Light Behind the Fire

Bill Ward, a physics teacher, pushes son Johnny (as well as his colleagues) toward the belief in evolution. Johnny's girl friend Hazy found it to be irreconcilable with her Biblically-oriented mother and her church minister. Following the defeat of Gov. Bill Clinton in the 1980 election, a statute is enacted under the new fundamentalist Gov. White requiring the teaching of Biblical Creationism along with evolution in all biology classes of the state's public high schools. Pending the trial in the federal court on its Constitutionality, Hazy brings Johnny (along with some of his atheistic classmates) to debates with her fundamentalist pastor. Because the pastor is unsuccessful in persuading them to his views, she became very disturbed-particularly as Johnny continued attempting to have her becoming born-again in his direction while continuing to increase their mutual love. When attending portions of the trial on the new state law at Johnny's request, an increasingly disturbed Hazy decides upon an action against herself. A devastated Johnny then commences seeing his father's approach in a different light and a necessity to undertake a personal action.