<<This is an incredible misrepresentation of history. According to Jim, not
only do we have an uncertain future, but also we have an uncertain past. The
ACLU did not file suit against Tennesse, but Tennessee filed suit against
Scopes and Scopes lost.>>
Glenn, Glenn, Glenn. It is your representation of history that is incredible.
There would have been no Scopes trial without the ACLU butting in. Roger
Baldwin, the founder, wanted someone to test the law. A publicity hound in
Tennessee, one George Rappelyea, caught wind of this and decided "that Dayton
could possibly become the focal point of a little sideshow. So, in the
cultural center of town, Robinson's Drug Store, Rappelyea spotted the likable
John Scopes as a biology teacher who had all the possibilities for his test
case." [Aymar and Sagarin, A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Trials,
(Crown, 1967, pg. 248)]
<<It was the Christians
who lobbied the district attorney to sue Scopes for teaching evolution after
he stated that he had.>>
Wrong again. Rappelyea and the ACLU engineered the publicity, and Scopes
VOLUNTARILY allowed himself to be arrested. Scopes, of course, WON on appeal,
funded by guess who? Interestingly, he won on a technicality--the judge set
the fine rather than the jury. Four Judges handed down decisions on the
matter, however. Three found the law constitutional.
<<In other words, if Christians had been a little more tolerant, the whole
thing might not have blown up in their face.>>
Again wrong. It was the ever "tolerant" Mr. Mencken who handled the world wide
publicity. No one would even have heard of Dayton if it hadn't been for him.
His wonderfully fair portrayal of the "anthropoid rabble" was swallowed whole,
and is a caricature trotted out to this day whenever the issue arises.
Jim