Inherit the Wind

I am currently in a production of “Inherit the Wind,” which is a play centered around Dayton, Tennessee (referred to as Hillsboro, Tennessee in the play) that deals with the time surrounding the trial of John Scopes. The trial was dubbed the “Monkey Trial” and the “Trial of the Century.” It deals with a common thing that we as human beings deal with even to this day, and that is CREATION VS. EVOLUTION.

It really upsets me when people refuse to see the show just because it’s based on that — or at least that is what they assume. We all know what happens when someone assumes something. Now, you may be asking what is the show about then, and the answer is simple. It deals with opening your mind and thinking for yourself, which is something that a lot of people assume they do. I say this because nowadays, it seems everyone is saying whatever someone else supports. How many people do you know who support a cause just because a friend joined? How many people are sheep that just follow whatever is spread in front of them?

For me, I feel that a mixture of creation and evolution will somehow be shown as the true answer. Yes, God created the world. However, it didn’t happen in seven of our days. I know people will give me flack for thinking that, but the world according to the religious zealots is only around 6,000 years old. Sorry — 6,000 years old? So what about the prehistoric remains of dinosaurs? What about rocks and fossils that are dated to be around a million years old? According to the story of creation, the Lord created the sun, the moon, and the stars on the third day. We use the sun to calculate the length of our days. What was used to measure the length of days in that time? For instance, the first and second day could be an indeterminate length. That would give a good reason as to why there were dinosaurs, and to why they were not in the book of Genesis. There is also another fact that makes me cringe. On the sixth day, God created a creature that we call man. Herein lies the rub…what about Neanderthal man? Where are the cavemen in the book of Genesis. You know, the big browed savagely stupid precursors of man? Why are they not in the good book?

Now, as far as man evolving from monkeys, I am not smart enough to debate that. However, there are similarities in the two species. But to say that we evolved from them, that may be a bit much. I mean, remember how the Church stated that Earth was the center of the Solar system? Science proved that to be incorrect. Remember before that, the Church told everyone that the Earth was flat, and you could “sail off the side?” Well, some brave souls tested that theory, and proved it to be wrong. Just because the Church tells us something, we should not just blindly accept it. Yes, faith is important to believe in, but we as people need to think for ourselves.

My character, Mr. Jesse H. Dunlap, is different in his beliefs than I am. He is dead set on only believing in the Bible, and damn everything else — so it’s a good thing that he gets turned away from jury duty. A man who is stubborn in his thinking is just as dangerous in some regards as a terrorist. When we learn to open our minds to other thoughts, we don’t confine ourselves to being a slave to one ideal. I mean, a few years ago, who honestly thought that a black man would be the leader of America? Is it good that the tradition of leadership is changed? In just under four years, we will find out if this is good. Will Obama be a good president, will he be a bad one, or will it be more of the same just with a different skin color.