God's Not Dead 2 by Travis Thrasher

Verdict and thinking . . . yeah. There’s a moment when   —well, this lawyer, he’s this total mess   —and the first time I saw it, I was him. Younger and way different, butstill   —just this whole mess. He says at one point something profound. Suddenly he’s found himself.”
    Jack looks at me. “What’d he say?”
    “He says, ‘Maybe I can do something right.’ And the thing is, he does. It’s brilliant. It’s amazing.”
    “So you’re defending God, then,” he says as he sips his drink. “Is this you doing something right?”
    I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Way to pop a kid’s balloon there.”
    “I’m just being honest.”
    “Yeah, and I am too. I never said I’m defending God. I never told her that either. You think I’m taking this case for that ?”
    “I don’t know why you’re taking this case.”
    “Do you know how much insanity   —how much utter garbage   —is happening in our world these days?”
    It’s a grenade of a question I’ve just tossed over in his lap. He looks at me with complete disbelief that I even asked that. “I think I see it pretty much on a daily basis. A little more than people like you.”
    There’s nothing more irritating to Jack than questioning the ability or the role of a police officer. I respect that. I also know how to get his attention.
    “Exactly. Listen   —I get it. I know you see that stuff every day. And here’s the thing. Here’s a teacher who is talking about Jesus . And   —oh no   —she quotes a Bible verse. Horror of horrors. The world is breaking and torched and completely messed up, but God forbid some teacher mentions Jesus.”
    “It’s a little more than that.”
    “Is it?” I say. “I’m not defending her beliefs. But seriously. Shouldn’t we spend more time on the pedophiles and the terrorists and the people who are doing things we know are wrong?”
    “So you’re saying you agree with her?”
    “I’m saying that you wouldn’t haul her away for what she did. Right?”
    He shrugs. “I have more important things to do.”
    “And that’s my point. I mean   —come on. You know? Students enter classrooms with guns. So why put a teacher on trial for trying to do her best with those students?”
    “Well, it at least keeps bums like you employed,” Jack says with a grin.
    “You’d be the worst counselor in the world,” I tell him.
    “Not true. I give great counsel. Especially with some of the idiots I lock up.”
    “You have such compassion.”
    “This is like that stuff that happened at Hadleigh University last year. The student in class refusing to say there’s no God and everybody up in arms about it.”
    I vaguely remember that. “That the professor who died?”
    “Yeah. The guy finally believes and then he’s struck dead. You think God caused that?”
    “This isn’t a debate about God. It’s just a legal issue.” And I’ll keep it at that.
    “Oh, just a legal issue, huh? So this is some kind of To Kill a Mockingbird thing with you?” Jack asked.
    I’m surprised he even knows about that book and film. “You are so living up to the stereotype of the dumb, meathead cop.”
    “No, I’m not.”
    “A teacher talked about Jesus. The school didn’t like it and she lost her job. There are rights at stake here. That’s what this is about.”
    “So are you gonna become some big Jesus follower now?”
    “No,” I say. “But I believe she has the right to talk about him.”
    “Rights are blurry these days,” the cop says. “Like a lot of things.”
    “That’s why you have people like me. To help find clarity.”
    “Yeah, and to overcharge to do it.”
    I laugh and acknowledge his point. “In my former life, I certainly did exactly that. But it’s a new day, my friend.”
    Jack nods and gives me that amused look that I know is going to be followed by another jab. “Just don’t invite me to Vacation Bible School when you convert.”
    With friends like these . . . “Don’t