Changes

The '''Scopes Trial''' of 1925 was engineered as a challenge to the Tennessee Butler Act that prohibited teaching in public school the theory that man had evolved.  The willing defendant, John Scopes, was convicted of violating the Butler act, though the conviction was later overturned on a technicality.  The Scopes trial was made infamous in 1955 with the play ''Inherit the Wind'', and the 1960 Hollywood motion picture with the same title, both of which completely lied about the facts and were promoted to harm [[Christianity]].<ref>"'Inherit the Wind' relentlessly distorts what happened in Dayton, Tenn., in 1925."[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/2/story_226_1.html]</ref><ref>As recently as April 17, 2007, the ''Village Voice'' endorsed a new Broadway rendition of ''Inherit the Wind'' as "a dramatization of the 1925 [Scopes] trial."[http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0716,feingold,76394,11.html]</ref>

The '''Scopes Trial''' of 1925 was engineered as a challenge to the [[Tennessee]] Butler Act that prohibited teaching in public school the theory that man had evolved.  The willing defendant, John Scopes, was convicted of violating the Butler act, though the conviction was later overturned on a technicality.  The Scopes trial was made infamous in 1955 with the play ''Inherit the Wind'', and the 1960 Hollywood motion picture with the same title, both of which completely lied about the facts and were promoted to harm [[Christianity]].<ref>"'Inherit the Wind' relentlessly distorts what happened in Dayton, Tenn., in 1925."[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/2/story_226_1.html]</ref><ref>As recently as April 17, 2007, the ''Village Voice'' endorsed a new Broadway rendition of ''Inherit the Wind'' as "a dramatization of the 1925 [Scopes] trial."[http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0716,feingold,76394,11.html]</ref>

== Publicity Motivation ==

== Publicity Motivation ==

The impetus for the Scopes trial began in a meeting among town leaders at a drugstore in Dayton, [[Tennessee]], in response to a newspaper advertisement placed by the American Civil Liberties Union ([[ACLU]]) offering to provide legal services to anyone willing to be prosecuted under the Butler Act.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}, {{hnb|Linder|2002}}.  See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref>  Town leaders agreed that a trial would provide publicity to the town,<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}</ref> whose population had dwindled to 1,800.<ref>{{hnb|Linder|2002}}</ref>  The town leaders found a willing defendant in John Scopes, a gym teacher and football coach who also substituted (sometimes as a biology teacher), though Scopes could not recall ever teaching evolution.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}.  See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref>  John Scopes told the town leaders, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

The impetus for the Scopes trial began in a meeting among town leaders at a drugstore in Dayton, Tennessee, in response to a newspaper advertisement placed by the American Civil Liberties Union ([[ACLU]]) offering to provide legal services to anyone willing to be prosecuted under the Butler Act.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}, {{hnb|Linder|2002}}.  See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref>  Town leaders agreed that a trial would provide publicity to the town,<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}</ref> whose population had dwindled to 1,800.<ref>{{hnb|Linder|2002}}</ref>  The town leaders found a willing defendant in John Scopes, a gym teacher and football coach who also substituted (sometimes as a biology teacher), though Scopes could not recall ever teaching evolution.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}.  See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref>  John Scopes told the town leaders, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

== Grand Jury ==

== Grand Jury ==