Religion Versus Science in The Scopes Monkey Trial :: American America History

Religion Versus Science in The Scopes Monkey Trial   Ã‚  Ã‚   The stage was set in Dayton, Tennessee.   The leading actor in this show was a twenty five-year-old science teacher named John T. Scopes. Scopes was under the direction of advancing America.   The playbill read The Scopes â€Å"Monkey† Trial.   In 1925 John T. Scopes was encouraged to challenge the Butler Law.   This law had been passed by a small town in Dayton, Tennessee to prohibit teaching contra to those in the Bible. Teaching from an evolutionary text, Scopes broke the law and gained the attention of the National media.   The concentration of the media on the Scopes Trial effectively presented the contrasting ideas of a religious town and an evolving country.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The town in Dayton, Tennessee was both religious and stable.   People in this town were seen holding signs marked with the command to â€Å"Read Your Bible† (Ginger 93). The inhabitants here had adopted the teachings of the Bible in order to feel secure within a time of change.   â€Å"In rural areas, particularly in the South and Midwest, Americans turned to their faith for comfort and stability† (Scopes 12).   The town would hold on to what they knew.   People in Dayton had no desire to travel forward with the roaring twenties.   William Jennings Bryan was the leading defender of the Butler Law as well as heading the prosecution. Bryan was determined to defend as literally true every word of the Bible.   In the deepest sense, he had to defend it; he needed reassurance and certainty, and since childhood had learned to rely on the Bible as the source of reassurance and certainty.   (Ginger 41).   Bryan would be the leader to a people who held on to religion and the past.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In contrast to this small town were the advancing views of America.   The twenties continued to roar towards modernism.   â€Å"Breakthroughs in technology, the increase in material wealth, and the beginning of an empire seemingly heralded the upward march of civilization, with America on the forefront† (Dumenil 6).   In all directions, it was clear that America was moving forward.   Transportation was a prime example of this advancement.   Innovator Henry Ford introduced his â€Å" Ford Miracle† to the public (Dumenil 6).   Economies and the social values also began to advance.   â€Å"Dubious get-rich-quick schemes and fads†¦contributed to a tone of feverish frivolity† (Dumenil 7).   People began to lead fast paced lives with the desire to become rich, quickly.