

I'm a Christian and I can't stand the propaganda Christian "entertainment" produces

God's Not Dead makes Kirk Cameron's Left Behind look like Citizen Kane

I know many people are sick of this phrase but yeah the main message of this video is basically “check your privilege” and that’s not unreasonable for the audience of this film

I've seen family members who are actually good Christian people get so caught up in politics that they lose sight of their roots and own moral code. If politics could get themselves untangled from religion, I think things would be at least a little better. *Edit:* I despise how racists and fundies always bring up King once things begin going south. Like bruh, black people have been peacefully protesting for YEARS now (kneeling, wearing "I can't breathe" shirts during sports games, black celebrities speaking out, peaceful marches, etc.), but nobody gave a damn. Only now that insurgencies are popping up all over the country do people pay attention. Like I know you mentioned something similar in the video, but the overwhelming presence of self-righteousness (arrogance) and complete lack of self-reflection is just so damn abhorrent. *Edit 2:* "The use of the word 'civility' by those in power is euphemistic for 'control'. Amen. *Edit 3:* I absolutely love this video! I've never heard so many of my own arguments so perfectly encapsulated in one source!

litteraly had a pureflix ad before the video about a crackhead who become a music teacher to help “troubled” teen

Your analyses across a broad range of topics are eye opening. Thank you for making this channel.

On the point about majority/minority status, after growing up and going to college in the Bible Belt, I was fortunate enough to attend graduate school (math) at one of those East coast "liberal" institutions, and was surprised at how many of my colleagues were religious. Among of graduate students there were several atheists and agnostics, but also a Mormon, a few Muslims, various flavors of Protestants ranging from traditional to born-again evangelical, and a surprising number of Catholics, including myself. Most importantly, no one really cared about that because it had nothing to do with our work and we weren't cynical assholes.

"Waaaah, people don't like that my religious ideology has been used to control other people's lives and actions, waaaah, I'm persecuted." "Discrimination" to Christians who believe this nonsense, is simply not believing in Christianity.

Considering how Kim Davis married four times and had two kids out of wedlock, they set themselves up as arbiters of others in a way that is just perverted, abhorrent.

I had to do a double take on the posting date lol, really puts some things in perspective. Also, was that Ray Wise???

imagine if white people made a movie about how the blacks oppressed them and how they had to fight back. that's these movies.

I was managing a gas station with a small rental area when this movie came out and I remember kind of chuckling at it when I put it up. I thought it was some sort of documentary of people saying "gods not dead" or something. But it wasn't long after I had it up that it was rented out. Not only that, people started coming in asking for it! I forget what other movies were out, but most of them were ones I would much rather see. I decided to check out the movie myself and got pretty creeped out about where I'm living and also understood why a lot of people are the way they are here. I once got screamed at "If you don't believe in god get the f*** out of here!" when a kid asked me what I thought about there being aliens in space. I didn't get a word out before that scream stopped me. I'm working on getting my Mom out of this place. It's an idyllic town to the average white christian/catholic/luthurn. But if you're Native or don't blend in, problems seem to gravitate your way. I saw it happen to other people and families and I noticed it starting to happen to use plus, I don't know where all the other diverse people went. It's just us here now and there was a moment a couple weeks ago where we kept having to deal with the police for things like a dog license and our landlord has been giving us way more papers and demanding more information than the other neighbors have. We thankfully got a minivan to kind of live in one the sh*t really hits the wall, but I don't know how long my Mom could survive that way. She's why I'm here. I came to visit and ended up saving her life one day and realized she needs someone around to do things like that when it happens. I don't want to count how many times I've done it since it's not something I want to do per say. I'd rather her just be up and around herself. (I'll admit, after I watched it I would just say the movie was out when I didn't have it back on the wall yet. Reminds me of the time I picked up the documentary "Jesus Camp" at a thrift shop and an elderly customer in line pointed at it and said "God bless you" to me, which was a weird feeling. Part of me wanted to tell him what it was about, the other didn't want to shatter his illusion. I chose the latter. :P)

6:34 You know, Umberto Eco would have a way to describe that dynamic.

