风的传人

1.你不可能公正的执行一部恶法。 2. E：“今天发生的一切都没有意义。” H：“那是因为你自己没有意义。你只是一个袖筒里什么也没有的幽灵。为所有人们感觉渴望或为之奋斗的东西，都施以嘲笑。我真可怜你。” E：“可怜我？” H：“难道没有什么东西能够触动你、温暖你吗？每个人都有自己的梦想，你的梦想是什么？你需要什么？” E：“.......” H：“你什么都不需要，是吗？朋友、爱一个可以倚靠的信念？你这个可怜的家伙。你完全就是孤身一人.....等你入土，没有人会去你的坟墓那里，然后为你的坟头除草；没有人为你默哀，没有人会在乎。你完全是孤身一人......”

Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!

Throughout history, humans have undergone a constant evolutionary process in regards to ways in which we view the world. The play Inherit The Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee conveys how modern ideologies experience turbulence when first presented. Often times the past has revealed that humans are inherently skeptical and resistant to progressive ideas. The 1950’s, in which the play was written, sets a tone that illustrates how ignorance, loss of power, and fear of uncertainty heightens anxiety and causes the characters in Inherit The Wind to remain stagnant in their views.

Ignorance is the main factor that contributes in further perpetuating any conservative society. Southern states of America have had a track record of being regressive and reluctant to change. Whether it be civil rights laws, laws in regard to sexuality or the banning of evolution being taught in schools, the south has always had a slower progression than Northern states. The setting of the Inherit the Wind is Hillsboro, Tennessee, a small town in southern United States. The five most illiterate cities in the United States are either southern cities or small towns. Small town culture in the 1950s further signifies that people would tend to have conservative and outdated ideologies by living amongst a smaller population. This lack of public knowledge is represented during the play through a conversation between Drummond and Bannister. Drummond asked him if he had ever read the Bible before, and Bannister answered: “Can’t read.” (page 39）Bannister represents ordinary people in southern United States at that time. Therefore, given the understanding that many people were illiterate, a sense of unsafety would result as well. This fear caused by ignorance leaves these uneducated folks vulnerable and incapable of challenging dominant ideologies.

Entertainment is a way to escape from the shadow of war that limits the depth and breadth of thinking. The 1950s was the introduction and popularization for many forms of entertainment. Televisions became a household item, and for the first time in human history is was common for everyone to own a radio. This wide spread entertainment culture is portrayed in Lawrence and Lee’s play. For instance, when people talked about the trial, they commented: “Everyone says it is going to be a show.” In this case, they were unconcerned about the actual truth of the trial. Instead, the people of the town viewed it as a talking point, that would be a source of entertainment. The ignorance caused by a strong focus on entertainment value gradually causes the public to see things from a superficial layer. There is little mention or talk about the evolution theory or of it’s specifics and validity. Thus fear of change is going to be produced by wrapping up in their thought-forms. As a result, people choose to not to think outside of daily life, this will only results the same social status. Due to the special geographical areas of the play and mass entertainment in the 1950s, the sense of unsafety and indifference of truth brings little change to the society.

Christianity is the dominant religion in American society. During the 1950’s Christianity’s influence on the public was powerful, religious leaders were intimidated by deconstruction of power and everyday people suffered from cognitive dissonance.

The fear in real life comes from losing status and power. For example, the authors create the character Brady that fulfills the archetype of William Jenning Bryan in history, Bryan was both a democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist. In the powerful years for Christian society during first half of 20th century, it seemed reasonable to say that he could achieve such high position due to their identity as a fundamentalist. Bryan is the expert of a specific and special subject - the Bible, which means once the society does not recognize the Bible any more, the Christian society would collapse. Therefore, teaching the theory of evolution has been banned in American classrooms in Tennessee by the strong supports of Bryan from 1925 to 1967. Based on the image of Bryan, the character Brady whom is developed by the author once said to public: “I am here to defend that which is most precious in the hearts of all the Living Truth of the Scriptures.” (page 20) It is not hard to see that words like “most” and “all” indicated the anxious heart of Brady to maintain the Bible. Both of them believed that as long as people know nothing about the theory of evolution, the Bible is still the only truth in the world and Christians would continue to rule the society.

