Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee present Bert Cates as an exceptionally courageous teacher in the book Inherit the Wind. Bert Cates is a high school teacher who is put on trial because he was teaching the theory of evolution. Bert Cates is indeed a very courageous teacher because he taught what he knew the children deserved to know even though it was against the law, the people whom he loved, the society and religion.
Firstly, in the town of Hillsboro teaching the theory of evolution to students was strictly against the law. Bert Cates was in opposition to this idea and, he believed that every student had the right to know about the Origin of species. Teaching the theory of evolution was against the law because it contradicted the teachings
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of the Bible, which stated that the world had been, created in seven days. However, Cates was unconcerned about what the law declared and taught the theory of evolution to his students. He was aware that what he was doing is against the law, but he wanted to do what was right and not what the law stated. For example, Cates says,” I opened it up and read my sophomore science class Chapter 17, Darwin's Origin of Species." Here Cates is stating that he taught the lesson because it was in the book, "All it says is that man wasn't just here" but another perspective that "living comes from a long miracle." Here Bert is trying to explain Rachel, the girl whom he loves that evolution is just a different manner of looking at how different species arose and not something wrong. While arguing with Cates Rachel says, "There's a law against it." and Cates answers "I know that." Cates and Rachel loved Each other, but, they have separated because of their different point of views. Cates was aware of the consequences of him choosing the right path. However, he knew what he did was right and did not give up. It takes someone impeccably brave to stand up for the righteous, even though the whole world thinks of him as a pariah. Secondly, since Cates taught evolution and broke a law, people considered him as an outcast. The people of Hillsboro envisioned that, because Cates taught evolution he had lost faith in the Bible. The Bible stated that the "World was created in Seven Days" whereas Cates thought "that living comes from a long miracle, it didn't just happen in seven days." The society did not support the idea of evolution because it was against their religion and God. Furthermore, if Cates was supporting evolution, he was going against the Bible and God himself. Cates was in a dilemma of choosing between what he believed was right and what the society supported. For example, the people agreed when Rachel's dad Revered Brown said, "Do we call hellfire on the man who had sinned against the world?" the crowd answered with roaring supportiveness "Yes!". In the race of following what he believed in Cates drifted away from the society and religion. Finally, choosing the right path is not an easy thing to do, it takes a tremendous amount of strength and courage to keep believing till the end. Thirdly, Cates was fighting against the right to think.
He wanted the students to have the knowledge and know different ideas about evolution. "All it says is that man wasn't just here" but another perspective that "living comes from a long miracle." Cates wanted to educate his students to know that life was not made in seven days but evolution happened, and it takes millions of years for life to evolve on earth. He also wanted the students to know Darwin's theory of evolution and not be on the dark side just believing that God just stuck man on the earth. Cates was very courageous, as he was trying to gain the right to think for his students. He realized that the students immensely believed in their religion and, did not really think about how the man was originated scientifically. These reasons highlight my beliefs that Bertram Cates is a courageous and man teacher, fighting the odds and gaining the Hillsboro town's right to think.
In conclusion, I would like to say that Bert Cates was a courageous teacher because he fought for the right to learn evolution. He emphasized that if you believe something is right, giving up is not the answer. Even if the people, society, and religion drift away from you stand like a pole between the whole sea fighting for what you know is
right.
Howard - a boy of the town who was in Cates' class and half- believes the theory of evolution.
Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron, “Teaching Theories: The Evolution-Creation Controversy,” The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 44, No. 7 (Oct…1982). This article, written by Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron sheds light on the controversy of evolution vs creationism in schools and the validity of each being called a scientific theory. The work was created to answer the questions, “Which of these theories is truly scientific and which is a religious belief? Which should be taught in schools?” The article concluded in favor of evolution as a valid scientific theory that should be taught rather than creationism, but also mentioned the worth of understanding the latter.
In the novel Monkey Girl: Evolution, Religion, and The battle for American’s Soul, Humes tells the story of how 11 furious parents in the Dover Area school district decided to sue the school board and the district, because of the new learning objective requirement saying that all of 9th grade biology classes had to be taught Intelligent Design (ID), which is basically a form of creationism as a scientific alternative to evolution. They also believed that it “violated their first amendment right to information and ideas in an academic setting” (Humes, 2007, p. 221). This was the first legal trial to the perception of Intelligent Design. This novel is a narrative that captures nearly everyone’s view point in the Dover Area school District on the issue of Intelligent Design replacing evolution. There were numerous groups and organizations involved the trial including; The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans Unites for Separation of Church and State, Pepper Hamilton LLP, and the National Center for Science Education. This Trial was so major that even that national government was involved. George W. Bush sent a conservative appointee (John Jones) to the bench, which was done because it was “the early handicapping in the trial suggested a
Put in place in 1925 with virtually no opposition in Tennessee’s Congress, breaking the law resulted in a misdemeanor offense with a fine of $100 to $500. The American Civil Liberties Union – a union that fought for every citizen’s constitutional rights – offered to defend anyone in court who was accused of teaching evolution. The bill was no shock to Tennesseans, “A fellow legislator estimated at the time that no fewer than 95 percent of all Tennesseans oppos... ... middle of paper ... ...pment” of humans. “Today in Dayton, they are selling more books on evolution than any other kind and the bookshops in Chattanooga and other cities of the state are hardly able to supply the demand for works on evolution.
