Posts over the last one week have been tardy; the start of a long vacation is always filled with hundreds of things to do. This post comes from New York where I’ve been vegetating for the last six days.
Saw a Broadway play, “Inherit the Wind” at the Lyceum Theatre. Set in early 20th century Southern America, the play revolves around the conflict between the evolutionists who accept Darwin’s evolution theory and the Creationists; religious groups who insist on interpreting the Bible literally that God created Man in his own image and the entire universe was created in seven days. It’s surprising how live this issue is even today in this country, and how polarizing. The play itself was a piece of outstanding scripting and great acting by Christopher Plummer (yes, he of The Sound of Music and The Insider fame).
I am given to understand that there are entire parts of this country where even today, the evolution theory that all of us descend from apes is still thought of as heresy and taught in schools with a lot of riders.
But what I found truly inspiring is that this play with a lot of what could be considered incendiary dialogues related to Christianity, played to packed houses in mid-town Manhattan. I can’t bring myself to believe that a similar play with “strongly worded” dialogues, taking digs at religion could play in Mumbai (or most other Indian cities) without resulting in protests, vandalism and broken theatres. And if things go to plan, maybe a bandh.
For all our smug superiority about being the largest democracy etc., we still have some things to learn from this oldest democracy about tolerance for a radically different (and for some people, vile) point of view.
Saw a Broadway play, “Inherit the Wind” at the Lyceum Theatre. Set in early 20th century Southern America, the play revolves around the conflict between the evolutionists who accept Darwin’s evolution theory and the Creationists; religious groups who insist on interpreting the Bible literally that God created Man in his own image and the entire universe was created in seven days. It’s surprising how live this issue is even today in this country, and how polarizing. The play itself was a piece of outstanding scripting and great acting by Christopher Plummer (yes, he of The Sound of Music and The Insider fame).
I am given to understand that there are entire parts of this country where even today, the evolution theory that all of us descend from apes is still thought of as heresy and taught in schools with a lot of riders.
But what I found truly inspiring is that this play with a lot of what could be considered incendiary dialogues related to Christianity, played to packed houses in mid-town Manhattan. I can’t bring myself to believe that a similar play with “strongly worded” dialogues, taking digs at religion could play in Mumbai (or most other Indian cities) without resulting in protests, vandalism and broken theatres. And if things go to plan, maybe a bandh.
For all our smug superiority about being the largest democracy etc., we still have some things to learn from this oldest democracy about tolerance for a radically different (and for some people, vile) point of view.
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