My Right to Think and Yours: The First Blog Post

As Shivani, Karen, and Brady have said before me, I have never thought about having the right to think before reading this play. Well, at least on a concious level. I am sure that at least once every day, everyone disagrees with someone else about a particular subject. The fact is that no one can tell you that you cannot think like that, that you cannot disagree with this person's views. Not everyone may like what I am thinking, but my mind is my own and no one can take my innermost thoughts away from me.

The closest association that I have with the right to think would be the United States' First Amendment, which guarantees the rights to freedom of speech, religion, and the press. All citizens go about their lives without thinking about these protected rights, almost taking them for granted. It is when they become endangered that a person becomes thankful that they have these rights. As in Hillsboro, when Bert Cates' right to think was questioned, no one was really concious of that right until Drummond defended Cates case with it.

Reading Inherit the Wind has strengthened my belief in a person's right to think. I love that everyone has a unique mind and a unique thought process. Heck, I'd be perfectly fine with someone disagreeing with me about the content of this post! It is your mind and I cannot judge you for that. I do not like it when someone thinks that they can force their own beliefs on people and say that this is the only option you have. That defeats the purpose of the human mind, which Drummond pointed out as what makes the human race a class unto itself. Without different ideas and genuine minds, the pilgrims may not have left Europe, FDR might not have been able to be a successful president, and John Scopes would have never brought to our attention the right to think, and the right to be wrong.