Christian actress Melissa Joan Hart is often at the receiving end of criticisms, but she does not mind the flak she is receiving now for portraying teacher Grace Wesley in "God's Not Dead 2." This is because the movie is "taking the conversation about faith in the public forum to a new level."
"For the longest time, while I played a witch on television [on 'Sabrina, The Teenage Witch'], the Christian community attacked me for popularising the magic aspects on that secular TV show," Hart told the Chicago Sun Times. "Now it's the opposite. I'm getting grief for playing the good Christian woman who is being persecuted by the outside world!"
Hart said she felt an intense calling to be a part of the film. Seeing the rampant Christian persecution even in the United States nowadays, Hart believes that people need to take a stand for religious freedom.
And it's not just Christianity that needs defending, the actress clarified. As Hart sees it, "we can't simply lump everyone into two camps — the believers and the non-believers. There are so many shades of opinion on the subject of religion."
Even those belonging to the faith-based community are not always respectful of each other's beliefs, she said. "There are all sorts of segments of the Christian community, from Catholic to Presbyterian to Methodist. Even within the Evangelical community. There's so much room in there to interpret faith," said Hart.
She actually finds it ironic how Christianity, the "big powerhouse religion" of the past, is now being "trampled and ignored"—the same things it did to minority religions. Hart hopes that "God's Not Dead 2" will open people's eyes about religious persecution and spread love instead of hate.
"My hope is simply that this film leads to a more respectful discourse on the role that religion should play in our society. It is a debate that is raging in our country," she said.