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 all over to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet, below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning.
Primarily, Bert Cates, a 10th grade teacher, struggles to obtain his right to have an open-mind, and encourages others to do so. The defendant, simply tries to teach a lesson in his Hunter’s Civic Biology, but while doing so is hastily over charged by the bigots of Hillsboro, Tennessee. As he explains himself to a fellow school teacher: “I did it because...I had the book in my hand...and read to my sophomore science class chapter 17, Darwin’s Origin of Species...All it says is that man wasn’t stuck here like a geranium in a flower pot; that living things come from a long miracle, it didn’t just happen in seven days”. It seems odd, or even bizarre that this premise is so hard to accept in Hillsboro. All in all, Cates is merely opening another aspect to the beginning of time.
Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution, transforming the thinking of the entire world about the living things around us (Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)). After working on his theory for nearly 20 years, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. As soon as the book was released, the controversy began with each sides gaining followers until the climax on July 10, 1925. The idea that animals could “evolve” and change into new species, including humans, was one that challenged not only how people thought about the natural world, but challenged the story of the creation from the Bible itself. Even though Darwin himself never said that humans “evolved” from apes, everyone took it as a logical extension of his new theory. It went against the idea of argument for design that had unified theology and science for decades (Moran 5). This new threat to Christianity and the social culture of the time was one that would transform state laws on their educational curriculum.
The teacher John Scopes was only teaching evolution in a relation to science evolution. The Scopes trial was the first occurrence of a teacher teaching evolution in their classroom. “The John Thomas Scopes trial checked the influence of Fundamentalism in Public Education ( John.)” The trial started because John Scopes broke the Butler law. “In 1925, the Tennessee legislature passed the Butler law which forbade the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in any public school or university(The Monkey
John Thomas Scopes, a math teacher and football coach for Rhea County High School in Dayton, Tennessee, was pressured into taking the challenge by a friend, George Rappleyea, who saw the advertisement. With the school’s biology teacher out for the last two weeks of class, Scopes took over and began teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Soon after, he was arrested and charged with a violation of the Butler Act. Contrary to popular understanding, the worst punishment for this crime was a small fine.
The “Roaring Twenties” was a time period known for its innovation. Skirts got shorter, teens got bolder, and Prohibition was in full swing. These changes also gave way to a time period full of religious conflict. “In [religious] minds, Prohibition had always been about more than alcohol. It represented an effort to defend traditional American values against the growing influence of an urban, cosmopolitan culture” (Gillon 152). Charles Darwin had published his book, The Evolution of Species, in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871, detailing the evolution of man from ape-like creatures. When A Civic Biology, a biology textbook containing information on evolution, was published in 1914, teachers around the country began using it in their courses. By the twenties, these books had sparked all sorts of new ideas regarding the origin of man as well as opposition due to the creature from which he claimed we evolved and to the disagr...
Teaching of evolution has several issues. One of the main issue is that it is unfair to some students with a background of Christianity. Christians believe in Creationism, meaning God created the whole world or if not, most of the world. Darwin's theory of Evolution is complete contradictory of this. In the Bible, it is stated that God made humans in His image while Darwin's theory says that Humans evolved from monkeys. It is basically proving that God, does not exist, violating the first amendment, Freedom of Belief. The first amendment states "..respecting the establishment of religion..." When Christian students listen and are forced to learn the theory of Evolution, it is restricting them to worship without obstacles and is therefore, disrespecting the establishment of religion by defying the existence of God. "If Genesis were interpreted as symbolic, as a myth, fable or fantasy, then the entire role of Jesus would have to be reinterpreted."(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_school.htm)
On March 13, 1925 an act was passed by the state of Tennessee stating, “That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” This act written by Rep. John Washington Butler, calling for a ban of the teaching of evolution, was written after Butler read a speech by ex-Secretary of State and leader in the anti-evolution movement William Jennings Bryan titled “Is the Bible true?”.
In 1925, a teacher named John T Scopes was arrested for teaching the Theory of Evolution as this contradicted religion and their beliefs that God created the world.
Since the time that teaching evolution in public schools was banned as heresy and taboo for contradicting the Bible, most public school systems today take an opposite approach in which creationism is seldom ta...
In the uncertainty that the modern world is, there is one law that stays petrified in stone no matter what happens: “Things change with age.” No matter if it is in history, science, or even Pokémon, things change as time passes by and this process is called evolution. The theory formulated by Charles Darwin is the belief that all organisms have come from earliest creatures because of external factors (“NSTA…”). School boards everywhere have accepted the theory of Evolution as fact making it essential to be in the curriculums of science classrooms. However, over the years, controversy has arisen as the fact that is evolution is still only a theory with flaws and setbacks, efficiently making other theories (i.e. intelligent design) a viable alternate in the classroom. The law, on the other hand, had a different idea about these other theories with numerous bans them from schools, claiming them to be against the second amendment. Despite the bitter debate of rather or not it is valid and right for teaching (primarily alone) the theory of evolution lies as being the most reliable and accurate way to teach how the modern world came to be.