The Scopes Trial ('Bad Faith' #20)
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One of the most famous trials in America took place in 1925 in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, – the Scopes 'Monkey' trial.
Local teacher John Scopes was brought to trial by a group of Bible-thumping fundamentalists, because he had taught the theory of Evolution to his high school class. In doing this, he had broken a Tennessee state law. In the trial that followed, Scopes was vindicated, and the Bible-thumpers were made to look stupid.
This is the legend that everyone knows. In 1960 it was turned into a blockbuster Hollywood movie called 'Inherit the Wind.' But it is not what really happened.
With Professor Edward J Larson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Summer for the Gods: the Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion,' and the Hugh & Hazel Darling Professor of Law at Pepperdine University, USA.
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