Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

“‘Evolution is not truth; it is merely a hypothesis—it is millions of guesses strung together.’”

This was a central belief for William Jennings Bryan and part of the closing argument he prepared. Bryan believed in the general concept of evolution. However, he did not believe that it should be taught as truth, particularly Darwin’s mechanism of evolution through survival of the fittest.

“‘Bigotry seeks to make opinions and beliefs mandatory.’”

While this press quote is describing Bryan, this was a common view regarding fundamentalism and the beliefs of the antievolution crusaders, as it sought to impose the Christian version of creation upon public school students. This could also be ascribed to majoritarianism, which held that the decisions of the majority could be imposed on a population at large.

“‘Humanity will not allow this, but we do have the remedy of separating the sexes into asylums or other places and in various ways preventing intermarriage and the possibility of perpetuating such a low and degenerate race.’”

From Hunter’s Civic Biology textbook, this quote describes legislation based on the quasi-science of eugenics. It was first proposed by Francis Galton as a method to accelerate the evolution of favorable traits in humans. Bryan denounced these policies and pointed to eugenics as an example of the savagery of evolution and natural selection.

“‘Is it not more rational to believe in the creation of man by separate act of God than to believe in evolution without a particle of evidence?’”

This was Bryan’s theoretical question regarding evolution. Henry Osborn cited the fossil discovery of the Piltdown man and the fossil record as such evidence. Antievolutionists found these fossils to be circumstantial at best.

“‘Men who would not cross the street to save a soul have traveled across the world in search of skeletons.’”

Bryan ridiculed paleontologists for the new fossil discoveries and their attempts to link mankind to humanoids and apes through what he described as “circumstantial resemblances.” He viewed the teachings of Darwin to be morally dangerous.

“‘The Darwinian theory represents man as reaching his present perfection by the operation of the law of hate—the merciless law by which the strong crowd out and kill off the weak.’”

Bryan’s chief complaint against Darwin’s theory of evolution was the concept of the survival of the fittest. It meant that the Darwinian God was cruel, and that God had no hand in guiding and shaping the life of mankind. It also served as cruel justification for social policies such as eugenics, capitalism, and imperialism.

“‘The hand that writes the paycheck rules the school.’”

The belief held by Bryan and the antievolutionists was that as public school teachers are paid by taxpayer funds, the taxpayers (that is to say, the parents) should be able to determine what their children are learning. Fundamentalists believed that it should not fall to public school educators to determine what children should be taught. Fundamentalists believe that evolution should not be taught in public schools at all. However, Bryan believed that if it was taught, it should not be taught as a proven fact.

“‘Democracy degenerates into mobocracy unless the rights of minorities are respected.’”

This statement comes from Norman Thomas, cofounder of the National Civil Liberties Bureau, precursor to the ACLU. The ACLU saw civil liberties as a constitutional right granted by the First Amendment. It was firmly against majoritarianism, arguing that democratic government did not necessarily mean liberty.

“He regarded Christianity as a ‘slave religion,’ encouraging acquiescence in injustice, a willingness to make do with the mediocre, and complacency in the face of the intolerable.”

This quote describes Darrow’s view on Christianity, and organized religion as a whole. Darrow was an atheist and saw the Scopes trial as a means of discrediting traditional Christian beliefs.

“‘It is not a fight for evolution or against evolution, but a fight against obscurity.’”

Dayton was the setting for the Scopes trial, and many outside of Dayton saw this as a ploy for publicity for the town. Many within Tennessee felt that it did not reflect well on the rest of the state, including the congressman quoted here.

“‘The real issue is not what can be taught in public schools, but who shall control the education system.’”

Bryan believed in the rule of the democratic majority. The Butler Act had passed through the House and the Senate, which represented the wishes of the people of Tennessee. Bryan believed that this meant that the legislature had every right to make the determination that evolution could not be taught in public schools across the state. This formed the basis of his argument during the Scopes trial.

“‘The notion that a majority must have its way, whether in matters of opinion or in matters of personal conduct, is as pestilent and anti-democratic a notion as can possibly be conceived.’”

Columbia University president Nicholas Murray Butler spoke these words during a commencement speech following the indictment of John Scopes. Scientists and educators believed that majoritarian rule violated the civil liberties, particularly to academic freedom. They denounced the antievolutionists and came out in force to support Scopes and the ACLU after Scopes’s indictment.

“‘He who understands the Bible in accordance with actual facts has no difficulty in realizing the truth of its testimony that God is in the processes which have produced and sustain mankind.’”

