Melissa Joan Hart Calls for Tolerance: ‘If a Christian’s Right is Subordinate to All Other Rights, It’s Not a Right at All’

melissa-joan-hart-AP

Former teen witch Melissa Joan Hart, star of the film God’s Not Dead 2, told ABC’s Paula Faris that Christians are as deserving of tolerance as people from other religions on Thursday’s Good Morning America.

In the film, the one-time Sabrina, the Teenage Witch actress, now 39, plays Christian teacher Grace Wesley, who is suspended from her job after she answers a student’s question about Jesus in class.

Hart described her role as “challenging.”

“In this case, she’s an introvert… a woman who stands by her faith,” Hart said. “She wasn’t raised with a faith ,and so she comes to her own beliefs, and grows her own faith, and then she has to stand by that conviction and [be] kind of unwavering.”

Faris asked: “This is all about separation of church and state. In this particular movie the teacher is being persecuted because of her faith because of a question she was asked in class. Why do you think it’s an important conversation to have right now in 2016?”

“There shouldn’t be any one religion represented in anything. But at the same time, we need to be tolerant of all religions,” Hart answered.

“If a Christian’s right is subordinate to all other rights, then it’s not a right at all,” she added. “And so, you know, I think it’s really about tolerance across the board for everyone.”

WATCH: 

“Do you ever feel like you can’t win?” Faris asked. “Because I know in a recent interview, you said now you’re getting grief from playing the good Christian woman.”

“Well, before, I was getting grief before for being a witch by the Christian community,” she said. “I was being persecuted for believing in witchcraft. But it was really about magic and it was silly and family friendly. But, yeah, now it’s from the other way.”

God’s Not Dead 2, which was directed by Harold Cronk, is now playing nationwide.

The film is the sequel of 2014’s hit God’s Not Dead, which was also directed by Cronk.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.