"Daryl, Thomas, come on, it's time to go inside." "Let's go." "Oh, Tobias." "Mom, can Andy come over after school?" "Well, I think you should ask Andrew's father." "Okay." "Can he, Reverend?" "I'm sure that'll be fine." "But I will have to ask his mother." "I'll let you know at lunchtime." "Thanks." "Morning, Reverend, Debra." "Morning, Alice." "Morning, Bai." "How are you feeling, Alice?" "Don't ask." "How's little Bai getting along?" "Well, slowly but surely." "He isn't talking yet, but he's joining in a little more." "Any luck finding a new teacher?" "No, not yet, but I have another interview a little later this morning." "I think you should look for two new teachers." "Alice looks ready any minute." " She does seem very pregnant." " Yeah, very." "When the other classes heard what the seniors were gonna do, they didn't wanna be outdone." " So you know what they did?" " They did the same thing." "They did the same thing" " What, have you heard this already?" " No, just a lucky guess." "Well, the juniors, the sophomores and the freshmen, they got together, they staked out their area of the beach and they spent the whole weekend to clean the whole place up." " All on their own?" " Yeah." "Weren't being paid." "Nobody told them to." "They just wanted everybody to know how they felt about their community." "Now, you know how I've complained about the kids of today" "What, you?" "Complain?" "Come on, make fun." "I'm just telling you that the kids of today have got a little more" " What?" " I said the kids of today have got litt" "Can you believe that guy?" "Got blood running out of my ear." "Hey, buddy, how about turning down the noise?" "It ain't loud, fuzzball." "It ain't loud?" "It's shaking your truck." "It ain't shaking my truck." "This is shaking my truck." "What were you saying about the kids of today?" "Never mind what I said." "Impressive." "Very impressive credentials, both of you." "Thank you, Reverend." "You know, it's very rare to get male teachers in a preschool." "I think it's a good idea for the children." "Oh, does that mean we're employed?" "You are indeed." "And, Jonathan, having you bring Mark along was a real godsend." "I couldn't have put it better myself." "Let me call our head teacher, Debra Stone." "She'll show you around." "Yellow." "Green." "Yellow." "Green." "Yellow." "We think this school is very special." "We're very proud of what we do here." "Parents from all over the city bring their kids here." "Red." "Yellow." "And from what the Reverend told me about you two," "I have a feeling you're gonna fit in pretty well." " We hope so." " Oh, believe me, you'll love this place." "We feel that the most important thing in human cultural behaviour is the way we bring our children up." "Both for the children and for us." "My daughter, the artist." "This is a picture of our car." "Not a bad-looking car." "Actually, it's a pretty good likeness." "You've got a pretty good ethnic mix here, don't you?" "Well, we don't have every race, creed or colour covered but just about." "That's one of the most beautiful things about this school, is watching them interact, learn from each other." "It's a shame the whole world can't get along like the children in this room." "And bless this food to our use and ourselves to thy loving and faithful service, amen." " Amen." " Amen." "Oh, did I tell you?" "Ronald Kester called me today." "No." "What did he want?" "Well, he just wanted to stop by tomorrow and see me." " What about?" " He didn't say." "I bet it has something to do with his recent election to the Church council." "Who's Ronald?" "Ronald Kester?" "He was a classmate of mine at the seminary." "He's another Reverend?" "You know, I certainly think it's strange, hearing from Kester after..." "How long has it been?" "Eight years?" "It's more like nine." "But we were never all that close so" "Well, thank goodness for that." "He was always a little too oily for my taste." "No, I wouldn't say that, Peg." "Well, you have to admit that he was always more interested in becoming a power in the Church than he was in being a minister." "And he's accomplished that." "So regardless of your feelings about him, remember, he's my boss." "He's your boss?" "I thought God was." "You're up." "You go down there." "You go." "Go on, go on, go on." "Next, next." "One at a time." "No pushing, no pushing." "Now we're gonna put you up there." "I think you like that." "We'll try you going this way." "Go on, go on, go on." "Next one." "Next." "Next." "One." "Next." "Next." "All right, go." "All right, what are you doing up here?" "You mustn't be up here." "Go on." "Go on, go on, go on." "You're next." "Put your head down under there." "Come on, hurry, hurry." " Excuse me." " Yeah?" " What can I do for you?" " I'm looking for Reverend Bennett." "Oh, Toby?" "I think I saw him over at the office earlier." "Thank you." "Are you one of the parents?" "No, I'm one of the teachers." "All right, take it easy." "You having a good time?" "You have a good time or I'll bite your nose off." "All right, here we go." "Come in." "Tobias." "How good