On the other hand, cognitive dissonance is another factor that inhibits the progress of modern thoughts. Before the 60’s and the 70’s revolution, people in America haven’t yet gone through a social upheaval. As faithful fundamentalists, they have been taught to believe in the Bible from childhood and they reject any opposing views to their faith. The theory of evolution indicates that people evolved from monkeys which conflicts with the Bible which states that God created human beings. Many people who belong to a particular religion have a hard time holding two conflicting thoughts. Brady once mentions “The bible satisfies me, it is enough”, this quote is revealing that religion provides a sense of comfort. Given this understanding, it is easy to comprehend why people become so dismissive to new ideas. Hillsboro finds difficulty in making steps towards change because of the threat that loss of power presents as well as the hold cognitive dissonance has on people’s mind.

Uncertainty fuels ideas of instability and fear, the unknown has always plagued human existence. American society was faced with many challenges in the 1950’s due to the threat of communism. In Inherit The Wind, science is used as a parallel to communism because of the shared newfound concepts they presented.

Science is a subject that is endlessly exploring and discovering the new. For some this represents instability and results in uncertainty. Humanity hadn’t experienced the scientific and technological advancements like the 60’s and 70’s, so people were skeptical about science in the 1950s. Religion is different, everything is written in the Bible with certainty, which provides a sense of safety for people. Brady signifies this faith as he says : “Hopeful, I think is the word. We must look hopeful.” This quote further explains why so many people hold their belief, faith can give them the things for certain that science could not provide.

Moreover, Inherit the Wind mirrors the Red Scare during the Cold War in the 1950s. At that time, the Cold War started and the international situation remained tense and turbulent. American society was suffused with the red scare which was the fear of a rising potential of communism that may subvert and take over United States. Therefore, McCarthyism was born, an ideology rooting off all the communists in America. Then, lots of policies has come out to against the communism. It is interesting to notice that the Red Scare and the play shared different stories but the same ideology: fear of change due to uncertainty. The authors used the present as a reference to write this play, the theory of evolution is referred to Communism, and the supporters of McCarthyism is similar to Brady in the play. In Inherit the Wind, Drummond asked Brady about the theory of evolution :‘Never read it?”, Brady answered: “And I never will.” (page 86) These two concepts works similarly in that people were not familiar with the specifics of communism, however they do not like the sense of uncertainty. By exaggerated propaganda of Communism, sweeping all the communists out of America became a major task at that time. Compared to Inherit the Wind, banning not to teach the theory of evolution is the main motive in the society. The resemblance between communism and science as newfound ways of thinking serve as the reason for why people are so reluctant to move forward.

Humans have a tendency to fear change, this has been proven time and time again throughout the course of history. Inherit the Wind exemplifies this fear and parallels it to American society during the 1950’s. Through it’s irony, and satire Lawrence and Lee express their disapproval of the government’s behavior and the mainstream society. The authors use ignorance, loss of power and uncertainty to demonstrate how people can refuse to evolve and grow. Lack of knowledge is attributed to the Southern town culture and the immense entertainment of the 1950s. Moreover, the fear of religious leaders losing status and spirituality causes the society to maintain rigid. More importantly, the panic induced by a sense of uncertainty mainly comes from rapid scientific development and fear of communism. The author used the play as a reflection of 1950s in order to satirize the present, the closed mind eventually propels a conservative society.

Inherit the wind

人的自由意志不被禁锢，但以其肆意妄为必将一无所获

20世纪20年代美国也曾有过如此落后的“猴子审判”？

1925年美国田纳西州出台了一项有关达尔文进化论的法律，禁止公立学校教师在课堂上讲授人由低等动物进化而来的理论。在十分保守并且有着传统宗教信仰的美国南部地区，这样一项法案无疑得到了大部分人民的认可,尽管一些科学家联名写信抗议，但一系列反进化论立法运动在法案生效之时达到高潮。

