Intellectualism vs. fundamentalism:
...s with intellectualism. Brady's fundamentalism means shutting down his mind, forcing himself not to undergo the natural human process of wondering at that which does not make sense. In choosing to interpret or accept the Bible as he does, he chooses not to think. The creationists in the play, who adhere to rigid, fundamental Christian doctrines, are a conservative force that has prescribed for Hillsboro society how their minds should be made up. Their conservatism is rooted in fear. The most adamant creationists, Brady and Reverend Brown, occupy positions of authority at the top of the social order, and their primary motivation is to maintain this control over that social order. Like Darwinism, which questions the religious foundation of that social order, new and progressive ideas present a threat to the creationists’ status as leaders. Drummond, on the other hand, promotes intellectualism, finding the human mind sacred and arguing as the freedom of thought as a basic right. His intellectualism does not eschew spirituality by saying Brady looks for God too far away, he admits there may be a God somewhere else, closer by but rather eschews a religious tradition that does not celebrate thinking and questioning. Whereas a fundamentalist system condemns Cates' questions about God as blasphemous, Drummond's intellectual system sees his questioning as part of an ongoing process. This intellectualism, unlike Hornbeck's harsh cynicism, celebrates though for the possibilities it creates for understanding and for life in the world, even at the cost of the safety one feels with an unquestioned faith. It does not condemn religious per se but only the fundamentalist system of though...