About this time 100 years ago, the famous Scopes “monkey trial” in Dayton, Tenn., had concluded. Teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution on July 21, 1925, and fined $100. Five days after the trial, William Jennings Bryan, the populist orator and fundamentalist Christian who assisted with the state’s case, died in his sleep.
The culmination of the case was a bit anti-climactic. There was an appeal, and in January of 1927, the Tennessee Supreme Court voided Scopes’ verdict on a technicality – the court ruled that Scopes’ fine should have been determined by the jury, not the judge who presided over the trial – even as it upheld the state’s anti-evolution law.
The Tennessee high court seemed to be happy to be shed of the legal tussle, asserting, “Nothing is to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case.”
It would be nice to say that 100 years later, we’ve put all this behind us and reached a consensus, and by some metrics, things are moving in that direction. A recent poll showed that fewer than 20% of Americans back the creationist view that humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. 33% of Americans said they believe humans have evolved over time due to natural selection with God playing no role. The largest number, 47%, back what could be called “theistic evolution” – the idea that humans evolved over time in a process that was guided by God.
But despite findings like these, the teaching of evolution remains contentious in some parts of the country, and various anti-evolution proposals continue to surface in state legislatures.
With the Supreme Court eroding church-state precedents, this is not a time to be complacent. As my friend Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, told me recently, “On the one hand, evolution education is increasing and improving overall, and the chance that a local teacher is espousing creationism in the classroom is dwindling. … On the other hand, in light of the upheaval in church-state jurisprudence, it is entirely possible that the foes of evolution education will redouble their efforts in the hopes of making up lost ground.”
Branch concluded, “Now more than ever, eternal vigilance on the part of the friends of evolution education is in order.”
That’s often the case with church-state issues. We have to fight them over and over, always alert to new tactics from Christian Nationalists who yearn to turn the state into an enforcer of their theology.
The events in Dayton, Tenn., that steamy summer 100 years ago were the beginning, not the end, of a long “culture war” over science education in America’s public schools. Christian Nationalists aren’t quite done trying to monkey with the First Amendment just yet.
Our opponents’ tactics, you could say, keep evolving. Remain diligent.
Photo: Teacher John T. Scopes (second from left) during the trial. Hulton Archives/Getty Images.
