Narrator: So what was it like growing up in 2009?
Well, even in the year 2009 the age old debate of creationism vs. Darwin's theory of evolution wages on.
Narrator: Creationism in its simplest form is the belief that the universe was created by a deity of some sort.
"They're looking for something that's more perfect than what they already have. Why do you want to take that away from them when it's all they have?" -Brady
Narrator: The most common reference to this was the belief that god created the earth in seven days and put man upon its surface.
"We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing!" -Brady
Narrator: To defend their idea of creationism a debate exists with conservative Christianity over the length of each "day". Since some of the time intervals in the bible are unclear with time intervals proven by science they question whether the word "day" means an interval of 24 hours, or an era that is indeterminable.
"Now, if what you say actually happened -- if Joshua stopped the sun in the sky -- the earth stopped spinning on its axis, continents toppled over one another, mountains flew into space, and the earth, shriveled to a cinder, crashed into the sun. Now, how come they missed that little tidbit of news?"- Henry Drummond
Narrator: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution has been debated against creationism since it was brought to attention long ago in 1859.
"Suppose God whispered into a Bertram Cate's ear that an un-Brady thought could still be holy? Must men go to jail because they find themselves at odds with a self-appointed prophet?" - Henry Drummond
Narrator: So why is evolution looked down upon even in such a modern society?
Well, Evolution is a theory based on the ides that man evolved from apes.
"Do you hear that, friends? Old World monkeys! According to Bertram Cates, we don't even descend from good American monkeys!" -Brady
Narrator: Evolving is change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation.
"Darwin took us forward to a hilltop from where we could look back and see the way from which we came, but for this insight, and for this knowledge, we must abandon our faith in the pleasant poetry of Genesis." - Henry Drummond
Narrator: So how did we evolve anyways? People evolved by means of unpredictable and natural process of that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments, mutation, and genetic drift.
"Then why did God plague us with the capacity to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one thing that sets above the other animals? What other merit have we? The elephant is larger, the horse stronger and swifter, the butterfly more beautiful, the mosquito more prolific, even the sponge is more durable. Or does a sponge think? "- Henry Drummond
Narrator: Many conservative catholics since 1859 up to the present day did not want to accept the theory of evolution because it disproved the theory of creationism, their first and foremost belief.
Brady: "But your client is wrong. He is deluded. He has lost his way. "
Henry Drummond: "It's a shame we don't all possess your positive knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, Mr. Brady."
Narrator: Up until 1960 many public schools were restricted from teaching Darwin's theory of evolution because they were fearful of arousing conflict because they though diffrently than society.
"There's only one man in the whole town who thinks, and he's in jail."-Hornbeck
Narrator: one of the first well known trials arguing against teaching education in public schools began in the small country town of Hillsboro, Tennessee
"Madam, I had a nice clean place to stay... and I left it, to come here." -Hornbeck
Narrator: John Scopes, a science teacher, was being held on trial for illegally teaching the theory of evolution at Hillsboro public school.
"Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other." - Henry Drummond
Narrator: William Jennings Bryan a three time presidential canidate and strong supporter of anti- evolution was representing the prosecution. The majority of Hillsboro citizens are conservative Christians and reprehend the teaching of evolution because it contradicts their belief in creationism.
"I didn't come here to make this town different. I came here to defend this man's right to be different. "- Henry Drummond
Narrator: So just how popular was this trial? Nearly a thousand people jammed themselves into the Rhea County Courthouse for the first day of the trial on July 10, 1925.
Colonel Drummond, what reasons can you possibly have?
Drummond: [Indicates the crowd] Well, there are two hundred of them.
And if that's not enough there's one more. I think my client has already been found guilty.
Narrator: In a town full of conservative Christians is scopes cause a lost one from the start? Ten out of the twelve jury members in the case were regular church goers
Narrator: Inherit the wind is a classic story of the confrontation between people who thrived on tradition and the rebel generation who were creating a new path for themselves, no longer distrait with the approval of society.
