Inherit the Wind

In the film, Cates was supposedly on trial because he broke the state law by teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. That was the surface level issue—breaking the law, for which he was guilty—but the real issue was the conflict between the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. This contradiction between a person’s right to exercise their religious beliefs and a person’s right to think and say what they want has been written into the US Constitution. Because this conflict exists in the law governing the US, it is the basis for many conflicts between politics and religion that exist today. 

For example, in the “Access Denied?” article, the Supreme Court decided on a case where the issue of religion being used to discriminate was on trial. On one hand, the Supreme Court has to uphold the 1st Amendment’s protection of the freedom of religion—on the other hand, the Court also has to protect our civil rights (our right to not be discriminated against, our equal protection under the laws). This overarching conflict between civil liberties and civil rights appears in the politics of religion as well.  

I definitely don’t know all of the examples, but one appearance of civil liberties eroding civil rights is with the ongoing debate over abortion rights/laws. Those who use their religious beliefs to defend anti-abortion laws are supposed to have their freedom of religion protected—but women are also supposed to have their right to equal services protected. In this case, religion is associated with not protecting civil rights.


When civil rights threaten civil liberties, such as the freedom to practice your own religion or say your own beliefs, that is the ultimate gray area with the most conflict. The government is supposed to not side with any religion, but because all politicians are elected by the people, it is very hard for the US government to have true separation of church and state.  




Comments

  1. David BernellFebruary 20, 2023 at 4:29 PM

    This post does a great job of framing the conflict as one between two cherished ideals and goals: civil liberties vs. civil rights.

    ReplyDelete

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