The Theory Of Evolution Within Tennessee Public Schools

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion concentrates on the Scopes trial, otherwise called the "Monkey Trial," which happened in Dayton, Tennessee in the mid year of 1925. The trial occurred in excess of a Tennessee law that banned the educating of human development out in the open schools. The American Civil Liberties Union needed to test the law, and a junior instructor named John Scopes, consented to help them. The alleged "trial of the century" united the well known government official and speaker, William Jennings Bryan, who headed the opposition to development campaign; and Clarence Darrow, who was viewed as the best criminal protection legal advisor of the time. The two men, plus their individual direction, clashed in the trail with the indictment in the end ready to maintain the law.

On March 21st, 1925 the governor of Tennessee signed the Butler Bill which banned the teaching of evolution in public schools. The bill was introduced as America was pushing for a return to fundamentalism due to the actions of many citizens. In an attempt to bring publicity to the town of Dayton, Tennessee people in the town asked John Thomas Scopes to cover evolution in his class so he can be indicted and bring the case to national attention. Scopes’ defense attorney was a man named Clarence Darrow; he was a very popular defense attorney and public speaker. Darrow delivered a powerful speech in which he tried to prove the Butler Bill unconstitutional due to the fact that it

The Scopes trial was a trial over a misdemeanor offense by substitute teacher John Scopes, but it ended up becoming an even huger trial between fundamentalist and modernist. Modernist and fundamentalist were fighting for control of America’s education system and the result of the trial would have a drastic effect on Tennessee’s education system. When the Butler Act was passed in 1925, the ACLU (American Citizens Liberties Union) sent a press discharge to a few Tennessee daily papers, publishing that they would give legitimate support, and so forth for a teacher in Tennessee who would be eager to stand trial for having taught Darwinism in a government funded school so an experiment could be mounted to test the established legitimacy of the Act. A gathering of citizens in the residential area of Dayton acknowledged ACLU 's offer, with the expectation that the exposure encompassing the trial would help to switch the town 's declining fortunes. The group

Starting with the Scopes Trial, many more cases have occurred concerning the teaching of evolution. “By 1928 every southern state except Virginia had debated or was considering legislation banning the teaching of evolution in the

Clarence Darrow builds a potent argument against the creation of the Butler Act and the state of Tennessee's choice to outlaw the theory of evolution in favor of the Bible’s interpretation of the creation of humans by providing the audience with a clear understanding of the negative connotations of these choices. He clearly states that the decision of the government is an impediment between traditional beliefs and progression. Darrow claims that the act is a “brazen….attempt to destroy learning as ever was made during the Middle Ages” (Transcript A, Paragraph 1). By connecting the act to a period of time often associated with a lack of knowledge, Darrow is able to portray the act as oppressive and convince the audience to fear for the damage

The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness

Ted goes into both sides of the argument, speaking from a scientist point of view and also from a christian point of view. He said "Some Christians claim that to believe in the theory of evolution is un-Christian. Correspondingly, some scientists believe that to be religious is to be unscientific." Ted believes neither of those statements are true, he thinks you can accept and believe in both. You can believe that it was gods plan to use evolution to create life. He says the supporters of intelligent design are having conflict over what should be taught in public schools in terms of science. Teaching Darwinism in public schools is the standard, but supporters of intelligent design think, in order to be a Christian you have to oppose Darwinism.

Across America people continue to debate about whether the theory of evolution should be taught in schools. In the year 1925, a trial was held in Tennessee in which a substitute teacher was being tried for teaching human evolution in a state funded school. The man, John Scopes, was found guilty and fined, but this brought about a question that has plagued the country for years. Should teachers in public schools teach about human evolution, and if so how does this interfere with the religious side of people’s beliefs? Although many people believe that it is beneficial for evolution to be taught in schools, it is not necessary at all.

A young boy sits by the window looking outside with inquisitive looks on his face. He notices that there are two birds on either side of his emerald front yard. One bird (Blue Jay) is very blue in color and expresses fidgety movement in its bearing. The second bird (Crow), however, has a dingy black look and contains a tiresome wail to its voice. The boy’s curiosity in overwhelming due to asking himself a simple, yet complicated, question: They are both birds, but have significant differences, why? This question can be addressed by the study of evolution. It is questions such as these, as to why evolution is needed in our public school system. This position is justified by looking at evolution as strictly a science and how taking

The debate regarding teaching the theory of evolution in today’s public schools has been raging for quite some time and the controversy never seems to go away. From the early controversies in the 1920’s all the way until today, evolution has been a hot topic. Evolution is a particularly sensitive subject in the southern regions of the United States; also known as the Bible Belt. The controversy regarding teaching evolution originated from a legal case in Dayton, Tennessee where a coach and substitute science teacher named John Scopes was charged and put on trial for using a textbook by George W. Hunter titled A Civic Biology (Bybee, 2001, p. 2). The Butler Law was a law prohibiting the teaching of human

Almost every child has to go to school at some point in his or her life. “The legal age is between six and fifteen years old. Whether it is home school, private school, public school, or any other way of being taught, it is a law that you have to attend school until you are sixteen.” (Queensland Para 1) That is, unless you can prove to the State Department of Education that you should not be in school. What is taught in school applies to almost all Americans and applied to almost all of Americans in their school career. That is whether they are still in school or they have been out of school for a very long time. Parents need to take action and show their kids in general that they can fight for

Perhaps the greatest challenge in the Christian academic community surrounds the question of evolution and its impact on students’ worldview. Trepidation concerning the topic of evolution and its implications may launch students into a pit of uncertainty and doubt. This outcome is certain if the topic at hand is presented in such a way that fails to encounter students’ questions in an academically enriching environment. Historically, the act of challenging notions of familiarity results in outcomes that can strengthen previous assumptions or reveal new possibilities in which the mind can unravel the natural world’s many mysteries in its function. Consequently, new discoveries and questions regarding the order of the natural world initiate

students help them understand the difference between scientific controversy and a social one. The teaching of evolution has been a controversial debate for many years. For example religion, many court cases on evolution, also the Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye.

In January of 1925, the State of Tennessee passed a law called The Butler Bill that "prohibited any teacher within the State of Tennessee to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man and that man descended from a lower order of animals.”1 Fundamentalism was the basis of The Butler Bill. Fundamentalism is the belief in the literal interpretation of religious texts. In June, a Tennessee high school substitute teacher named John Scopes was accused of teaching Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution to students. The theory of evolution was a hypothesis that species survived through "natural selection", meaning the adaption of species evolving to better themselves to a changing and threatening environment and that man evolved from apes. His theory that Scopes taught was completely against the Butler law. Even though Scopes’ teaching of evolution violated the Butler Law, he should have had the right to teach Darwin 's theory because religion should not have had any involvement with the education system.

Creationism has been a controversial topic in our school systems, and schools in some states are fighting to have it taught instead of evolution as a science. Creationism is the belief that all living organisms originated from a biblical process instead of evolution. There is no clear understanding of how the earth was really created, but by the use of science, their can be a better understanding of it, therefore creationism should not be taught as a science and should not be taught in school.