to see you after all these years." "Ronald." "How can two old friends like us allow so much time to go by between visits?" " Well, it has been a while." " Yes." "But now that I'm on the Council, we'll rectify that." "Oh, come on, come on." "Let's sit down." "Make ourselves comfortable." "Well, now, let's get right down to business." "Are your teachers Christian?" "Well, I..." "I never thought about it." "Most of them are, I guess." "Why?" "Most?" "Not all of them." "I mean..." "Let's see..." "I think three of them are Jewish." "Mrs. Azhari is Persian." "Persian?" "You mean an Iranian?" "I believe her parents were originally from Tehran, yes." "She's a Muslim." "Now what is this all about?" "The Council has voted on some changes, Tobias." "Well, what kind of changes?" "We want all our teachers to be Christian." "You..." "Well, most of them are." "They belong to the congregation." "As for the others, it's never been a problem." "It is now, Tobias." "Why, I can't see why." "I'm" "This is a nursery school or a preschool." "Whatever you wanna call it." "I mean, I don't see" "This is a church school." "A Christian church school that ought to teach Christian ideals." "But our school has always been separated from the church." "Come on, Ronald, you can't expect" "It's not just me." "This decision was made by the entire Council." "And as pastor of this church, you are bound by that decision." "Your teachers will be Christian." "Those who are not can either embrace Christianity or look for another job." "All right, now wait." "Wait a minute." "I mean, you cannot possibly expect me to ask people to change their faith for a job." "Then don't." "Just replace them." "And from now on, religion will be taught in the school." "They sure are quiet when they're painting." "Well, they love it." "It gives them a chance to use their imaginations." "Did you find the Rev all right?" "Why, yes, thank you." "You said that you're a teacher here." " What's your name?" " Mark Gordon." "Mark." "A good Christian name." "Mark wrote the second book of the New Testament." "Well, I was named after Mark Twain." "He wrote Huckleberry Finn." "I'm Jonathan Smith." "I'm another one of the teachers." "Ronald Kester." "I'm with the National Council of Churches." "The children seem very well-behaved." "Oh, yeah." "They're a good bunch of kids." "Very nice." "And what's your name, son?" "Jason." "Well, Jason, tell us about your painting." "I'm painting a picture of God." "Well, you can't do that, Jason." "Why not?" "Because no one knows what God looks like." "When I'm finished, they will." "And who are you painting?" "Same as Jason." "I'm painting God." "Genesis 1:27:" "So God created man in his own image." "In the image of God, created he him." "I don't think I'm gonna get along with that guy." "Jonathan, want a soda?" "No, thanks." "I'm fine." "Oh, what a day I've had." "I must have broken up" "You know, it always amazes me how children can be so angry with each other in the morning and by the end of the day, they are the best of friends." "They seem to know how unimportant their differences are." "We can all learn from them." "You all right, Tobias?" "Oh, yes, fine, fine." "I was just..." "Just thinking." "All right, a couple more sips, I gotta go." "I have a house visit today." "A house visit." "What's that?" "I try and visit the parents of all the new students in their home environment." "Helps me get a better handle on them when they're here." "Sounds like a good idea." "Yeah, it is." "Tell him." "He came up with it." "Well, I'm out of here." "Tobias, are you sure you're okay?" "Couldn't be better." "If you say so." "See you guys tomorrow." " Take care." " Good night." "That's quite a teacher you got there." "Debra?" "She's one in a million." "Yeah, it must be a great feeling for a parent to know they've got a teacher like Debra watching their child." "I'd hate to lose her." "She's not thinking of leaving, is she?" "No, no, no." "She" "No, she loves it here." "Well, I'm on my way." "I'll see if Mark got all the paint off him." "Good night, Tobias." "Good night, Jonathan." "Are you coming to bed?" "Soon." "Oh, honey." "What am I gonna do?" "I'm not sure there's anything you can do, Tobias." "But there has to be." "I mean, the Council will ruin everything we've worked so hard to achieve." "Do you--?" "Do you realise the reputation this school has?" "How it's brought people together in the community?" "Yes, I do." "And I know how you feel about Debra and all the others." "But these are the new rules." "But they're wrong." "The rules are wrong." "And somehow, I..." "I've got to convince them to believe me." "Look out." "Here comes the sandman." "Ready?" "Mom, look it." "Are you looking?" "I'm looking." "Look out, honey, here they come." "Mom, I could do it a thousand times and not get tired." "You have to admit, my daughter gets an A for enthusiasm." "Oh, that's right." "I wish she could pass some along to Bai over there." "Yeah." "He's getting to you, isn't he?" "Yeah." "Just can't figure him." "He never talks." "He ever say anything to