People can really look up to Matthew McConaughey's character, Mississippi farmer Newt Knight from "Free State of Jones," because he bravely defied class inequality and race relations during the height of the American Civil War.
"Free State of Jones," which is based on the original screenplay written by Oscar-nominated writer-director Gary Ross, follows the challenges faced by Knight as he led the rebellion to provide equal treatment to a group of men and women who have strong faith in God.
In an exclusive clip shared by The Christian Post, Knight was seen asking a man named Moses what he is.
"I'm a free man," Moses replied. When Knight asked why, Moses simply said, "You cannot own a child of God."
The statement really moved Knight because he went on to say, "No you cannot, can you? You can own a horse, you can own a mule, a cow, an ox, but you cannot own a child of God."
McConaughey said during a recent junket for the film that Knight finds strength in his convictions because he has a "moral code rooted in the Bible and the Declaration of Independence: love thy neighbour as thyself, and all men are created equal."
"He had a very radical relationship with his own independence, and interdependence — which is very American. Extremely American," McConaughey further explains. "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.'"
While other people would rather turn a blind eye towards the injustices happening, McConaughey says Knight refuses to do so. "One of the things I noticed about him was if he saw something that was wrong or unjust, he really had no way to ignore it," he says.
"Free State of Jones" has been released on June 24, 2016.