Does anyone else notice the ACLU lawyer is Laura Palmer’s dad in the og Twin Peaks.

Hmmm, portraying a demonized enemy as both too powerful and too weak at the same time? That tactic sounds awfully familiar...

Boy, even though this was created a year ago, this is timely and related to what America is experiencing right now.

These movies are gonna be the next reefer madness

watching this from late May 2020 and the bit about the idea of "civility" and silencing minorities and the necessity of violent protest (and ALL that stuff about MLK) is SO relevant right now. Can't believe this is a 2018 piece.

Ironically, these are the people who complain about Black and LGBT people pretending to be oppressed.

I hate these religious movies, but that line from the black preacher building a church with all the bricks thrown through his window was actually pretty good.

Your BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING is very much appreciated. Thanks

2 years later this video is still relevant and you are still eloquent!!

I wish I could like this a thousand times. Well done.

As a Christian, I can confirm your point about how Christians hate these films. I'm a commie, but all of the Christians I have talked to about the God's Not Dead films, even ultra-conservative ones who do believe things like being gay is wrong, have denounced these movies in one way or the other. If you look at these films, it's really obvious they are just trying to get Christian's money (this is a common theme with Christian movies). They play off the obligation many Christians have to support Christian movies even when they suck and equate supporting the films with supporting God. It's so disgusting.

“When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” This is so powerful

This is more and more relevant today, even if the current protests are not about religion. Thank you, Renegade Cut.

When I saw this movie, literally all I could think about was how much it bothered me that I can't remember where I know Keaton's actress from. Then it dawned on me that she's a former Disney actress, and I realized how little I must have cared about the movie to be that easily distracted.

Thanks for making this video. You have my deepest sympathies for sitting and sifting through the banal bile that is the GND trilogy. You're a braver man than I.

"Your taking away my right to discrimminate people 😢"

"When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression". God damn, that's one of the best articulated sentences i've ever heard in my life.

this is probably now one of my favorite videos. so informative and interesting while never being hyperbolic or going on any tangents. Nice job!

the protests in the 60s were nonviolent in that no one was punching up...

Unfortunately, MY experience with christians is mostly people who love these awful movies. I went to high school at a catholic school (not by choice) and we had mandatory religious education classes where we were forced to watch the first film in the series and write an essay about this. So there I was, a young atheist watching half the class get emotional and cry at the glorious victory of christianity over the straw man created to represent people who shared my beliefs. And then watched them ugly cry at the mercy of god that his soul was SAVED IN THE END. After of course a tragic accident and shortly before his death BUT YAY GOD AMIRITE. At least I got the satisfaction to fill 2 sheets of paper with everything I honestly believed about the movie. And the teacher had to grade it an A I bet she was scared of getting sued if she didn’t since you know, christians are being persecuted these days you never know with these evil atheists

When you used to be Sabrina, but now you're Karen.

I'm an Adjunct Professor of English. I teach at a few different colleges here in New Jersey (both community colleges and four year institutions). All of my colleges have some type of Christian club or Campus Ministry for Christ. From what I've seen, these groups post their flyers, have their meetings, and conduct their events and fundraisers with NO problems or interference. The idea that Christians are "under attack" on college campuses is ludicrous, at best.

I am a Wiccan and seen the discrimination as well. As I am part of the LGBTQAI+ as an asexual female. I wanted neutrality at times, but my roommate got upset when I told him I wouldn't be attending church! I don't want be changed

Kevin Sorbo?? That Hercules actor????

Ernie Hudson? Not Winston :notlikethis:

I really bad for any child whose raving parents dragged them out to these films. I went to highschool with a few people who were exactly like these Christians and did it give me a very dismal view of religion for a long time.

19:25 This video almost perfectly predicted the path of social discourse surrounding the recent state-sponsored murder of George Floyd and the subsequent (overwhelmingly peaceful) protests in America.

Most of the audience for God's Not Dead AREN'T educated. Those that graduated high school, they either didn't do well at the time or they just out and out disbelieve 90% of what they learned.