Rob Reiner drops trailer for documentary on Christian nationalism
Director Rob Reiner dropped a trailer this week for his upcoming documentary, “God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,” which critiques the mixing of right-wing politics and Christianity.
“Christian Nationalism is not only a danger to our Country, it’s a danger to Christianity itself,” Reiner tweeted on X, as he released a trailer for the documentary that he said will open in theaters in February.
The documentary features interviews with scholars and religious figures, including Baptist theologian Russell Moore, former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, who is now editor-in-chief of Christianity Today.
“Christian nationalism uses Christianity as a means to an end, that end being some form of authoritarianism,” Moore says in the documentary.
“Is Christian nationalism Christian?” Sister Simone Campbell, former executive director of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, asks rhetorically in the documentary. “No, it isn’t.”
The documentary also features snippets of controversial Republican figures, such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, speaking at an event.
“I’m a Christian nationalist,” Greene says. “I have nothing to be ashamed of because that’s what most Americans are.”
The documentary is directed by Emmy Award-winner Dan Partland, who also directed the 2020 documentary, “#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump.”
The trailer features footage of right-wing marches and the riots of Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
While condemning Christian nationalism, the documentary lauds the social gospel approach to Christian faith.
“Christianity at its best is committed to love and truth and justice,” the Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor Peoples’ Campaign, says in the documentary. “If we do this right, what a country we will be.”