you?" "No, no." "His mother says he's very shy." "He's quite bright, though." "He learns very quickly." "He's good with puzzles." "But then sometimes, he just sits there quietly all by himself and doesn't do anything." "Yeah, I notice the other kids leave him alone during that time." "Yeah, they must sense something." "You like him, don't you?" "I mean, look at him." "How can you resist that?" "Excuse me." "That daughter of yours is quite an athlete." "Yeah?" "Well, she doesn't get it from me." "By the way, have you seen Tobias?" "I think he had a meeting downtown." "He didn't, by any chance, tell you what was bothering him, did he?" "What makes you think something's bothering him?" "Tobias is probably the world's worst poker player." "Besides, I've known him too long." "And I'll bet it has something to do with that stuffed shirt that was around here yesterday." "Gazing down on all us poor mortals." "You don't mind saying the way you feel, do you?" "When it concerns people I care about, yeah, I guess I do." "Well, will you look at that." "That is the first time I have ever seen Bai laugh." "Yeah, maybe he likes playing with older kids." "I thought we had this all settled yesterday." "But if I could only help you see what good the school accomplishes." "I am aware of what this school does." "But this is a church-sponsored school and as such, it should teach religion." "And it's your job to see that it's done." "But you're ordering me to turn a good school on its head." "A school that has served a vital community function for a long, long time." "We are merely telling you to add to the curriculum." "Oh, Toby, Toby." "Why are you anguishing so over this?" "You've been given an order." "You are expected to carry it out." "I'm not sure I can do that in all good conscience." "I would hate to see you throw away what is shaping up to be a very promising career as a pastor over something like this." "We will assist you in finding teachers to replace the ones you lose." " Yes" " This meeting is over, Tobias." "How did it go?" "Well, he put it in no uncertain terms." "Either I do it or I'm fired." "Then you'll have to do it." "It's not that easy." " Yes, it is." " Peg" "Listen to me, Tobias." "What will happen if you defy the Council?" "Kester will appoint someone else in my place." "Someone who will do it Kester's way." "And you'll lose this church." "Everything you've worked for all these years." "You built this up from a small, bored group of churchgoers to a vigorous, active congregation." "And along the way, gained a great deal of respect in the religious community." "You can't just throw that away." "And I can't throw this school away." "Well, I'll put it up to the congregation." "If enough people complain, the Council will have to listen." "If you make this an issue, you know the Church will end up taking sides." "Something like this could wreck the congregation." "I know you don't want that to happen." "The Reverend Kester has said that the order is to be carried out immediately." "So there it is." "I am really very sorry about this." "I tried my best to do something to stop it but the Council had already decided." "Do they honestly believe that I'm gonna give up my beliefs to save my job?" "I didn't even want to bring that up." "I just--I felt obligated to do so." "Well, I feel obligated to tell you that it's an insult." "Let's try to talk about this calmly." "Calmly?" "I have just been told that if I wanna teach at this school," "I have to deny the faith that all the generations of my family have believed in for all its history." "There is no calm here." "It's an outrage." "You must understand." "No job in the world is worth that." "I do understand." "You do understand, but you're allowing it to happen." "No, I am not letting this happen." "There's just nothing that I can do to stop it." "There must be some way." "Is this legal?" "I'm afraid so, Fariba." "The Supreme Court has held that religious institutions are allowed to require conforming values in their teachers." "And to hell with what it does to the children." "And to the school." "And what it does to everyone here." "We were like a family and now this family is being destroyed in the name of religion." "You know, losing my job isn't the difficult part about all this." "I'm a good teacher and I'll find another job." "The difficult part is explaining to my daughter why she can't go to school with the rest of her friends." "I must leave too." "I'm sorry, Tobias." "I understand." "I have to tell you something." "Teaching here has probably been the most rewarding job I've ever had." "And being a Christian, this thing doesn't affect me on paper." "But I find it so against the principles I've been taught as a Christian:" "Love for and toleration of others and their beliefs." "That I cannot, in good conscience, obey that edict." " Sorry, Reverend." " Wait, Don." "How about it?" "Don't we all feel the same way Don does?" "Debra was right when she said we were all a family." "And families should stick together." "I say we should all walk." "Well, so much for this