Religion or science? For years people have been debating which of the two contrasting views should be taught and accepted in schools. But why not both? In the play Inherit the Wind, written by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, Bertram Cates is arrested and put on trial for teaching his students the theory of evolution. Cate 's lawyer, Drummond fails to prove him innocent during the course of the trial, but does manage to educate people in the court about how evolution and creationism can go hand in hand. Using the Bible and some common sense he shows the town that parts of the Bible cannot be taken literally, and God may have used evolution to create humans. It is possible for two different views of humankind 's roots to exist side by …show more content…
Additionally, it is possible for two different views of humankind 's roots to exist side by side because of the fact that during Cate 's trial, Drummond convinced many members of the jury that the law was unjust and the town should not take the Bible literally. In the narration of Inherit the Wind it says, "The laughter is painful to Brady. He starts to answer Drummond then turns toward the spectators and tries almost physically to suppress the amused reaction. This only makes it worse." (99) Over a short period of time, Drummond was able to influence many people from the jury that they shouldn 't take the Bible literally and that everything isn 't as black and white as they previously thought. Drummond got the crowd laughing at his jokes and exposed the jury to different perspectives and some of them understood him. If the community were to teach evolution and creationism in schools, the children would be more educated and would be able to form their opinions based on what they were taught instead of being thrown in jail for their thoughts. Readers who argue that evolution and creationism cannot coexist may claim that because only some of the jury agreed with Drummond, it will be impossible to get the whole town to accept the idea of evolution and creationism being taught together. While it is true that not everyone in the room was pro-evolution at the time, if a law was passed to allow both subjects to be taught, a new generation of acceptance and learning can sprout
As they talk at the end of the trial they say that they will never pay the fine as they will go and get it appealed. At the End of the play Drummond slams darwin's theory and the bible together to make it so that people can understand that people can believe in either one. Cates has just won the trial but for Brady it has been a downfall he went into the courtroom thinking he was going to win but Drummond turned it around and made Brady look like a fool in front of the world and Hillsboro. Bradys side of things is completely
On page 51 and 52 Drummond says “I understand what Bert’s going through. It’s the loneliest feeling in the world - to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down... Walking down an empty street, listening to the sound of your own footsteps.” This means to fight for what you believe in is hard especially if your the only one who believes it, and Drummond describes it as the loneliest feeling in the world. The author's craft used in this quote is imagery because the author uses sensory details.
I suspect he might would give Darwin extra weight. Or he 's just showing that you can 't only know one side of the story as in both sides are always necessary for a whole sense of the
In this court case, the state of Louisiana made a law that forbade the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools unless the school were to teach the theory of creationism as well (“Edwards”). Though the law did not require the teaching of either of the theories, it did require one of the other if schools did decide to teach it (“Edwards”). Parents, teachers, and religious leaders seeked to prevent the forcing of this law (“Edwards”). Andrew Koppelman, the author of “Phony Originalism and the Establishment Clause,” says, “States are prohibited from
First of all, John Thomas Scopes and Bertram Cates were the two defendants in both of the trials. Cates and Scopes both broke the law by teaching Darwin’s theory in their classrooms. In Inherit the Wind, Cates turns himself in to bring the big crowd into Hillsboro and to do the right thing for the school. Through both trials, the defendants have tried their hardest to do what was right but were
Key point being the fact that America has no set religion therefore schools should not teach only evolution, or only creationism. Both should be taught, or neither should be taught. Schools cannot teach neither though because there is valuable knowledge in both. During the trial Scopes said “... violation of my ideal of academic freedom-that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in our constitution of personal and religious freedom”(“Scopes”). John Scopes had a very eye opening point; stating that he can believe whatever he wants to believe in because he has those rights granted by the Constitution.
Characterization in Inherit the Wind Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the play Inherit the Wind is a fictitious spin off of the historical Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which hotly debated the concept of evolutionism vs. creationism and, in general, a person’s right to think. In the play, a young man by the name of Bert Cates is prosecuted for teaching evolution in school and breaking the state’s “creation-only” law. His case is taken to court where he fights against the highly exalted paragon of religious devotion, Matthew Harrison Brady. Henry Drummond, an almighty but rather infamous attorney, stands by and defends Cates throughout the whole trial. In the midst of this all, Cates’ lover, Rachel Brown, is torn between her love
As the trial began, there were some things that had disturbed Henry Drummond. While Brady and Drummond were choosing jurors for the trial, one thing that had made Drummond upset us that most of the jurors had favouritism to towards the Bible and Brady. This had led Drummond to say “Run the
This quote relates to discrimination of race which leads to unfair society because the trial hasn't started and Cecil Jacobs and the townsfolk already believe that Tom Robinson is guilty even though there is no evidence to suggest that he is guilty of the crimes placed against him. People are basing their opinion on their own racial prejudices/discriminatory, and are assuming that because he is a black person that he committed the act, although no evidence was presented. This leads to an unfair society because the towns folk do not know the full detail of the case and are leaning toward the Ewells side due to the fact Tom Robinson is a black man living in a white man’s world where his words and his side of the story is not heard because he’s black. Another reason why that discrimination of race can lead to unfair society directly leads to Tom Robinson for example Uncle Jack states: “The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you Did-I-didn’t.
Modern thinking was denied and when John Scopes brought up evolution no matter what his case was he had no chance, yet many places heard about the trial and tried to help by, one releasing an article exposing the true evil behind having church and school strangely mixed. In the article it says, “Religion and business had become strangely mixed.” (Doc D) New York Times, expressed that when rural school are blindly teaching kids one path then there will be no diversity in
Nicholas Grill Mrs. Browning English 10X 25 July 2017 Inherit the Wind Journal Entries Question #2: Inherit the Wind reflects the Holy Cross core value of Hope through the actions of its main characters. The central conflict in this story revolves around a fictional court case against a high school teacher, named Bertram Cates, who taught his students evolution. This court case takes place in a Christian town, wherein the townsfolk disagree with the theory of evolution and feel like Mr. Cates should be punished for his actions. Throughout the rest of the story, Mr. Cates, and his lawyer Henry Drummond, hope to win this case in defense of Mr. Cates’ right to freely speak what he believes.
In another example of Brady’s misconception about his study of the bible and evolution, Brady says, “I say that these Bible- haters, these ‘Evil-ution,’ are brewers of poison” (70). Every one has their own faith in what they believe and Brady should not force people to believe in what he believes in. Brady is wrong when he is trying to get people think of evolution is wrong and his knowledge of the bible is right. He argues against the teaching of evolution because in the theory of Darwin about human transformation.
To Kill a Mockingbird is famous for its controversy. In fact, it has been banned from being read at many schools for its use of racial, sexual, and political content, all of these aiding the book’s “big ideas”. To Kill a Mockingbird has many themes. For example, one is about racial injustice. You would think a jury would establish their final decision based upon the facts, but in this book, the jury had already made up its mind once it heard that the case was a white man versus a black man.
The Truth Behind the Rhetoric of Carl Sagan One of the largest debates known to modern man is that between creationists and evolutionists. Is human existence evidence of a divine power? Did humankind reach its current state on the reliance of genetic mistakes? Is it of any concern to know one way or another? In his insightful essay, “Do we care what’s true?
The Scopes Monkey trial was one the biggest and most influential court cases of all time. John Scopes was a public high school teacher in dayton tennessee who was arrested and tried for breaking the butlers law. Passed in 1925 it made teaching evolution in any schools and colleges in the state of Tennessee illegal. This was because evolution challenges the idea of creationism which was the popular religion in the tennessee. this was a huge problem because it was written in the constitution that you must separate church and state.