BRADY:
... Is it possible that something is holy to the celebrated agnostic?
DRUMMOND:
Yes! (His voice drops, intensely) The individual human mind. In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "Amens!", "Holy, Holies!" and
"Hosannahs!"An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is more of a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes, or the parting of waters! But
are we now to halt the march of progress because Mr. Brady frightens us with a fable? (Turning to the jury, reasonably) Gentlemen, progress has never been a bargain. You've got to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man behind a counter who says, "All right, you can have a
telephone; but you'll have to give up privacy, the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote; but at a price; you lose the right to retreat behind a powder-puff or a petticoat. Mister, you may
conquer the air; but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline!" (Thoughtfully, seeming to look beyond the courtroom)Darwin moved us forward to a hilltop,
where we could look back and see the way from which we came. But for this view, this insight,
this knowledge, we must abandon our faith in the pleasant poetry of Genesis.
BRADY:
We must not abandon faith! Faith is the important thing!
DRUMMOND:
Then why did God plague us with the power to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one
faculty which lifts man above all other creatures on the earth: the power of his brain to reason...
Question:The exchange between the two men highlights the long-standing conflict between faith and reason. Drummond says that all advances in knowledge come at a price. Discuss other examples of (a) inventions, (b) social changes and/or (c) changes in behavior that come with a price, and explain what is gained and what is lost.
... Is it possible that something is holy to the celebrated agnostic?
DRUMMOND:
Yes! (His voice drops, intensely) The individual human mind. In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "Amens!", "Holy, Holies!" and
"Hosannahs!"An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is more of a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes, or the parting of waters! But
are we now to halt the march of progress because Mr. Brady frightens us with a fable? (Turning to the jury, reasonably) Gentlemen, progress has never been a bargain. You've got to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man behind a counter who says, "All right, you can have a
telephone; but you'll have to give up privacy, the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote; but at a price; you lose the right to retreat behind a powder-puff or a petticoat. Mister, you may
conquer the air; but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline!" (Thoughtfully, seeming to look beyond the courtroom)Darwin moved us forward to a hilltop,
where we could look back and see the way from which we came. But for this view, this insight,
this knowledge, we must abandon our faith in the pleasant poetry of Genesis.
BRADY:
We must not abandon faith! Faith is the important thing!
DRUMMOND:
Then why did God plague us with the power to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one
faculty which lifts man above all other creatures on the earth: the power of his brain to reason...
Question:The exchange between the two men highlights the long-standing conflict between faith and reason. Drummond says that all advances in knowledge come at a price. Discuss other examples of (a) inventions, (b) social changes and/or (c) changes in behavior that come with a price, and explain what is gained and what is lost.