Sydney R - Inherit the Wind

This film and the trial that it was based on represents freedoms in jeopardy: freedom of thought and freedom of religion.  Everyone deserves to be able to practice their religion freely but it is also just as important for everyone to have the right to explore new ideas.  The citizens of Hillsboro felt that their religion was being invalidated by the teaching of evolution.  However, in defending their religion, they took away another individual's freedom of thought.  How is that establishing one freedom limits the freedom of another?  At the root of this issue, it does not seem like it was the intent of either side to restrict the other's freedom.  The ideal outcome is that we can respect both religion and Darwinism and recognize the scientific process without questioning the power of God.  In a setting where there are no strict views on either of these topics, it is easier to achieve this compromise.  It gets interesting when a town, such as Hillsboro, has such strong beliefs pertaining to one side that recognizing the other side is seen as a threat.  Like how we talked about in class, it can be hard to decide whether it is worth disturbing the peace.  Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but belief and truth are two separate things.  They are different in that one's beliefs are their own even when they may not be truthful.  In contrast, the truth is everyone's as long as they are brave enough to seek it out.  

As Henry Drummond warned during the film, the trial had the power to influence how evolution would be taught in the future for schools around the country.  The verdict would be a determining factor in how much influence religion (specifically Christianity) could have in a school setting.  It also sets a precedent for how separate church and state really are.  By ruling that teaching Darwinism in schools infringes upon religious freedom, the line between church and state gets blurred.  Since this was a popular issue at the time, other states would likely follow suit in how the court decided to rule.  This domino-effect reminded me of the issue surrounding teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools right now.  Seven states have already banned CRT and 16 others currently have a ban in progress (World Population Review, n.d.).  With politics beginning to permeate the purity of public education, these bans could lead to more debate over how sex education should be taught and if it should include the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the banning of other non-White histories.  


Reference:

World Population Review. (n.d.). States that Have Banned Critical Race Theory 2023. World Population Review. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/states-that-have-banned-critical-race-theory




Comments

  1. Catherine BolzendahlFebruary 18, 2023 at 11:33 AM

    As your comments suggest, these debates and issues are just as central to our politics and society today as they were decades ago. We are a religiously pluralistic and diverse nation so there is a real challenge to respect that. To what extent does public education reflect "the public" if they are fundamentalist? Is education a place to challenge and debate truths? I hope so!

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