Pastor Dave goes to Washington, and it’s not very watchable

MPAA Rating: PG
Reel Rating: 2 out of 5 reels

God’s Not Dead, which I think is one of cinema’s modern masterpieces, is the 15th most profitable movie ever made. Although this accomplishment remains untainted, it spawned a franchise that has proven much less successful in both quality and profitability, yet still retains the original’s apologetic and cultural pluckiness.

In God We Trust, the fifth adventure in this series, continues the trend as our fearless protagonist Pastor Dave (David A.R. White) runs for office to take on the proud and godless. It’s not objectively terrible, but it will do little outside of comforting the already faithful.

The last film God’s Not Dead: We the People (2021) ended ambiguously on whether Pastor Dave would be allowed to keep his home school program. But it must have worked out well because we never do learn what happened. Now he faces activist Congressman Kane (Ray Wise) who wants to remove church groups entirely from the public sphere. “Religious faith,” he insists, “has no place in politics.” It’s unclear what exactly this means beyond church organizations no longer being able to participate in federally funded programs like adoption agencies, school supply drives, or even homeless shelters. Dave makes the difficult decision to run for Kane’s seat and is immediately thrown headfirst into the grimy world of politics. He wants to run a clean campaign, but his manager Lottie (Samarie Armstrong) wants to dig up dirt on Kane. It doesn’t help that Kane’s right-hand man was once Lottie’s lecherous ex-boyfriend. This leads to lots of preachy soliloquies, dramatic close-ups, and the assurance that, no matter what happens, God will win the day.

There is a hard truth behind the often silly dialogue: there are real forces in the political world that believe even the most remote connection to faith and religious practice is automatically suspect. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris once tried to disqualify a judge because he belonged to the Knights of Columbus. Christopher Hitchens went even further, suggesting that religion was “like knitting,” a nice hobby but dangerous when used to run society or give life meaning.

Practically, this means non-believers can make policy decisions according to their beliefs, but Christians cannot. This is even more ridiculous when one looks at the perspective of the Founding Fathers. Not only were many of them Christians, but all thirteen original state constitutions required a statement of faith in Jesus as a qualification for office; all but one even required civil servants to be Protestant. Whatever their failings, they understood that our rights came from God, not the state. This is the only way to protect them from oppressive forces.

This important point does come across in the film, but it appears more interested in exposing the corruption inherent in politics through the eyes of an innocent, akin to Frank Capra’s classic 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. When Lottie discovers evidence of Kane’s possible campaign fraud, Dave refuses to reveal it. When Lottie goes behind him and releases the documents anyway, it turns out to be a false setup by Kane himself, making Dave look desperate, immoral, and–worst of all–a hypocrite. Smart money would have Dave drop out or at least fire Lottie. Instead, he takes Jesus’ advice that “the truth will set you free,” and hosts a press conference where he lays everything on the table. It doesn’t quite redeem his campaign but keeps it alive long enough to reach a television debate with Kane, during which he destroys every strawman and accusation the politician throws his way.

In God We Trust is equally infuriating and comforting, as Christians around the country can identify with Dave’s difficulties. However, where the themes succeed, the cinematic artistry is underwhelming. Like its predecessors, it contains long, preachy sections that quickly run dry. It is also strangely reliant on television exposition; nearly every five minutes, Dave looks up from his desk to see a cable news channel explain some tidbit of necessary information. The original film was criticized for its cartoonish stereotypes of aggressive atheists. This critique was unfounded, but there’s a decent argument here for criticisms of over-exaggeration—not just of the villains but the heroes as well.

There’s little doubt that In God We Trust was made with the 2024 election in mind—not to stump for Trump or hold for Harris but to encourage Christians to become invested in the policies that govern their lives. A final credit line announces that 15 million Christian citizens are not even registered to vote.

It’s true that the government of the United States is not the Kingdom of Heaven, but, as Dorothy Day famously quipped, “a good society can make it easy to do good.” Christians built this nation, have served her well for over two centuries, and can lead her into a better future–if we have the will to think, live, and act in a truly Godly way.