Shailer Mathews was a modernist from the University of Chicago’s divinity school. He believed that scripture, though informed by science, was still divine, and that evolution was divine creation. Mathews believed that human religious understanding advanced over time. His interpretation of the Genesis account of creation was that it actually symbolized an evolutionary process. Mathews testified for the defense during the Scopes trial.

“‘To science and not to the Bible must man look for the answers to the questions as to the process of man’s creation […] to the Bible and not science must men look for the answer to the causes of man’s intelligence, his moral and spiritual being.’”

This was another modernist argument made by a theology expert on behalf of the defense. This argument, combined with the other defense theology experts, showed the myriad ways that Christians were able to reconcile and harmonize their faith with modern science.

“‘However we want both legal and moral victory if possible.’”

The prosecution realized in strategizing that if they kept the case narrow in scope, they would be able to win a legal victory handily. However, if they hoped to win a moral victory, they would need to wait for the defense to introduce scientific expert witnesses to testify to evolutionary theory. Bryan was unable to find scientific experts to testify on behalf of the prosecution and thus had to limit the argument to the right of the people to control public school coursework through the legislature.

“I find no difficulty in holding with devotion to Christianity and also to evolution. Theology is concerned with the aspiration of men and their faith in a future life. Science is concerned with the process of nature.”

In this quote, we see defense counsel Malone explaining that his personal beliefs regarding evolution and Christianity do not conflict, as they operate in different spheres of knowledge. This was the case for many Christians, who did not feel such a divergence between science and religion.

“‘It is an effort on the part of the legislature to control the expenditure of state funds, which it has the right to do.’”

This was the prosecution’s primary argument. The people voted for the legislature to represent their wishes, and as such, the legislature answers to the constituents. Thus, they have a right to control the educational agenda of public schools. The prosecution maintained that individual freedom was not at stake. As Scopes was an employee of the state, he had to abide by state law. He could not teach what he pleased.

“‘It makes the Bible the yard stick to measure every man’s intellect, to measure every man’s intelligence and to measure every man’s learning.’”

Darrow accuses Bryan of inflicting his fundamentalist beliefs about creationism on the state of Tennessee. According to Darrow, before the Butler Act was passed, Tennessee taught some form of evolution without conflict. After the fundamentalists got involved, teaching evolution was criminalized. In truth, the law was not actually enforced until the ACLU organized the test case with Scopes as the nominal defendant.

“‘So I sat speechless, a ringside observer at my own trial, until the end of the circus.’”

Scopes did not testify for the entirety of his criminal trial, until it came time for sentencing. Darrow stated to the court that Scopes had done what was he was accused of. However, the defense intended to prove that he did not and could not violate an unconstitutional law. This quote shows the trial from the point of view of the defendant, the person after which the trial was named.

“‘Evolution and the theory of evolution are fundamentally different.’”

This was testimony from the first scientific witness for the defense, a zoologist named Maynard M. Metcalf. He clarified that the concept of evolution was fact. What was unknown were the various theories of the mechanisms of evolution. This was one of the nuances that fundamentalists completely dismissed, but that Bryan himself did distinguish prior to the Scopes trial. However, in Tennessee, teachers were not allowed to teach evolution and the various theories of evolution.

“‘This is a court of law, it is not a court of instruction for the mass of humanity at large.’”

This was a prosecutorial attempt to limit the expert witness testimony that the defense had prepared. The prosecutors had decided that they would narrow the scope of the case to prevent the defense from trying evolution. Prior to the defense’s presentation, the prosecution was simply accusing Scopes of committing a crime that was considered a misdemeanor: teaching educational content that he was prohibited from teaching as an employee of the state.

“‘I am simply trying to protect the word of God against the greatest atheist or agnostic in the United States.’”

This was Bryan’s response to being cross-examined by Darrow. In a shock maneuver, Darrow called Bryan, who was counsel for the prosecution, as the defense’s final expert on the Bible. Bryan was cross-examined for two hours by Darrow, refusing to get off the stand despite the best attempts of his co-counsel.

“‘I am examining your fool ideas that no intelligent Christian on earth believes.’”

This was Darrow’s objection to Bryan’s assertion that he was slurring the Bible. Judge Raulston finally ended the heated exchange between Bryan and Darrow and struck Bryan’s testimony from the records, citing its irrelevance to the case. Darrow had accomplished what he sought to do when he first offered his services to the defense.

“‘Evolution overestimates the influence of the mind on life and underestimates the influence of the heart.’”

This quote was part of Bryan’s defense to his cross-examination. He felt that Darrow took advantage of his lack of scientific knowledge. To Bryan, Darrow’s cruel and disdainful behavior in court was an example of what a life without God looked like.