I’ve never really thought about the right to think before reading the play Inherit the Wind. It’s so obvious to me that it’s just there, like breathing. You think all the time. The right to think is something that all humans have, had, and will have. I’ve thought about how other countries don’t have the right to religion or speech or other freedoms we have here in the United States, but never about the right to think. I’ve said we all have this right, no matter which society you live in, but there are laws within those societies that can influence what an “informed thinker” you are, because they can’t take away your right to think. For example, in some countries today, people aren’t allowed to read or get an education. In principle, those people could mentally think, but in reality, they have a limit to what they think about and the ideas they can ponder. Therefore, their ability to access information is severely limited, and they are not as informed as someone in America today, with all our freedoms.

This issue is very personal to me because my dad was a missionary back when the Iron Curtain was still dividing most of Europe, and communist leaders had banned the bible. My dad delivered bibles to them. While this issue deals most directly with freedoms like the freedom of religion, etc, it also points to the right to think. Those people who did not have access to the bible, for instance, weren’t able to think about the bible except for what they had already memorized and learned. They were not as an “informed thinker” as someone living in another country where bibles were allowed.

With the evolution vs. creationism battle in the John Scopes trial, even though the prosecution won, the law of only creationism to be taught wasn’t enforced any longer. John Scopes helped us have the freedom of expressing our ideas, and not just thinking them, like John said. I believe that all possible theories should be taught, and as theories, not facts, so that each student can be informed and make their own personal decision. Reading Inherit the Wind hasn’t affected my opinion on the right to think, rather it’s opened my eyes to this concept that I’ve never really thought about before. I think that we all have the right to think, even if our environment can influence our thoughts.