'God's Not Dead': He's brilliant box office

Now for some good news. "God's Not Dead," the latest in a long and honorable tradition of inspirational faith movies, has been a stunning hit at the box office in its first week.

Though it opened on March 21 in only 780 theaters, it was the fifth-highest grosser of the week, beaten only by four movies that opened in at least 3,000 theaters each.

If you haven't seen "God's Not Dead" yet, then hunt down one of the few theaters open-minded enough to screen it and bring the family. It's rated as suitable for everyone 12 years old and up.

If your local theater is not yet screening "God's Not Dead," ask the management to get with the picture. Though the Hollywood chattering classes and the news media are all too often not just un-Christian but actively anti-Christian, they all like to make money. Tell them God is brilliant box office.

He always has been. Think "Ben Hur," an epic morality play on the widest and most colorful canvas, or Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," a thoughtful and triumphant celebration of the resurrection and of the misery, cruelty and death that it overcame.

Now, "God's Not Dead" is packing the theaters. And why? Because it points the finger squarely at the increasingly vicious intolerance of Christianity on the part of a now militantly and poisonously atheistic-humanist political and academic establishment.

The story is set in a college where a fresh-faced sophomore attends his first class in Philosophy 150. A sneering philosophy professor, played by Kevin Sorbo at his snarling, venomous best, tells his class to write down "three little words" on the paper in front of them. The words are "God." "Is." "Dead."

The sophomore refuses to write the words and argues politely with his professor after the class. That's where the story takes off, and I'm not going to spoil it by telling you what happens next.

But this film is a brilliant exposé of the intolerance of all non-Marxist, non-atheist viewpoints that far too many academic establishments in the United States and worldwide now practice.

Three decades ago, Allan Bloom, in his seminal book, "The Closing of the American Mind," pointed out that "political correctness" was a euphemism for the stupidest form of stubborn, organized intolerance of dissent.

Not the least of the reasons why "God's Not Dead" is doing so well at the box office is that so many present and former students have experienced exactly what the sophomore in the movie has to endure.

Check out this impressive collection of movies – including "The Passion of the Christ," "The Blind Side" and more – available in WND's own store.

Here is a moving comment from one of the commenters at WND:

"I went to a liberal college in Oregon. I had several professors that had made claims similar to the one that was made in this movie. These professors refused to allow us to challenge them in class and threatened to remove us from the class if we offered any dissent.

"I attempted to talk to a number of them after class and they refused discussion on the basis of my inadequate education as compared to theirs.

"The rest of the course material in these classes used many of these assertions as fact in order to establish other proposed theories that were taught. We then had to learn these theories as fact and present our knowledge on these unfounded assertions in order to pass the class.

"Their excuse for not allowing us to challenge them in class was that the classroom was not the proper forum for debate because it would deduct from valuable learning time for the rest of the students.

"If we wanted to discuss or challenge these views, we would be required to offer our challenges as a peer-reviewed work.

"In order to have our views peer-reviewed we would have to challenge their assertions by becoming a professor at that university with a degree in the same or like field as theirs and then be accepted as a 'fellow' to have 'standing' worth their merits.

"How many people do you know would change their major to challenge a particular viewpoint in one class?

"It is unfortunate that most professors are only accepted into these universities as long as they have the same views as those peers whom they seek to impress. This type of stonewalling is typical of most colleges and universities in the U.S."

And there you have it. Debate is the lifeblood of democracy. The first sign that democracy is in real trouble is when its opponents refuse to debate. Their standard excuse: They don't want to give their opponents' views credibility by appearing on the same platform.

It has happened to me time after time on the global-warming question. The academic world tolerates only one view on climate science – the Communist Party line. It tolerates only one view on religion – the Communist Party line. Anyone who succeeds in getting traction for any viewpoint that opposes the party line is subjected to vicious, paid attacks on his reputation in the media that now slavishly toe that party line.

It is impossible to prove that God exists, and just as impossible to prove that He does not. The most scientific of scientists, therefore, may believe in God without in any way offending against the logic and reason that are supposed to be at the heart of the scientific method.

However, it is possible to prove that the claims of the climate communists are false. For they have made various extravagantly extreme predictions. Those predictions have not come to pass. They will not come to pass.

Be that as it may, go see "God's Not Dead." Don't miss it. This is an intelligent as well as an inspiring movie. Its conclusion reminds me of a now-famous graffito. Underneath the scrawled words "God is dead. Signed, Nietzsche" (19th century atheist philosopher), a second, neater hand added, "Nietzsche is dead. Signed, God."

Watch the trailer for "God's Not Dead" below:

Click here to find a theater showing "God's Not Dead" near you!

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