Daniel 'Danny' Hanson, played by Michael Rapaport (Seasons 2-4), was some kind of humanities teacher who was introduced at the beginning of Season 2. He came from a working-class Irish-Catholic home, and had a populist political philosophy and a certain ambivalence about religion, declaring he didn't believe in God during the fourth season. This was due to him being sexually molested by his priest, Father Bill Egan, when he was a child. Danny also had a conservative side when it came to race, and didn't like the "sacred cow" status some racial issues were given. Later in Season 2, he began a debate about the word "nigger" in Winslow High. Marla correctly suggested that Danny's main flaw wasn't being controversial, but raising questions that he didn't have any helpful solutions to. Danny and Marla fought a lot (including one fist-fight early in Season 3), but also admitted they had a lot in common.