Inherit the Wind

 I thought the film was mainly about whether religion should be associated with and taught in schools. The film originally discussed a specific teacher and problem, but quickly progressed into a political and religious war. Both sides were very explicit about what they stood for and it ended up being more about who was right rather than the person that was on trial for the so called crime. The small town showed a recurring theme which we've seen in the other films, a fear of change. The defense lawyer had said that the other lawyer was being left behind rather than him leaving him because of the overall progressive change of the world. Our society is always changing views and learning new things and ways to communicate with each other which this film shows clearly. The defense lawyer was religious and believed in God, but also believed in evolution. I think the purpose of the film was to discuss ways we can believe in both and teach both while maintaining relationships with others. Today, we still see politicians using religion to either promote themselves or demote their opponents. Religion continues to be a source of life for people and keeps communities running, but I don't think it should be apart of our laws or politics at all. Compared to other countries, we don't have a religion in which we all are expected to follow or the majority follows, yet we still swear in using the Bible when in court. When I was in elementary school, we still said the pledge of allegiance everyday which I never thought was weird until now, especially since I'm not Christian or Catholic. This film showed a lot of overlap between state and religion and where we can still see this today, but I think it will be interesting to see where we go from here and if it will continue to decrease its relation or grow again. 

Where in the Constitution is “Separation of Church and State”? - Public Discourse

Comments

  1. David BernellFebruary 20, 2023 at 4:11 PM

    First of all, the picture is great (though maybe it should have storm clouds in the background). It is difficult to sit at the intersection of church and state without a lot of rancor, particularly in the United States, as this post points out. Our Constitution makes this a vexing problem. It guarantees both freedom of religious exercise, and that the government will not respect or favor any one religion over another. This pits individual rights against communities over an over again in US history.

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