The right to think

The right to think is one of those topics that makes my head spin when I think about it too much. To be honest, it isn't something I think about often though. I've always just sort of assumed without questioning that your thoughts were the one thing someone could never take from you.

After reading Inherit the Wind, I've been realizing more that there are ways of taking a person's thoughts that don't involve science fiction-like gadgets and scenarios. Places like present day North Korea and one-time Nazi Germany have used tactics like propaganda, lies, and distorting the truth to keep their citizens thinking what they wanted them to think. In doing so, they made thinking the wrong thoughts illegal, and therefore taking away a person's right to think.

In some ways, it scares me to realize that many people present day don't have the same sort of basic rights as me, ones I've always taken for granted, and probably will continue to overlook. Its hard to even imagine for a single day not having the ability to make my own decisions, and I really like what Madison was saying about that. I pity these people, for they cannot begin to comprehend what it is they are actually missing; true freedom. For that's what the ability to think really is, freedom and control over your life. Without this control, you would become a puppet; never wondering, always excepting what your superiors tell you is right and wrong.

Inherit the Wind explored this concept through basic beliefs about how the world came to be. By passing the Butler Act, students right to think and make informed decisions was taken away. In the book, Hornbeck once commented on how medieval things were becoming and I quite agreed with him. It bothered me that the townspeople were so obstinately refusing to even consider that more than one opinion could be acceptable. I think that some of these people's right to think was taken away though when They were given one set of beliefs and were never able to explore or accept other options.

I just hope that as we move into the future, places where people's right to think has been breached upon will be able to regain the basic human function of thought.