In class we talked about Darwin’s theory of evolution and his work, Origin of Species, which he wrote in the late 1850’s. Sixty-five years later, evolution was the topic of a court case that started in Dayton, Tennessee. It arose over the conflict of a teacher who had taught evolution in a school despite the fact that the law forbid doing so.
An excellent overview of the case is given by Douglas Linder, a professor of law at University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School. Of the case Dr. Linder said, “Opening statements pictured the trial as a titanic struggle between good and evil or truth and ignorance. Bryan claimed that ‘if evolution wins, Christianity goes.’ Darrow argued, ‘Scopes isn't on trial; civilization is on trial.’”
In 1960, a movie was made about this conflict, although not directly tied to the case or historically accurate. However, there is a clip in the movie that captures the magnitude of what this case was dealing with. Similar to what Dr. Linder said, it wasn’t only dealing with one teacher teaching evolution, but rather it was taking into account much bigger questions. Watch the following short clip as Spencer Tracy expounds upon the potential effects of this case.
Here is the text for part of his speech (in case you want to look at it again):
"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!"
Here is the text for part of his speech (in case you want to look at it again):
"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!"
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