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→The Trial
== The Trial ==
== The Trial ==
The trial in 1925 of [[John Scopes]] for teaching evolution in Tennessee was a defeat of [[Darwinism]]. The [[ACLU]] and [[liberal]] trial lawyer [[Clarence Darrow]] brought the Scopes case in the hopes of winning a public relations and legal victory, but in fact [[William Jennings Bryan]], the evangelical [[Christian]] who had been Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration, decisively beat them.
The trial in 1925 of [[John Scopes]] for teaching evolution in Tennessee was a defeat of [[Darwinism]]. The [[ACLU]] and [[liberal]] trial lawyer [[Clarence Darrow]] brought the Scopes case in the hopes of winning a public relations and legal victory, but in fact [[William Jennings Bryan]], the evangelical [[Christian]] who had been Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration, won a legal victory in the trial.
The [[ACLU]] challenged a Tennessee statute, the Butler Act, that imposed a fine for teaching in government [[school]]s that man descended from more primitive life forms. The statute did not prohibit teaching most aspects of [[evolution]]. The textbook at issue in the case taught eugenics, including that man supposedly descended from lower life forms and that some racial groups had evolved to more advanced levels than others.
The [[ACLU]] challenged a Tennessee statute, the Butler Act, that imposed a fine for teaching in government [[school]]s that man descended from more primitive life forms. The statute did not prohibit teaching most aspects of [[evolution]]. The textbook at issue in the case taught eugenics, including that man supposedly descended from lower life forms and that some racial groups had evolved to more advanced levels than others.
:Bryan--Not near you. (Laughter and applause).
:Bryan--Not near you. (Laughter and applause).
Darrow tried again and again to trap Bryan, but struck out each time. A later exchange ended, once again, with the audience laughing:
Darrow tried again and again to trap Bryan, and he sometimes succeeded. For example, Darrow grilled Bryan on the topic of Bryan's literal interpretation of the Bible. Notably, Darrow successfully embarrassed Bryan on the issue of how the sun stood still for Joshua in the Old Testament.
:Darrow--The Bible says Joshua commanded the sun to stand still for the purpose of lengthening the day, doesn't it, and you believe it?
:Bryan--I do.
:Darrow--Do you believe at that time the entire sun went around the earth?
:Bryan--No, I believe that the earth goes around the sun.
:Darrow--Do you believe that the men who wrote it thought that the day could be lengthened or that the sun could be stopped?
:Bryan--I don't know what they thought.
:Darrow--You don't know?
:Bryan--I think they wrote the fact without expressing their own thoughts.
:Darrow-- Now, Mr. Bryan, have you ever pondered what would have happened to the earth if it had stood still?
:Bryan--No.
:Darrow--You have not?
:Bryan-- No; the God I believe in could have taken care of that, Mr. Darrow.
:Darrow-- I see. Have you ever pondered what would naturally happen to the earth if it stood still suddenly?
:Bryan-- No.
:Darrow--Don't you know it would have been converted into molten mass of matter?
:Bryan--You testify to that when you get on the stand, I will give you a chance.
:Darrow--Don't you believe it?
:Bryan--I would want to hear expert testimony on that.
:Darrow--You have never investigated that subject?
:Bryan--I don't think I have ever had the question asked.
:Darrow--Or ever thought of it?
:Bryan--I have been too busy on thinks that I thought were of more importance than that.
A later exchange ended, once again, with the audience laughing:
:Darrow--I will read it to you from the Bible: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Do you think that is why the serpent is compelled to crawl upon its belly?
:Darrow--I will read it to you from the Bible: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Do you think that is why the serpent is compelled to crawl upon its belly?