Former child actress Melissa Joan Hart, who stars in the upcoming film God's Not Dead 2, recently revealed that for Christians in the entertainment industry, Hollywood can be a "little scary."
When asked about her faith during an interview with Fox News, the 39-year-old actress stated, "These days, it's a talent to be politically correct...I find that as long as I don't care what other people think and I stand by my values, it doesn't matter what other people say. People are going to argue with me no matter if I say something controversial or not. I'm going to ignore them because I have every right to say what I want to say and put out there what I feel."
She added, "I don't judge others, and I'm definitely not trying to hurt anyone's feelings. As far as my faith, I think it is important to share that those are my values, and I'm going to use them to guide them through life, and I'm not going to steer away from it. It's part of who I am."
In God's Not Dead 2 -- the sequel to the popular 2014 film -- Hart plays Grace Wesley, a high school teacher who finds herself in legal trouble for answering a student's question about the similarities between Jesus' teachings to those of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.
The general topic being discussed in the classroom had been about non-violent approaches, and the student asked, "Isn't is a lot like what Jesus meant when He said, 'Love Your Enemies?'"
The trouble begins after a male student in the same classroom informs his parents that the teacher's response included the words of Jesus Christ. As the battle escalates, the help of the ACLU is enlisted, whose representative decides to "prove that once and for all, God is dead."
The ACLU attorney states to the lawyer representing the teacher: "I hate what your client stands for and what they are doing to our society."
The teacher's lawyer gets held in contempt of court because of his answer: "If we're going to insist that a Christian's right to believe is subordinate to all other rights, then it's not a right."
The student whose question prompted the controversy then has to decide which side she will take. She says, "I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, then stand with the world and be judged by God."
Like the 2014 film, God's Not Dead 2 is produced by PureFlix film and was also directed by Harold Cronk and scripted by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon.
In addition to Hart, the film, which will hit theaters in April, also stars Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Jesse Metcalfe (Dallas), PureFlix CEO David A.R. White (God's Not Dead), Hayley Orrantia (The Goldbergs), Sadie Robertson (Duck Dynasty), Robin Givens (Head of The Class), Maria Canals-Barrera (Cristela) and the late Fred Thompson (Law & Order).
