A Reaction Paper: Inherit the Wind
July 14th, 2007 by flyingshadDela Cruz, Crystal Eunice T. Rel
11 – D
BSN-I July
16, 2007
INHERIT THE WIND
A Reaction Paper
I-Intro: Summary of the Story
Bertram T.
Cates, a high school Biology teacher in the town of Hillsboro, Tennessee was
put behind bars for teaching Charles Darwin’s evolution theory to his class. He
had broken the state law not permitting the teaching of the theory of
evolution.
He was then sent
to trial, defended by an atheist Attorney Henry Drummond from Chicago. Attorney
Matthew Harrison Brady speaks for the other side of the court. The courthouse
seems to be always in a hot debate with both Attorneys speaking in defense of
their side and of their own personal belief. They talked about the pros and
cons of teaching the Darwin’s theory. I remember Drummond asking if knowledge
of the theory has caused trouble for Cates’ students and I if it made the
witness which was Cates’ student become an unloving bad person. Of course he
got no for an answer. Now, on the other hand, Brady speaks of knowledge of
Darwin’s theory as something that wrecks and destroys one’s faith in God and
his image. Both are actually good speakers exchanging philosophical and
sarcastic remarks about the case.
Rachel Brown,
Cates’ fiancée gets stuck between the love of her life and her father. Her father,
town minister Rev. Jeremiah Brown is very obsessed with his religion. He looks
insane already. At one time, he even told the people that obedience to God’s
will and words is necessary because punishment awaits the one who breaks it. He
talks about all sorts of punishments like lightning. She even damns her own
daughter to hell, which really saddened dear old Rachel.
One day in
court, Rachel was called to the witness stand; she had spurted a lot of things
to Attorney Brady, and at the very moment could be used against Cates. She, in
the witness stand, talked about how Cates’ started to lose his faith in
religion. She spoke of a boy that was drowned in the river. In the funeral
mass, Rachel’s father spoke of the boy not being able to enter heaven because
he was not baptized. This angered or I think disappointed would be a lot more
appropriate term that he stopped going to church and started teaching the
Charles Darwin Theory to his students. He actually said that it was not a
revolt against their religion, it was more of giving knowledge and making sure
his students wouldn’t be ignorant of such. But Rachel, with too much pressure
and fear just started to cry in the stand. And as much as Attorney Drummond
would still like to question her, Cates’ stopped him and even threatened him if
he still insisted.
The last part I
saw was when Drummond lost his temper and started babbling courageously in
front of the court after the judge announced a prayer meeting in court.
Drummond found this unfair because it seemed like right then and there, the
judge shows that he favors the other side. The judge then became hot tempered
and got him into jail with a bail but a farm and a bank owner says they will
bail him out with all that they’ve got which we believe are connected to that
boy Rachel was talking about.
II- Discussion of 2 issues in the
story
· I remember Brady talking about the knowledge of
Darwinian Theory can pollute the minds of the students, considering how young
they are. That these students, he supposed would turn their backs on God and
turns bad. Basically, he says that the law just doesn’t want the citizens to
turn bad. Drummond on the other hand, asks one of Cates’ High School students
if the knowledge he gained from Cates’ class has done any harm to him, if it
caused him physical pain or injury. He even asked if after a class about the
Darwinian Theory, he goes home not loving God and his family any more. Then the
boy answers that it didn’t cause him any harm and he still loves God and his family
very much.
· Another issue is the state law itself. Brady
laughs at the thought that we came from those monster looking creatures taught
in Darwinian Theory. He even got mad saying that it is an insult on us man and
in God’s creation. He said that we humans are special creations of God. Whereas
Drummond speaks of the beauty of knowledge and the cons of ignorance. The real
monsters are those that misinterpret God’s words and those people that consider
only their interpretation of the bible as correct.
III- Own opinion on the issues
stated above
· Take me as a student for example, I’ve been
taught science extensively which was like for the longest time. I’ve even had
religion classes for four years only in High School because we didn’t have
religion classes in my elementary school. I didn’t turn out to become an
atheist; I even have a great faith in my God. I mean, how on earth these
scientific facts would make you do bad things, they’re actually each
individual’s choice. Good things are not limited to reading the bible everyday,
or attending prayer meetings or worshipping Him every second of our lives. For
me, showing love and care for other people and unselfish giving means more than
all the rituals and traditions of the world. They are basically just practices,
what really matters are the spirit, the reason, the message, the love behind
these practices that we must keep at heart. In addition to everything I’ve
said, all that I learned about science, made me love God more. The Darwinian
Theory shows how God made us complex and gave us the ability to adapt to our
environment to continue to live. I look up to him on how he created the world,
just amazing. Now, isn’t that a proof of God’s love and wit?
· The first thing that came into my mind when
Brady laughed at us coming from Apes and creatures like that is that he is a
very proud old man. Who does he think he is? I personally view this as a sign
of humility for us man. We are imperfect but God still loves and takes care of
us. And besides, the outer appearance doesn’t matter, what matters most is what
we have in our hearts, because this is what God looks into, not what we look
like, but what we did and how we loved.
IV- Conclusion
The
movie was interesting. I loved the debates and I loved the philosophy behind
the remarks of the two lawyers. I feel bad actually, because deep inside, I
know that there are Bradys and Jeremiah Browns in the present world. These
people, who thinks that they are completely correct in their interpretations of
the bible, not to mention they think that they are the only one right.
I
mean, yes, I admit, the words, the Bible is important, but as I’ve just
recently learned in Religion 11 that the authors of the books in the bible
didn’t write the bible in specific detail, they wrote it for the purpose of
telling the people God’s message of love behind those words.
I remember one
of my former religion teachers saying that a religious is different from a holy
person. A religious person strictly follows the tradition and rituals we used
to have. A holy person is one with selfless and unconditional love given to
every one he meets.
In the movie, I
learned not to be judgemental of things I don’t fully have knowledge on. I also
learned that standing up for what you believe is right though largely opposed
is a very brave act.
We must be
careful in our perception of religion or of his word, because we not only
distort our and other’s lives, we also distort God’s image and the goodness of
this world. I was actually freaked out by Jeremiah Brown, damning his daughter
to hell and how he prays, how he speaks and how he condemn people he consider
as sinful. I mean, God forgives even the unforgivable, and he goes on preaching
about God sending out lightning and punishment to the sinners.
There are a lot
of things I still have to learn about. I can’t say that my perception is right,
but this is what I consider as of the present me. But I am open to learning and
to different views, in the end, it would still be up to me to decide on which
to believe in. The only thing I’m sure would never change is my view of my God
as my father, my best friend, someone who forgives the unforgivable, someone
who gives selfless and unconditional love, someone I know would never leave me
alone and someone who I know, would like me to be with Him in His kingdom
someday.
Let me share
something I read from The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho which goes
something like this, “Don’t be too bothered by what they say is right, just
follow your hearts desire.” I interpret this as “Just love like Jesus did, it
is the only sure good thing in this world.”