assignment." "Gonna miss teaching here." "I was starting to get through to little Bai." "Well, it makes you feel any better, you're still gonna be teaching." "What are you talking about?" "We're not quitting." "Now wait a minute, I'm not working under Kester's rules." "I mean, whose side are we on, anyway?" "The children's side and Tobias'." "We have to stay." "Believe me, I'm right on this one." "How come nobody's talking?" "Eat your dinner, Andrew." " But" " Please." "Your father has a lot on his mind." "Can Ruth come over tomorrow after school?" "No, not tomorrow." "Oh, please." "We wanted to make a surprise for her mom for Teacher's Day." "I told you no." "Now that's the end of it." "You finish your dinner, honey, okay?" "I know how hard this is for you." "But it will all pass." "You'll see." "It'll be forgotten in no time." "Not by me." "You've had tough times before." "I know, but I've always had the Lord to talk to, to give me strength." "And you still do." "Talk to him." "I can't." "I am too ashamed." "Hi, John, Eric." "How are you?" "I'm very" " Really very grateful you and Mark chose to stay." "Someone had to be here to take care of the children." "That may not be very hard." "What I mean is, between last night and this morning, we've had quite a few calls from parents withdrawing their children." "Well, I guess it's time for Mark to ring the bell." "I know you're disappointed in me." "But I really had no choice but to do it this way." "You sure of that?" "Yes." "I mean, in addition to the school, I've got a congregation." "That's my responsibility also, a duty to them." "Why doesn't he ring the bell?" "So you're gonna lay this off on the congregation?" "I'm not sure I understand." "What are you gonna tell the children?" " The children?" " Yeah, the children." "You're gonna have to explain to them why some of their friends can't come to their school anymore." "A school that you built up to teach them just the opposite." "I don't envy you that task, Reverend." " Tobias, we got a problem." " What's the matter?" " The bell won't ring." " You mean it's broken." "No, no, no, it's not broken." "Everything works fine." "You just can't get a sound out of it." "The bell won't ring." "Good morning, children." "I wanted to take a few minutes to explain a change that's been made in our school." "I put you all in the same room because some of our students aren't with us this morning." "The teachers are gone too." "Yes, yes, I'm afraid that's true." "But we have some other teachers coming in to replace them very soon." "But we like our teachers." "Well, I know you do." "I like them too." "Then why can't they still be here?" "I saw Ruth at the ice-cream place." "She said her mother couldn't be here because she's a Jew." "Is Ruth going to hell?" "No." "I mean, what would make you think such a thing?" "Because she isn't a Christian." "Well, but that's no reason to go to he" "There." "See, Ruth is one of God's creatures and he loves all of us." " Does he love Ruth's mother?" " Yes." "And Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Azhari" " and Mrs. Levine?" " Yes." "Then why won't he let them be teachers?" "Well, see, it isn't God that won't let them." "Wait a minute, let me see if I can explain this." "You see, there are certain rules and laws that we all have to live by." "And we must be obedient to those laws." "Like we don't go over the speed limit." "Well, we shouldn't." "Well, we all stop at red lights, right?" "Well, then this Church also has certain laws and we must obey them too." "The same way we obey God's laws." "Well, you remember when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses?" "Ruth says Moses was a Jew." " Like her." " That's right." "God gave those laws to the children of Israel." "But when God did that, he was really giving those laws to all mankind." "Everybody has the same laws?" "Well, the important ones, yes." "In one form or another, yes." "If we all have the same laws, then how come some of my friends can't come to school now?" "Because of Jesus." "They don't believe in Jesus." "Is that right?" "Well, in a way, yes." "You see, we are a Christian Church and we have very strong beliefs based on our Bible." "In John, Chapter 14, Verse 6, Jesus says:" "I am the way, the truth and the life." "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." "Why didn't they come to us?" "Why didn't who come?" "Moses or Jesus." "If we're all God's children, why did they just come to one place?" "Why didn't Jesus come to where I live?" " Well, he couldn't, Bai." " Why?" "If God can do anything, if he wanted us to all believe in Jesus, why didn't he send him to all of us?" "Maybe it wasn't so important to him that we all believe the same." "Maybe it was just important to him that we obeyed his commandments." "You said everybody has the same laws pretty much." "Yeah, that's gotta be it." "Otherwise, God would've waited till Jesus could be on TV so everybody could know." "I'd bet the more we learned about each other's religions, the more we'd realise how much the same we are." "But I suppose