Matthew McConaughey Gets Spiritual in Free State of Jones

Last updated on: June 27, 2016 at 12:25 pm by Paul Asay

Matthew McConaughey Gets Spiritual in Free State of Jones 2016-06-27T12:25:28-06:00 Paul Asay

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Free State of Jones is not technically a Christian movie, but it might as well be.

In the film, Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey plays Newton Knight, a Confederate deserter who leads a rebellion against the Confederate States of America in his home state of Mississippi. Based on a historical character, Knight’s motives for the rebellion are complex: He’s tired of soldiers stripping his and his neighbors’ farms clean, leaving families with nothing to eat over the winter. He’s disgusted by the fact that rich slaveholders can wriggle free of wartime duty while poor farmers are fighting and dying for a “cause” they have no real stake in. And even early on, McConaughey’s Knight understands that there’s something wrong with one human being owning another.

All of these motivations share something integral to faith: A sense of justice. It’s not right, he’d say. It’s not fair. It’s not moral. And for Knight, true justice is determined not by man, but by a just, loving God.

In the clip below, you see evidence of Knight’s faith—as well as his grief and anger.

The boy didn’t need to go that way, Knight’s face tells us. He shouldn’t. When a fellow soldier tells him that the boy died with honor, Knight says, “No, Will. He just died.”

Throughout the movie, Knight and his band of fellow deserters and runaway slaves, makes strong delineations between God’s way and man’s injustice. They turn to the Bible to justify the revolt, quoting Galatians to say it’s right to reap what they sow. As they grumble over the unfair advantages the rich have in the Confederacy, one of Knight’s compadres paraphrases Ezekiel 7:19: “All their gold and all their silver won’t protect them from the wrath of the Lord.”

Most poignantly, when a slave named Rachel finally runs away from her abusive master, there’s a suggestion that it’s at least in part because she has a better grasp of her God-given self-worth: She secretly learned to read while in slavery, and the first book she read was the Bible.

“Knight had a moral code rooted in the Bible and the Declaration of Independence: love thy neighbor as thyself, and all men are created equal,” McConaughey told The Daily Beast. “So he had a very radical relationship with his own independence, and interdependence—which is very American. Extremely American.” McConaughey added that, “All of this, the abolition of slavery in the Civil War at this time, they were almost all led by religious movements—Christian movements—that were trumping the ideals that everyone else had. They went further into it and said, ‘No, this is not right—because of the Bible.’”

The Free State of Jones can plod at times. It’s not at the level of, say, Director Gary Ross’s 2003 film Seabiscuit. But it does convey what a powerful force that faith was and is. Religion, at its best, asks us to stop thinking about ourselves and consider the bigger questions—questions of what’s right, what’s fair, what’s just. Throughout American history, faith has been a critical driving force in what has made the country what it is. What makes it, I’d argue, special.

Previous Post

June 23, 2016

A Clip From Free (and Faithful) State of Jones

Next Post

June 30, 2016 Batman v Superman Has Issues: Daddy Issues

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books celebrities Editor's Choice games movies music news sports superheroes television Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 September 2023 March 2023 February 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 December 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which minor prophet foretells the coming of Elijah before the day of the Lord?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Malachi Joel Obadiah Haggai

Books by This Author Books by Paul Asay

See All Titles »