If Scott Baio could tell Christians anything in 2024, it would be to vote. The veteran actor and one of the stars of the new film “God’s Not God: In God We Trust,” recently sat down with The Washington Times’ Higher Ground to discuss his latest movie and the alarming trends that have him concerned about the future of America.
“I grew up in America and I don’t feel like I live in America right now,” he said. “It bothers me because I’m not going to be here that much longer in terms of, you know, the grand scheme of things. My daughter’s going to inherit this place and I want her to inherit a safe country and a God-fearing country.”
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The 63-year-old, who was raised by Catholic, Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, has become an outspoken advocate for conservative politics in recent years, following what he describes as an anti-God “creep” in American culture. And it’s one of the reasons he decided to get involved in the popular “God’s Not Dead” franchise.
“[The effort to eliminate God from the public square] just keeps creeping and creeping until we fight back and knock it down, which we’re going to have to keep doing forever,” the former “Happy Days” actor said. “I hope people get that message that we can fix stuff. We can, and there’s still elections. There are still elections and that even might be gone one day.”
Mr. Baio believes one of the keys to turning things around is getting more Christians involved in elections. In fact, he notes that up to 40 million Christians in America don’t vote, a statistic that’s emphasized in “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust.”
“I don’t think the 40 million Christians realize that they’re the 40 million Christians,” he said. “I think that Christians, by and large, I could be wrong, don’t want to get involved in politics because they perceive it as ugly and dirty. And I’m sure they complain about the state of the country and which direction the country is going in, but they need to know that they can fix it. They can affect the change that they want.”
The longtime actor, who says he was “canceled” after he endorsed Donald Trump and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention, believes that if even 10% of those 40 million voted, it would inspire tremendous change for the better. That’s why he’s been willing to speak out boldly for what he believes — despite backlash from Hollywood — and why he hopes others will do the same.
“The big message of the film is the power is right there in front of you,” he said. “And it doesn’t take a lot of effort to use that power.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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