The separation of church and state is a foundational precept of america, however as Dan Partland’s ominous documentary “God & Nation” argues, a frightening portion of the nation’s Christian voters could not maintain this reality to be self-evident.
Partland, who directed the 2020 documentary “#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump,” attracts upon Katherine Stewart’s guide “The Energy Worshippers: Contained in the Harmful Rise of Spiritual Nationalism” for his new movie.
“God & Nation” describes the rising menace to democracy posed by voters who subscribe to the assumption that america is above all a Christian nation and that this could affect insurance policies on abortion, public schooling, immigration, and so forth. The movie’s insights in regards to the position of faith in politics really feel particularly well-informed as a result of a lot of its commentators draw on their very own private {and professional} experiences with the Christian church. They’re believers, too, they usually’re nervous.
The historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez; the pastor Rob Schenck; Reza Aslan, the writer of “Past Fundamentalism”; and David French, an Opinion columnist for The New York Occasions, all talk about the methods during which this motion can threaten political and civic life.
The rise of Donald J. Trump as a presidential candidate and his subsequent time period in workplace galvanized antidemocratic attitudes within the nation, and within the movie the previous president is likened to a fire-and-brimstone televangelist. A pocket historical past lesson charts how televangelists grew in energy within the Seventies and ’80s, opportunistically utilizing wedge points comparable to abortion for conservative political objectives.
The movie’s format will be blunt, reducing between unsettling speaking head interviews and clips of crowds cheering on Christian leaders at politically charged occasions or conservative politicians making brash proclamations. However relatively than come off solely as a grim forecast, the movie presents attainable options for the nation, most notably from the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, the minister and social activist who presents a voice of hope and inclusivity that feels genuinely therapeutic.
God & Nation
Rated PG-13. Operating time: 1 hour half-hour. In theaters.
