Inherit the Wind

Today marks another anniversary of the "Scopes Monkey Trial," a 1925 legal case that tested a law that forbid the teaching of man's evolution from a lower order of animals, as well as any other attempt to contradict the creationist story found in the Bible.

The case received a lot of publicity, as two of the most famous legal minds of the time fought against each other, one on the prosecution side and the other on the defense. The teacher prosecuted for teaching evolution, John T. Scopes, was found guilty and fined $100.

Eventually, in 1968, the Supreme Court ruled that such bans are unconstitutional, since they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, due to their obvious religious purpose.

In any case, the famous case was made infamous by its fictionalized account in the play Inherit the Wind, which was eventually made into the movie you can watch below.

And if you are interested in the evolution of creationism, make sure you watch this great NOVA documentary that focuses in the 2005 Dover case against so-called Intelligent Design.
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