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Title
Original trailer calls it God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. Has this title changed for release?
Background
Christian nationalism in the US. Intersection with right-wing and politicization of religion. Threat to democracy, pluralism, and Christianity as a religion itself.
2019: Katherine Stewart's book is released
2022: BJC and FFRF report
Development
Okin started the film project (early 2022?) and partnered with Partland (Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump). Reiner joined as executive producer and handled funding and distribution. Contrary to what critics keep saying, this is not a Reiner film. For unknown reasons, the mainstream media has been perpetuating this confusion.
For example, Christiane Amanpour on CNN said "The celebrated film director Rob Reiner has explored this phenomenon in his documentary, "God & Country." (CNN, 01/30/2024.). But he's neither the director of the film, nor the writer, and it's not his documentary. This point is made by Phil Vischer in response to arguments like John Fea. It's entirely unclear as to why the media is portraying the documentary as a Reiner film, but this false claim plays directly into criticism of the film by Christian nationalists.
Further, the film is based on Stewart's book, which itself is based on widely known information previously covered by writers like Jane Mayer and Anne Nelson, none of which is remotely controversial. The idea that Reiner has anything to do with the writing, content, or view expressed in the film is 100% unsupported.
Many of the people who contributed to the film were subject to attack campaigns by the right wing before the film was ever released. The release of the trailer was one catalyst for these attacks. Reiner's tweet announcing the trailer led to right wing Christian influencers accusing Reiner of being anti-Christian and spreading personal attacks about him. This appears to be a deliberate campaign of distraction, because as shown above, Reiner has nothing to do with the content of the film.
Release
Santa Barbara; Washington, D.C.
Reception
John Fea has notably criticized the film, but some of his positions are at odds with the established facts of the production, and various people connected to the film have refuted his claims online. Fea also appears to play the "both sides" card in an attempt to appear neutral, notably criticizing the phenomenon of Christian nationalism and appearing to support the film, while also making controversial criticisms which have the appearance of personal attacks against the people behind the film.