美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）对这项威胁学术自由的法案表示抗议并找到一名曾在中学课堂上讲授进化论的年轻生物教师斯科普斯，授意他主动承认违反禁令，希望能通过审判来挑战“上帝的法案”的合法性。由此，当时的美国政客布莱恩与律师名嘴卡莱伦斯达罗分别站在狂热基督徒和科学进步的对立面上，对这一敏感主题进行了一场法庭辩论。由于名人效应和媒体的催化,“猴子审判”成为全美的热议话题，两周的审判引来成千上万的民众和记者。来自法庭的一手采访和照片占据了全美报纸的巨幅版面。无论是噱头还是追求正义，“猴子审判”都造成了深远的影响。

1960影像化的世纪大辩论

由斯坦利·克雷默指导，改编自真实案件“猴子审判”的影片inherit the wind于1960年在美国上映，在影像色彩冲击视觉的今天，很难想象抛开精美画面的黑白电影是怎样呈现宗教与科学之间的冲突的。

故事发生地在美国南部，人民对上帝深信不疑。“向上帝挑战”吸引政客亲自下场激情辩论，将教徒煽动成宗教狂热份子。在这个保守的小镇，勇于追求科学的生物老师斯科普斯已经成为了众矢之的。另一方面，名嘴律师对陪审团加入学者据理力争，对禁令违反联邦宪法提出异议，对加入科学家证人出庭做出申请，对圣经故事和进化论并不相悖的地方进行说明。在这些提议被法官一一否决后，律师提出让推崇圣经能够解释一切的公诉方政客布莱恩作为专家进行询问。政客布莱恩无法说清圣经中不符合自然规律的地方，由此，进化论中与圣经故事不相冲突的部分也应该被教徒承认。然而全片高能的律师与政客的辩论最终并未改变陪审团的决定，法官最终判处生物教师斯科普斯一百美元的罚款。

斯科普斯案被草草收场，胜诉的政客却在影片结尾戏剧化的倒下了，不知是信仰被无神论者颠覆还是自己根本无法面对早已心知肚明的科学进步。

影片的主要场景是一个容纳百人都略显拥挤的小法庭，控辩双方汗流浃背的维护着自己的信仰，在炎热的气温下，任何人都不得不屈从于自然的法则，然而影片中过度渲染宗教情绪的片段让人忽视了律师所捍卫的是宪法赋予学术言论自由，而非宗教的冥顽不灵。极端的信仰令朋友家人分离，使教徒认为进入天堂的代价是情感上的冰冷。信仰的盲目崇拜者将失足落水的小男孩判定为不受上帝祝福的异教徒，人们用自己内心的冷漠勾勒出一个极端的上帝。政客布莱恩对圣经的坚守使他盲目的排斥任何干扰信仰的异类，否定站队进化论的无辜教师，在极端偏见中丧失了深入思考的能力。当律师对他所拥护的圣经提出尖锐的质问时，布莱恩的精神世界备受挑战。尽管得到了胜诉的结果，同时也不得不体会自身信仰坍塌的痛苦。是否全盘接受达尔文的进化论并不重要，人们更应该关注的是如何处理独立思想与信仰之间的关系。辩方律师卡莱伦斯达罗在影片结尾同时拿着一本圣经和达尔文的物种起源，他相信自己是一个拥有信仰并对科学的进步有理智判断的人。“人的意志才是真正的奇迹，狂热和愚昧不能阻止人类思考。”

其实在“猴子审判”后引发的一系列事件并未被导演搬上银幕。20世纪以宗教为主导的美国社会被科技发展攻破，斯科普斯案带来舆论却认为法案的胜利代表着圣经至上，进化论在课本中担任了无用的角色，真正的科学被当作迷信从书本中剔除，误导大众的信息被媒体当作噱头大肆传播，给无知的人带来恐惧，给急功近利的人带来武器。从法案颁布到后来的三十年间，过半的美国教师不敢公开自己对进化论的认可，教材中有关进化论的内容被修订，美国高中生的进化论教育一度低迷，直到多年后科技的发展在得到社会认可后才抚平这一世俗的指责。

在人类意志相对自由的现代社会，宗教对科学的束缚转化成为了道德对科技的束缚。在科技飞速发展的未来，崇尚理性自由的人类会不会因为过于自信而盲目，那个时候的我们是否需要迎来一场新的世纪大辩论？