who is the aclu lawyer on god's not ded 2

In attempting to make this case, good-guy underdog attorney Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe) trots out a series of Christian apologetic authors (playing themselves), which seems an odd legal strategy, though a canny casting one in suggesting exactly which books audience members should read to try and help converting their friends.

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 · Aaaaand then God's Not Dead 2 gives us a scene in which a heroic white lawyer lectures a black high-school principal on the meaning of Martin Luther King's teachings. For a movie that otherwise ...

What is the opening statement of Evil Lawyer Guy?

Evil lawyer guy’s opening statement includes a lengthy Islam analogy, not as a way to hint at the dangers of theocracy, but in a plea for multiculturalism. “Imagine you’re a good Muslim, sitting in class in your head scarf, and some teacher gets up and starts talking about Jesus! The nerve!” He never quite advocates instituting Sharia law, but you can tell the film wants its target audience to think he’s about to.

Who is the character in God's Not Dead 2?

God’s Not Dead 2 ‘s most inexplicable character is Martin Yang , a Chinese immigrant who shows up to church with a series of “147 questions about the nature of faith” written on a yellow legal pad. Those Asians, so thorough! Martin is one of the good ones though. His father eventually shows up from China to call him a fool and disown him over his faith. Martin makes a clean break from his parents, and finds happiness in the process. Thus, the movie conflates accepting Christ with accepting capitalism and America.

Who plays Grace's union representative?

Grace’s union representative is a bitter teacher on the eve of her retirement, played by Natalie Canerday, with a thoroughly unpleasant chain-smoker wheeze. She ends up testifying against Grace, on account of she’s always resented Grace’s positivity. Unions, man.

Who played Grace's grandfather in God's Not Dead 2?

I mean, duh. According to Grace’s grandfather, played by Pat Boone, “the most basic right of every citizen is to know Jesus.” The ACLU, despite having “civil liberties” in the title, does not stand for this right, according to God’s Not Dead 2, and instead shows up to small towns with armies of suspiciously lesbian-looking protesters to make sure a high school teacher who mentions the name of Jesus in a historical context loses her teaching credentials. Incidentally, some of the protesters carry signs that say “God” inside a circle with a slash through it.

Who plays the pastor in Grace?

This one’s obvious, but also takes some explaining. David A.R. White plays a pastor who gets picked for Grace’s jury (who later comes down with appendicitis, but that’s another story). Meanwhile, he’s also the target of a government subpoena. The government wants to see his sermons. It’s never explained whether this subpoena is related to the ACLU case against Grace (she doesn’t got to White’s church, as far as I can tell) or if it’s just a random subpoena (which I don’t think is a thing?). The character played by the movie’s producer bravely defies the subpoena, saying, “The pressure that we’re feeling today will mean persecution tomorrow — we’re at war!”

What does the ACLU villain tell Grace's lawyer?

ZF: Later, the ACLU villain tells Grace’s dapper lawyer, “I hate what your client stands for.” Brooke’s “rationalist nontheist” father also testifies that he was “wholly offended” by what Grace said in the classroom.

Who plays Martin in God's Not Dead?

The Chinese student happens to be none other than Martin (Paul Kwo), who first embraced his faith in the original God’s Not Dead. There’s also some other girl’s aunt (Trisha LaFache), who is questioning her faith because her cancer went into remission and she’s blogging about that and about the trial.

How many cases did ADF litigate?

ZF: Seriously! We did stay long enough into the credits to see a list of 25 cases that ADF has litigated that inspired the film and somehow prove that “religious liberty” is truly under threat. We were so caught off-guard that we started pointing and yelling “Alliance Defending Freedom! Alliance Defending Freedom!” until we realized that every single anecdote was one of the conservative legal group’scases.

What is a GND2 case?

These included GND2-type cases of professors who were denied promotions or fired for espousing their beliefs in the classroom — often anti-LGBT or anti-abortion — as well as GND1-type cases of Christian students somehow shut down by their professors for expressing the same beliefs.

Why did they disqualify a juror in Grace's trial?

JJ: Well, they did disqualify a juror in Grace’s trial simply because she was a fan of Pretty Little Liars.

What does Brooke ask Grace about?

When Brooke asks Grace how she is able to maintain such a chipper attitude in the face of life’s problems, the teacher eagerly replies “Jesus!”. Fast forward to a few days later, when Grace is leading her class in a conversation about Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and their belief in nonviolent resistance.

Why did the witness stand come to Christ?

Like, at one point, a former forensics expert sits on the witness stand and explains that he came to Christ because he found the “eyewitness accounts” of the gospels to be similar to eyewitness accounts of crimes he researches, meaning they are inconsistent but ultimately convincing. CREDIT: God’s Not Dead 2.

Carryovers

While the sequel has a very distinct storyline, there are many carryovers from the original. We are reintroduced to Martin, the Chinese student, who continues to grow in his faith. At one point, he approaches Pastor Dave (who now has a working car) and asks him a list of questions about God.

Thematic Issues

In general, the movie carries too many subplots with too little development of the main characters and storyline, but it is not quite as dizzying as the carousel ride of subplots in the first movie. There are some significant errors in the way the courtroom scenes are conducted, which may help build suspense but are very unrealistic.

The Conflict

The storyline flows from a teacher, Grace Wesley, responding to her student Brooke’s question about Jesus and His teachings as they relate to the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

What Can a Teacher Say?

The question of what a teacher can say in the classroom brings a very complicated answer. It is dependent on the specific district or state under which the teacher serves and the policies under which they operate. Each teacher signs a contract with the district that outlines the expectations.

What Are Our Rights?

The trial presents several paradoxical elements. As Tom seeks to defend Grace, in his opening arguments he intentionally points out that her beliefs are really what are on trial. He then proceeds to build a case that ignores her faith, focusing solely on Grace’s statements as a history teacher talking about a historical figure.

View of the Bible

Sadly, I do not recall one mention of God as the author of Scripture. While there are a few uses of “God’s Word” and the like, the emphasis is on the human authors (e.g., “the writer of the Gospel of Matthew said . .”), not their divine inspiration, though we might assume the Christian characters believed these things.

View of God

To the credit of the producers, the movie presents a view of God that is fairly high. There were several poignant acknowledgements of God ’s sovereignty over the affairs of man. Grace prays to her Father, acknowledging that He is in control, asks for courage, and closes her prayer in Jesus ’s name.