“At the present time there exist upon the earth five races… each very different from the other. The first is the Ethiopian or Negro type originating in Africa and finally . .. the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.” This brazen racist quote contradicted the biblical teaching of humanity originating from one set of parents, Adam and Eve. The anti-biblical quote came from the public school biology textbook at the center of a firestorm which resulted in a historic court case known as the Scopes or Monkey trial in Dayton TN 100 years ago in July.

Bashing the Bible further, the textbook also asserted, “Man must have been little better than one of the lower animals.” So the science textbook, Civic Biology, slyly snuck in an indoctrinating claim of man being made in the image of apes, not God.

The Butler Act in Tennessee prevented any public school from teaching a story which contradicted the biblical account of creation. The story of man evolving from ape-like origins violated the Butler Act.

Enter the ACLU. Its legal team ginned up a plot to make John Scopes into a biology teacher who violated the Butler Act in order to challenge its legality. Clarence Darrow, an ACLU lawyer, was hired to defend Scopes. William Jennings Bryan served as the attorney for the Butler Act.

In the course of the trial, Darrow managed to have Bryan take the witness stand. Darrow peppered Bryan with questions about the Bible, such as “Where did Cain get his wife?” and “Are the days recorded in the Genesis creation account literal?”

Bryan not up to the task looked lame in response, making Christianity appear weak; its advocates unconvincing, the Bible’s history untrustworthy and the faith indefensible. Answers from Darrow’s questions present in the Bible could have offered a reasonable response, as in Genesis 5: 4 for Cain’s wife and the linguistic way in which Genesis 1 -11 is written reveals literal history, not poetic myth.

Agreeing at first to take the witness stand as well, Darrow instead declared his client John Scopes guilty. The case was closed. Bryan won the case over the Butler Act, but lost to Darrow over the attack on Scripture. In the end, it wasn’t the Butler Act, but the Bible, on trial. Public opinion turned in Darrow’s favor. The salvos he fired cracked open a Grand Canyon.

Hollywood ran with it and the movie “Inherent the Wind” made Bryan look like a bumbling gasbag and Darrow into a sympathetic figure. Public schools incorporated it into their curriculum. Yet roughly 35% of Americans, mainly comprised of conservative Christians, believe the biblical record of creation, according to Gallop.

However, the only view permitted in public schools (as in NY) is essentially this: a cosmic big bang out of nowhere from nothing evolved into a highly organized, fine-tuned and complex universe. (It’s akin to a huge explosion going off in a factory producing the most sophisticated B-2 stealth bomber ever made.) Strictly prohibited in school is any claim of an Intelligent Designer, let alone the infinite eternal God of the Bible being the Creator of all things. 100 years later, it’s the Butler Act in reverse.

1925 casts a murky shadow longer than the removal of prayer in school and the public posting of the 10 Commandments. It’s evident in gender ideology denying biblical teaching and basic science as well as common sense and in the “legal” approval of falsifying marriage from the true definition God gave at the time of creation.

The Rev. Mel McGinnis is a Frewsburg resident.