But on the way he’s struck by a vehicle (because, remember, only bad things happen to atheists). He eventually realizes he made a mistake after driving away his girlfriend, so he sprints to find her at the place he knows she’ll be, the place where the entire town seems to be: a Newsboys concert. He, who had been such a staunch atheist throughout the film, finds himself battling with his own personal demons and questioning his non-faith. Professor Radisson’s end is essentially the same. (Hey, we’re the enemy!) Then Amy gets cancer-and converts to Christianity by the end of the film, of course. She even has an “American Humanists” bumper sticker-happy humanist symbol and all-on the back of her car. She’s depicted as being in a lonely, misogynistic relationship, her health is declining for no apparent reason, and she is extremely unorganized and irresponsible. Blogger Amy Ryan (played by Trisha LaFache) is the stereotypical young, liberal woman who is confrontational in her interviews. It’s not surprising to me that the atheist characters are portrayed in a negative light, and predictably experience the worst luck of all the characters in the film. Radisson then challenges Josh to prove God isn’t dead and will only pass him if Josh can convince others. Our PCB, Josh Wheaton (played by Shane Harper), refuses the task as it would go against everything he believes. The first assignment he administers to his students is the simple task of writing “God is dead” on a piece of paper in order to, as he puts it, “bypass all senseless thought” from the beginning. He mocks and embarrasses people of faith, including his girlfriend. Professor Radisson (played by Kevin Sorbo), is abusively confrontational, arrogant, and uncompromising in every way. The contrast in personalities between the Christians and the nonbelievers in this film is painfully exaggerated. Everyone wins and there’s a big happy Christian rock concert at the end. In the end, his dedication pays off as he converts his entire class and all the atheist characters into Christians. PCB is met with powerful resistance in his quest to prove the “reality” of Christianity, but he never gives up. The “Perfect Christian Boy” (let’s call him PCB) wants to learn but the “Big Bad Philosophy Professor” won’t let him without renouncing his faith. God’s Not Dead is like a Christian fantasy film. The weather is perfect, and everyone’s smiling and seems to have a little hop in their step. It begins as a harmless, happy-go-lucky film about a young man excited for the first day of his freshman year of college.
As the lights dimmed and the opening scene unfolded onscreen, I could already feel myself getting irritated.
The anticipation was heightened by the thirty minutes of advertisements and movie previews displayed before me in the dark theater I shared with only fifteen other people.
I regretted the question the moment I heard her say yes. As I purchased my ticket, I hesitantly asked the box office attendant if many people had come to see the film. This past weekend I subjected myself to the grueling, one-hour-and-fifty-three-minute experience of the new Christian film God’s Not Dead, in theaters now.
SPOILER ALERT: (Oh come on, most humanists won’t see this anyway!) Actors Shane Harper and Kevin Sorbo in "God's Not Dead"