34 pages • 1-hour read
Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion
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Themes
Creation and Religion Versus Evolution and Science
Evolution was a theory that had existed for some time prior to the Scopes trial. However, the rise in popularity of Darwinian concepts, combined with an accumulation of fossil discoveries in the beginning of the 20th century, mean that school textbooks became more Darwinian to reflect the prevailing scientific opinion. Mandatory school attendance laws and the increased number of public high schools meant that more American children than ever were being exposed to the concept of human evolution. Fundamentalists objected to the teaching of Darwinian evolution to their children, as the doctrine of the survival of the fittest left no room for a Creator.
This objection led to the Butler Act, an antievolution statute in Tennessee that made it a misdemeanor to teach any form of human evolution in public school education. This law was challenged during the Scopes trial of 1925. It should be noted that while William Jennings Bryan championed antievolution legislation, he believed in the general concept of evolution. However, he did not believe that evolution should be taught as proven fact. For the media at the time and many historians, the Scopes trial came to represent the debate between religion and science.
Fundamentalism Versus Modernism
The early 20th century saw the rise of the fundamentalist movement that would continue to this day. It began as “a response to theological developments within the Protestant church” (37) rather than a political or education program. Fundamentalists called for a return to biblical basics, whereas modernists did not believe in biblical literalism. Modernists accepted that Judeo-Christian teachings were not always historically and scientifically factual or accurate but were true in a spiritual sense. They “viewed their creed as a means to save Christianity from irrelevancy in the face of recent developments” (34).
The Scopes trial pitted fundamentalists against modernists, agnostics, and atheists; fundamentalists did not believe that evolution should be taught in any form in public education. William Jennings Bryan came to represent fundamentalists in the antievolution crusade.
Majoritarianism Versus Individual Rights and Liberties
William Jennings Bryan viewed the antievolution crusade as partially about the rights of the majority. For most of his career, Bryan believed that “no concession can be made to the minority of this country without a surrender of the fundamental principle of popular rule” (45). Since the Butler Bill was passed in the Tennessee Congress and signed into law by Governor Peay, Bryan held that this was the will of the people. He argued that since taxpayers fund public schools, public school teachers should be teaching what parents want their children to be learning. As such, the state legislature could determine the course of study in public schools.
The ACLU, on the other hand, argued that the antievolution legislation violated the individual rights of the teachers and students to religious freedom and Scopes’s right to free speech. This violation made the statute unconstitutional and formed the basis of the ACLU’s argument in court—that Scopes had not violated the law, because the law was unconstitutional.
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