Scopes Trials

Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial a simple trial that turned into a showdown between religion and science began on July 10, 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. John Scope, a local science teacher, was on trial for teaching evolution. Scopes had broken the Butler Act, a new state law against teaching any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, by using the state-approved textbook and teaching it. Tennessee’s governor had signed it reluctantly when the Butler Act was passed in 1925.

The American Civil Liberties Union raised money to test the law in court and all they needed was for a Tennessee teacher to volunteer to break the Butler Act. In 1925 John Scopes agreed to go on trial to test it out. Clarence Arrow, an urban liberal, volunteered to be Scope’s defensive lawyer. William Jennings Bryan, three times candidate for president and a hero to rural America also joined the trial for the prosecution. The turning point of the trial came on the last day, when Darrow put Bryan on the stand and asked him about the Bible’s account of creation. He was asked if he thought the earth had been made in 6 days and he answered, “Not six days of twenty-four hours.” In the end, both sides claimed victory. The jury had taken less than ten minutes to find John Scopes guilty and fined him $100, but the Supreme Court later freed him on a technicality. The Butler Act remained in Tennessee even if biology teachers continued to teach evolution. The controversy between science and religion is an on going controversy that is still an issue today.

The first matter to be examined is the evolution-creationism controversy. According to Spragul Decamp people don't oppose evolution because they disagree with the science but because it offends their religious sensibilities. In most communities, at least some students come into a class wary of the "e-word" because somehow they have acquired the idea that acceptance of evolution is incompatible with religious faith. Antievolutionists, in fact, make a special point of proclaiming that one is either an evolutionist or a creationist, falsely dichotomizing the issue. Although it is not the job of public school science teachers to teach theology, when students come to class with their fingers stuck into their ears and their eyes closed, it is necessary to figure out a way to get the fingers out and the eyes open. Most Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations have accepted evolution as the way God brought the world about, and this is also true of the theology of all but the most conservative Jews. (Spragul L Decamp 22-35)

Tompkins on the other hand feels that the initial reaction of Christian fundamentalists to Darwin’s theory of evolution was understandable and predictable. Since evolution totally contradicted the bedrock of Christianity, namely the belief in a creator God who chose to remain involved in His creation, it should not be taught in science classes to impressionable school children. Christian fundamentalists in the United States, therefore, responded to the teaching of evolution in public schools by lobbying state legislatures to create laws that would exclude evolution from school curricula. The Tennessee state law resulting in John Scopes’ trial and conviction for teaching evolution was a product of those lobbying efforts. (Jerry R. Tompkins 10-15)

Larson’s view on this was that both ideas could be right. He spoke about an idea that a school initiated referred to as theistic evolution, this alternative combines elements essential to both evolutionary theory and creation science. Theistic evolution accepts the basic axiom of evolution while contending that God is the directing force behind it. Although the concept of theistic evolution is as old as the evolution/creationism controversy, in the last ten years it has grown in credibility and attracted many more adherents among scientists, theologians, and laypersons. ents representing all sides in this ongoing controversy. (Edward Larson 15-18)

All three of my sources have a different view on the idea of Creationism vs. Evolutionism. I as a Christian feel that creationism is the answer. I also am open to the idea of evolutionism, but I believe that God is the divine entity behind all things that happen.

The second matter to be examined is the trial. Decamp feels that the scopes trial is the greatest trial of all time and it examines the battle over the teaching of evolution in public schools. Legendary criminal defense lawyer Clarence Darrow is pitted against famous Christian fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan in a riveting courtroom drama that polarizes the nation. This historic trial focuses Americans' attention on freedom of speech, separation of church and state and due process and brings to the surface issues that are still hotly debated today. (Decamp 22-25)

Tompkins felt that this trial was an issue between the rural south and the urban north. Tompkins asked the question of: the rural south versus the urban north, who would determine the future morals and values of this changing country? Many people, particularly northerners and city dwellers were shedding their prudish skins and taking on a new behavior. These modernists had a belief that science would save the world. They believed in Darwinism, more particularly Darwin’s theory of evolution. These Modernists believed themselves to be the descendants of monkeys, rather than descendants of Adam and Eve. On the opposite side of the spectrum There were people from the rural south combating these Darwinist beliefs in fear that their nation was changing into an agnostic country rather than a predominantly protestant country. These old world conservatives fought to keep things the same. They passed laws that prohibited the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution in public schools and universities. (Tompkins 13-20) Tompkins also felt that both sides had very good lawyers, William Jennings Bryan, a famous politician known for his strong religious beliefs and his Cross of Gold Speech that he gave during the 1896 presidential election, joined the prosecution. Soon after that A. T. Stewart, Ben B. Mckenzie and William Jennings Bryan Jr. also joined the prosecution to defend their ideal America. The defense team had also built up an intimidating line-up of famous attorneys and politicians. They had John Neal, a law school dean from Knoxville Tennessee, Clarence Darrow, a seventy-year-old agnostic who was also one of the most famous criminal lawyers of his time, Arthur Garfield Hays, a free speech advocate, and Dudley Field Malone, a divorce attorney, to defend Scopes. (Tompkins 25-30)

Larson felt that the bible and evolution