Andrew Walker: New documentary vilifies conservative Christians

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, February 28th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next: Christian Nationalism.

WORLD Opinions managing editor Andrew Walker says a new documentary says more about the filmmakers than it does about their targets.

ANDREW WALKER: The much-discussed Rob Reiner-produced God & Country documentary is now in theaters, and if you saw a trailer, the final product is exactly what you’d expect: a biased vilification of conservative Christians.

Admittedly, the documentary landed a few good punches in its criticisms. Did it rightly call out a lot of cringe and horrible theology done to defend Trump? Yes. Some conservative evangelicals deserve scathing criticism for sycophantically excusing or defending Donald Trump’s many flaws. But one need not be a theological or political liberal to make that criticism.

To its credit, the documentary did qualify that not all conservative Christians are enemies of polite society. But it’s impossible to know when one of those culturally acceptable values that Christians affirm—like human dignity—runs afoul of progressive views. One lesson near the end seems to be that if you mobilize to oppose abortion, you hate women and have sacrificed your faith on the altar of politics.

Seems balanced, I know.

According to the film, if you oppose abortion or LGBTQ ideology, that’s a marker of Christian nationalism. If you oppose critical race theory or feminism, that’s a marker of Christian nationalism. At one point, innuendo suggests that even worldview formation is a marker of Christian nationalism.

Apparently the only authentic expressions of Christianity are the forms that are left-coded in our society. In truth, helping the poor, loving the immigrant, and helping the helpless aren’t left-coded. That’s just Biblical Christianity. But it becomes left-coded when left-wing pundits, academics, and activists consider all right-coded concerns about abortion and the LGBTQ agenda as “political.”

The film also strings together a historically simplified, exaggerated, and contradictory storyline. One moment we’re literally on the “precipice” of theocracy, while later Christian Nationalists seem to be a very small percentage of Christians. Which is it?

Of course, anyone paying attention knew the film was going to end in this direction. As I wrote in 2022: “It’s just too convenient to delegitimize the areas where progressives are always prone to disagree with Christians by slapping the label ‘Christian nationalism’ on it.”

No wonder the movie has turned out to be a general market flop, with ticket sales reaching only $38,415 opening weekend. That’s not exactly the sign of a groundswell for a looming fear of theocratic take-over.

William F. Buckley, Jr. once remarked that “liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” The only acceptable form of Christianity in this film is politically neutered Christianity, one that is little more than sentimentality and social justice. Of course, when you consider that evangelical Christians give far more to charity and mercy ministries than to political organizations, the narrative of God & Country quickly falls apart.

The final scenes offer an extended look at abortion, as well as a reference to the “least of these” in Matthew 25. But the filmmakers never ask whether the unborn might qualify as “the least of these.” The failure to ask that question, and others like it, show how intellectually userious the documentary is as a whole.

I’m Andrew Walker.

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