Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

up for Freedom, that had come out of their early work at the CPRR. The book was intended to appeal
primarily to Christians, but the publisher had seen its crossover potential for the general market and asked
them to attend the conference.
Midway through the morning, a woman approached Matt and Tanner and looked at their book. Then, as
though she were a covert operative in an underworld spy game, she leaned close and asked, "Is this book.
. .you know-" she looked both ways"religious?" 285 Matt remembered Tanner's grin. He leaned close in
turn, looked both ways as she had done, and whispered, "Yes! It's about religious freedom." He dropped
the whisper and stood tall. "The good news is in America you don't have to whisper about religion. It's
your right to talk about it." He glanced around the room-a place where every topic from mysticism to
magic arts to a dozen Middle Eastern practices was highlighted in dozens of books. "In fact, you can even
talk about it right here." He handed her the book. "Read it and see for yourself."
Monday morning, Matt assessed the jurors and wondered
what Tanner would have done about it. Thanked God, probably.
Assumed there was a reason and moved ahead. So even though
the jury selection was grim at best, Matt committed the case to the
Lord and carried on.
The premise of Tanner's case, which he'd built long before
Matt took over, was simple. After interviewing everyone involved,
after studying the contract signed by the Benson City Council and
Pastor Casey Carson of the First Church of the Valley, Tanner had
thought of something new, something he'd never considered
before.
If the Benson City Council was requiring First Church of the
Valley to refrain from teaching that Jesus Christ is the only way to
salvation, then, in a sense, a local public governing body was
defining religion.
Maybe not defining it for the entire state of Colorado, or even
the town of Benson, but in drawing up a contract that allowed any
group to use City Hall except those who preach the Gospel of
Christ, they were, without a doubt, defining religion.
Tanner's tactic, therefore, was this: The city of Benson was in
violation of the Constitution, wherein no law should be made
"respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof."
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In other words, for the first time since religious freedom cases
had become necessary, Tanner intended to use the very argument his opponents had used for years. Instead
of spending an entire case trying to prove his client had not violated the separation of church and state
clause, he would turn the tables and accuse the defendant of that very thing.
So Matt's task was twofold.
First, he would have to depict the First Church of the Valley as a law-abiding organization with as much
right to rent City Hall as any other group. Then he would present the biased contract and accuse the
Benson City Council of making a law that established a Christ-less religion and prohibited Pastor
Carson's church from the free exercise of their faith.
Matt had never prided himself in his opening or closing arguments. He preferred the behind-the-scenes
research and examination phases of a case. But now, with Tanner holding a bedside vigil at] ade's side,