Scopes Trial Analysis

Since the Scopes Trials came to a close, the Supreme Court enforced the teaching no of evolution in all public schools across the US in 1987. The interesting part was that most people believe that the Supreme Court had banned the teachings of creationism, but the decision stated that creation is no more than how life began (“Teaching Creation,” 2010). The case that made the decision, Edwards vs. Aguillard, actually allow public schools to teach either creation or evolution, as long as the teacher does not mention God in the picture. This fact can depict one’s belief in God and how humans came to the form that humanity is in today. The belief of creationism is correct, rather than evolution, because the belief proves the existence of God.

Historical/Background

Information on Creation vs. Evolution
One of the most well-known Supreme Court trials in American history, the Scopes Trials in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana had changed how the Millennials and those of Generation-Z are taught of how humans came in the form that humans are in today.

The trial began on July 21, 1925 when John Thomas Scopes challenged Tennessee for teaching creation, and how it is not scientific enough (“A Debate,” 2005). This shows that Scopes wanted to change the teachings of science, which doubt the existence of God. In 1981, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) had filed against the state of Arkansas for teaching creation years after the Scopes Trials had ended (“Victory Arkansas,” 1982). The statement shows that people still had firm faith that was shown by teaching the true way that all living things were formed through creation despite whether it was illegal or not. One of the most intriguing cases in American history, Edwards vs. Aguillard, when “the Act” was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (“Edwards vs. Aguillard,” 2005). As though many would say this is true, it also doubts the existence of God by trying to execute the creation law that all states had followed before Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution. The Scopes Trials played a huge part in the American society, which only made a wrong turn away from God by changing how elementary and secondary schools teach that humans were not created at the form that humans are seen

today.
One major impacts of the creation-to-evolution turnaround was when the ACLU had filed a lawsuit against the state of Arkansas for teaching creation (“Victory Arkansas,” 1982).

Just the year prior to the lawsuit, the state of Arkansas had passed a two-model reaction-evolution bill that demanded equal time for “creation science every time that evolution was taught” (“Victory Arkansas,” 1982). Arkansas had some faith in the general schools as it was shown in the bill that creation was suppose to be taught whenever evolution was taught, hence having Christian beliefs. Christianity believes that God had created the universe in six days with every creature according to its kind, which was being taught in the U.S. before Scopes had taught evolution and tried legalizing the teaching of it. The equal-time law in Arkansas was just the beginning of what America would allow that would affect how others view God. When the lawsuit had happened, back in 1982, became a major turning point in the history of the constant battle between creation and evolution, as both agree to disagree, but yet one has to be correct. The trial was the spark that had caused the ‘culture war’ that would split Americans in half because of the argument of how all living things came to

being.
When Charles Darwin had came up with the theory of evolution, almost everyone did not believe in his theory because it violated Christianity. Several decades later, John Scopes had tried Tennessee for not teaching evolution, which sparked the ‘culture war’. The reason why it is called that is because it changed the thinking of those who believe in one thing, which contradicts Christianity, which ruled the South at the time. The 1920s was where Christianity was thriving, until Scopes had sparked the never-ending civil war of religion. The evolution revolution had “Fundamentalists think this theory is against the biblical account of how God created humans and that teaching evolution undermine religious faith.” (“Cultural Clashes, 2010). Now that one can see how this sparked a religious battle in America, this history of the ‘culture war’ has, in reality, never ended. One must be correct, win, and conquer the other; the one that is correct is the belief that strong Christians hold dearly: creation.