Our right to think

I feel that this whole response will be like everyone else's, but that's beside the point. I never consciously thought about this right we have. It does not seem like a big deal to me, but really it is. Like Madison said, here in America we have it better than most people, because we have both the right to think and the right to speak. Citizens in many other countries, such as China or North Korea, do not have these rights we are blessed with.

I think the right to think can be very complicated yet also very simplistic. There is much controversy surrounding it in the story because people often do not want to listen to ideas not agreeing with their own. But that is what the right to think is about. People are allowed to believe what they want to believe, even if most believe that they are wrong. You have the right to be wrong. In the play, Drummond is all about knowledge, fairness, and being able to gain information from all sources. That is why he is well-versed in both the Bible and Darwin. Brady on the other hand, is simply arrogant and declares the Bible to be supreme over everything else. He and the people of Hillsboro condemn Darwin's theories, yet they have never even read Darwin to see what they are condemning In the end, that comes back to bite him in the butt. And the whole trial makes Rachel learn what is really about: freedom. Her words at the end of the play are exactly what the right to think is all about, and they are a perfect example for us.

Reading Inherit the Wind has really got me thinking about the right to think. It is a right I cannot imagine living without. While I am not really sure what life without this seemingly-necessary right would be like, I know one thing. I sure am glad I have it.