Rob Reiner's 'God & Country' film warns against Christian nationalist threat to democracy

Oscar-nominated producer Rob Reiner's film warning of the danger to American democracy from a "virulent" Christian nationalist movement will be shown in Palm Beach County.

The documentary "God & Country" will play at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, at the Kravis Center. It is one of 25 films to be screened by the Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival at the West Palm Beach performing arts complex and the EVO Entertainment, formerly the Paragon Theaters, at Delray Marketplace.

The film documents the rise of what Reiner, and Emmy-nominated director Dan Partland, argue is a political movement that has "hijacked" Christianity in pursuit of a hardline political agenda and employing tactics antithetical to both U.S. democratic principles and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

"This idea of Christian nationalism is not only a danger to democracy, but it's a danger to Christianity itself," Reiner said in an interview.

Rob Reiners' 'God & Country': Christian evangelicals and Christian nationalists not the same thing

The message isn't delivered by either Reiner or Partland, however. Rather, the film's audience will hear it directly from voices within the evangelical Christian movement like Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore, U.S. Presidential Medal of Honor winner Sister Simone Campbell, evangelical pastor and activist Doug Pagitt and journalist David French.

Most importantly, viewers will hear that Christian evangelicals and Christian nationalists are different movements and should not be confused in political discourse.

"It's not a religious movement," Reiner said of Christian nationalists. "It's a political movement to gain power. Basically, what they've done is they've hijacked Christianity."

While Christian evangelicals are people of faith who believe, and vote, according to their beliefs, "God & Country" depicts Christian nationalism as a wholly political movement in which stances on issues are based on their own Biblical interpretations to impose policies in un-Christian-like methods.

"This is so far afield from the teachings of Jesus, who talked about peace, loving thy neighbor and doing onto others as you have done unto you," Reiner said. "This is a political movement that will go as far as using violence to get their will."

And one that had its underpinnings in racist opposition to desegregation of schools, and American life, after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling, according to the film. However, the Christian nationalists and their goal of restoring or maintaining a white supremacist society, the film posits, gained little traction until another high court ruling, the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.

The decision permitting unfettered access to abortions ignited the Christian nationalist movement, and in the past decade, it was given a national and decisive "megaphone" by the candidacy and presidency of Palm Beach resident Donald J. Trump, Reiner said.

"It was an ugly idea, using racism as your main political tool, and it didn't really take as much until after Roe v Wade. Then that became the rallying cry," he said.

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In the interview, Reiner said the politics of the Christian nationalist movement are antithetical to the concept of American pluralism. Reiner said the American political tradition has been a progression toward extending equal rights and justice to all, regardless of race, ethnicity and sexual identity.

But Christian nationalists seek to reverse that process.

"This couldn't be further from what our pluralistic society is built on, this wonderful Constitution," he said. "We are the first government that starts a constitution with, 'We the people,' rather than power to a god or a theocracy."

To that point, the film goes to some length to debunk claims by the American far-right that the Founding Fathers intended the country to be a Christian nation, citing three important phrases within the text of the Constitution that speak to nondenominational and secular governance.

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Reiner added the idea of tolerance, diversity and pluralism "is the greatest part" of the American political experiment in self-government.

"The idea that there could be peace among all people, if we can make it work in America, that becomes the beacon to the rest of the world," he said.

But that beacon is dimming, and the greatest threat posed by Christian nationalists, he said, is their willingness to resort to violence, as the country saw at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He fears more violence may lie ahead because just about any action can be justified "if you say you are doing it in the name of God" and in pursuit of objectives one claims are ordained by their deity.

"We're not saying you should not have your faith inform your politics. That's OK and you can vote the way you feel," he said, acknowledging that people of different faiths may cherish honestly held views.

"But what (you) can't do is force people, up to and including violence. You can't use violence as a way of convincing people of your way of thinking. You have to do it peacefully."

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Reiner also nodded at the symbolism of showing the movie in Trump's home county, the home state of militant leaders like retired military leader Mike Flynn and the much ballyhooed U.S. graveyard where Gov. Ron DeSantis has proclaimed that "woke comes to die."

Florida has led the country in curtailing LGBTQ+ rights, banning books and targeting racial education programs and overall diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

But Reiner did not indicate presenting the film here was a particular priority because of the state's political trajectory.

"It's appropriate to be seen everywhere," he said.

He did accept the irony that, 50 years later, he is still talking about many of the same issues that his character on the sitcom "All in the Family" hotly debated with his hard-headed father-in-law, Archie Bunker. Except, Reiner said, today's America is in a more dangerous place than the one his character on the show, the liberal Mike Stivic, sought to reason toward more tolerance and inclusivity.

"We're at a precipice," Reiner said. "It's a danger to our 249 years of self-rule."

But, Reiner added, that he is "always positive" and "that good wins out" over wrong in the long run.

"Something tells me always the good in people will win out and ultimately people will get to the right place. I have to believe that," he said. "Otherwise why do anything if hate is going to win out? If violence is going to be the thing that wins then I don't think there is much hope. But I always hold out that there is hope. That we can, but we have to do it by convincing the other person and not at the point of a gun. … Call me an optimist but I believe we can do it."

If you go ...

WHAT: "God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism." The 90-minute film explores "what happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness grows political tentacles, conflating power, money, and belief into hyper-nationalism?”

WHEN: Sunday, March 3, at 7 p.m. as part of the Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival.

WHERE: The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33401.

ALSO VIEWING: In addition to the showing in West Palm Beach, the film is currently being screened in Florida theaters from Jacksonville to Miami to Altamonte Springs to Bradenton. Nationally, it is being shown in Houston; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Boise, Idaho; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Providence, Rhode Island, and Los Angeles.

For tickets, go to: https://sasiff.org/

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'God & Country' film warns of Christian nationalist threat to democracy