Right to Express our Ideas

Truthfully I had never really thought about the right t think before reading Inherit the Wind, but now when I think of it I think of our first amendment rights as Americans, especially our freedom of speech. In other countries, the right to think is a not always possible. For example in North Korea, if you said you hate how Chairmen Kim Jong-Il is running things you would be sent to prison and eventually to your death. However, here in the United States is you say the same thing about President Obama no one would think anything of it and some people might even congratulate you on your thought. So on that note I agree with Spencer when he says that we all have the right to think, but the difference between us and North Korea is that we have the freedom to express those ideas that we possess.

Our right to think, much like everyone else is saying, is our right to think our own independent thoughts, free from propaganda and other’s opinions. When Tennessee went to pass the Butler Act in the 1920s they were begging for someone to stand up and say no. In the case of John Scopes vs. the state of Tennessee there was no one saying that Scopes didn’t break the law by teaching evolution. What was really on trial was the right to think, which falls under our first amendment right of freedom of speech.

What John Scopes did was one thing that many failed to do, speak up. I think that if in the future we all make a point to not disregard our right to think our country (and maybe even the world) will be more like how we want it to be. I also agree with Elizabeth when she stated that some groups are penalized when they express their right to think.