Often you will watch a set of movies and notice that they have an actor or a director in common and think, "Huh, what a coincidence?" Less often, you will find a set a movies that are meant to challenge your beliefs with a common theme. Even less often, those same movies will also have names in common. The names, in this case, happen to be those of real life people. In the case of God's Not Dead and The Unbelievers I found that both films were too similar in too many ways to avoid speaking of them separately.
The Premise
In God's Not Dead, a college student finds it difficult to sign a statement in a philosophy class saying that "God is Dead". The professor, an Atheist, gives the Christian student a chance to state his case that God is in fact alive. But if he fails to convince the class, he fails the course.
The Unbelievers features famous scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss who are traveling the globe to spread their message that approaching things scientifically and through reason, thus casting off religious and political views, could improve the modern world.
My Take
God's Not Dead provides a powerful message about faith in God. Kevin Sorbo plays Professor Radisson, who in the movie is a self proclaimed Atheist and wants his students to sign a paper stating that God is dead so that there will be no further discussion of God in his philosophy class. Shane Harper plays the student who, because of his faith in God, cannot bring himself to do so. Radisson gives Josh Wheaton (Harper) a chance to prove his case or fail the course. Josh takes him on despite the odds.
In his arguments, Josh mentions many scientists by name, both past and present, most of whom are renowned Atheists in order to prove his stance that God is not dead. Many of the people this character mentions are in the documentary film, The Unbelievers. In The Unbelievers, Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss are speaking publicly about living life through reason. And part of their reason is that religion is not reasonable and therefore there can be no supreme being.
An interesting dynamic in The Unbelievers is the different faces that Dawkins and Krauss give to Atheism. Dawkins is very adamant and aggressive about his belief that there is no God whereas Krauss is more scientific in his approach and therefore comes across as more approachable. There were also many surprising interviews from celebrities that support their point of view, some quiet and soft spoken, others loud and combative.
The Verdict
Religion isn't something you can put a number on. Both sides are clearly craving more attention. Toward the end of The Unbelievers there was footage from the 'Rally for Reason', a gathering of extremely well known (and not so well known) Atheists. I would never go so far as to call this a revival, in a church sense, but it was definitely a way for people with a common belief system to get together and share their feelings and their message. Christians are happy to have more movies going mainstream, like God's Not Dead. They want their message to get out as well. But what bothers me about both sides is the anger and fear. Why are we so afraid?
If we can both find a way past this, I'll give you as many Darwin fish and Christian crosses as you can carry.
This coming from someone who went to college for Forensic Science and is a Christian.
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