it's too late for that now." "Good evening, Tobias." "Jonathan." "I didn't realise anybody" "What are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same thing." "Oh, I just needed a place to think." "Well, you couldn't come to a better spot." "Would you like me to leave you alone?" "No, no, no." "I'd like you to stay, please." "Do you wanna sit down?" "Thank you." "This..." "May seem a little strange, but" "But you need somebody to talk to." "A stranger." "Someone who's not in the congregation." "Yes." "But how did you know?" "Because I know how difficult it is sometimes, being the leader of a flock." "And they wanna come to you with their problems." " Not the other way around." " Oh, Jonathan, I" "I just feel so lost." "I've thought so long and so hard about this and I" "I know." "I'm sure I know what needs to be done." "It's just..." "I don't know." "If..." "If I were alone, maybe it would be different, you know." "Stand up to Kester." "But I'm not alone." "I have a wife and a child and..." "Peg loves this church as much as I do." "We have such a" "Such a wonderful life." "Why did this have to happen?" "Maybe you're being tested." "If I am, I'm failing, Jonathan." "Then ask for help." "No one can find the real answers alone." "If I were you, I'd talk to the boss." "Oh, Kester." "I've tried." "I'm not talking about Kester." "I thought your boss was God." "But that's what my son, Andrew, said." "I know." "I'll leave you now, Tobias." "Talk to him." "God bless you." "Yes." "God bless you too, Jonathan." "It still won't ring." "I can't figure it." "Everything works fine but it won't make a sound." "Well, we'll have someone come out and take another look." "I have to go in now." " Morning, Tobias." " Good morning." "I'm looking forward to your sermon today." "So am I." "If you'll excuse me." "For the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light." "These words from the 16th chapter of Luke, Verse 8, are the inspiration for my words to you this morning." "I was notified this week that the National Council has ordered our preschool to teach religion." "And that our faculty must be made up only of those of the Christian faith." "I informed the faculty of the Council's edict and, as most of you know, the majority of teachers left." "Either for religious reasons or out of principle." "I thought, it's not my fault." "It was, after all, an order." "But still" " Still, I wondered:" "Was the teaching of religion a proper role for a preschool teacher?" "Would it not begin to cross over and conflict with our classes in Sunday school?" "I worried that it might be a provocation for discord in the congregation." "And so I could not bring myself to accept this new plan even though I knew I would be replaced if I did not follow the edict." "I anguished long and hard, trying to find a way to reconcile the requirements of the Council and what I felt was my obligation to the congregation." "And my own conscience." "Finally, I turned to prayer." "And the answer came, night before last, as I knelt in this very church." "An enlightened poet once wrote:" "An angel paused on its outward flight," "With a seed of love and truth and light," "And cried." "O where should this seed be sown" "That it may be fruitful when 'tis grown?" "Our saviour heard and said, as he smiled," "Place it far in the heart of a child." "You see, a group of students from our preschool helped bring me the answer to my dilemma." "By pointing out to me in their own special way, why religion should be taught in our school." "I will bow to the will of the Council." "Religion will be taught." "But not just Christianity," "Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and more." "They should be taught as part of the learning process that each child goes through." "They shall be taught so as to increase the children's understanding of their brothers and sisters throughout the world." "And they shall be taught by our more-than-competent staff of teachers if I can convince them to return to work." "I know, I know, I know." "This may not be acceptable to the Council." "But a Church is made up of people, not of committees." "We had a school that brought children together in love, in understanding." "And we all know that the only chance for peace among the people of the world is for them to come together." "And know and appreciate the beliefs of all men." "But this is not for me to decide." "Finally..." "Finally, it's up to you." "Because this is your church." "This is your school." "I will leave you now to decide." "God bless us all." "I'm sorry." "Don't be." "After listening to you just now, I realise you were right." "You were right." "Well, I guess we'll just have to start all over again." "We've done that before." "And now we have Andrew to help us." "And the boss." "The boss." "The congregation has decided." "Yeah, it was pretty well unanimous." "That didn't take long." "You should have seen the look on Kester's face when they voted in favour of your school plan." "What?" "Well, what are you doing out here?" "You've got a congregation in there."