A hundred years ago this month, the nation was glued to their radios and newspapers about a divisive concept trial in small town Dayton, Tennessee.

No TVs or social media then.

Four months before, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill that banned the teaching of evolution in all educational institutes in the state. Science teacher and football coach John Scopes was arrested in May of 1925 for teaching Darwinism, and the relatively new American Civil Liberties Union came to his defense.

It was the first time a trial in its entirety was broadcast on radio throughout the country. Nationally renowned defense attorney Clarence Darrow signed on with the ACLU and the prosecution brought William Jennings Bryan, a three times nominated presidential candidate, former secretary of state and famous fundamentalist Christian. It became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial.

It was held in the middle of a July heat wave and the trail was moved outside where it attracted 100 newspapers and 1000 people. The conservative Christian judge did not allow scientific testimony since the legislature had declared the Bible, a religious document, the standard of truth in a public institution. Darrow, who was not allowed to use evolution experts, convinced the judge and Bryan that the best prosecution expert for the Bible was Bryan himself. Bryan took the bait and publicly humiliated himself on the stand during Darrow’s questioning of his literal interpretation of the Bible.

The jury’s verdict only took nine minutes finding Scopes guilty of breaking the law and fining him $100. He moved to another state so he could teach science freely and eventually his verdict was overturned.

However, the repercussions of the trial were far reaching for Scopes and the public.

A New York Times editorial pointed out the case “gave scientific men a better opportunity than they have ever had before to bring their teaching home to millions.” From 1925 on, the Tennessee law was never again enforced and over the next two years laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution were defeated in 22 states. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a religion or endorsing or favoring one religion over another. And yet this continues to be challenged even now.

The push to make us a declared Christian nation is happening again and any attempt to fight this thinking is looked at as an example of a divisive concept, not unlike D.E.I. concepts, and is therefore deemed not to be taught in public schools. Today the ACLU again is in the fight against this type of thinking and deserves our support in effort and money for all its work not only on this issue but on many others issues in defending our civil liberties and Constitution.

The trial was clearly a showcase of the inherent conflict of science vs. religion.

500 years ago, Tyco Brahe, Kepler, Copernicus and Galileo fought the same battle against the Christian church in proving that the earth was not flat nor the center of the universe. It seems we Americans these days particularly want simple definite answers to complex indefinite problems and are willing to reject the scientific method of inquiry. The majority leaders in our state and federal governments are pushing us in in that direction with an attack on our teachers and public schools.

Sometimes I think we are leaving the age of enlightenment and entering the dark ages full of conspiracy theories.

The 1955 play Inherit the Wind, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee, is about the Scopes Trial and was made into a movie in 1960 again in 1999. The older version with Spenser Tracy and Frederick March is my favorite. It’s not a long play or movie, and I highly recommend reading or viewing it.

The title comes from the Wisdom of Solomon in the book of Proverbs 11:29 stating, “He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind: or the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” Although this is quoted in the play by William Jennings Bryan on the stand defending the Bible, warning Clarence Darrow that he will inherit the wind for is evolutionally thinking, it is Bryan himself who becomes the fool to the wise of heart.

I strongly recommend reading or seeing the play or seeing the movie, especially on a hot summer day. You may fell that history is repeating itself.

Nick Perencevich is a semi-retired physician living in Concord.