Four score and six years ago, our forefathers brought forth unto Dayton, Tennessee a landmark court trial, which will live in infamy for the rest of recorded history. As the roaring twenties dominated the landscape in cities across America and flappers and speakeasies became the new icons of civilization, the conservative bastion of Dayton continued to embrace the Bible as its icon of choice. The ACLU issued an advertisement seeking someone who would challenge the prohibition against teaching of evolution in public schools. Some enterprising citizens of Dayton calculated that the town’s economy could be bolstered by participating in such a controversial three ring circus. Never in their wildest imagination did they envision that their little publicity stunt would continue to bring money into the coffers of Dayton eighty-six years later.
The debate over creation versus evolution involves a mystery. How did Homo Sapiens arrive on planet Earth? The Bible Clues indicate God did in the garden with a shovel. Charles Darwin maintained that natural selection did it over the eons using non-directed mutations. Neither side can provide definitive proof, generating a perpetual debate. Ironically, the perception of the events of 1925 in Dayton is even fuzzy. The play and movie depicting the Monkey trial muddied the water for those deciphering truth from fiction and propaganda. I hope the Dayton reenactment is closer to reality than the movie.
I had never set foot in the South until last summer. As a history major, I’m aware that Tennessee was a border state and the Civil War was especially uncivil in such a locale. I can’t imagine that emotions ran much higher during that unfortunate period of American history than they did during the Scopes trial. Outsiders such as H.L Mencken infiltrated and joined ranks with progressive locals who were mortified that the outside world cast aspersions on the intellectual level of Tennesseans. Christians were equally as horrified that their home turf was being invaded by infidels trying to prove that they were a monkey’s nephew. The trial must have been more fun than a barrel of monkeys for those who like drama and non violent conflict.
Personally, I knew very little about the ACLU’s puppet show in Dayton. I knew even less about evolution, growing up in a time and place which rivaled Dayton in naïveté and innocence. That all changed five years ago when my life was altered like a river whose course is changed by a flood. I know some of you will roll your eyes or worse, but here’s my story. I woke up at exactly 2:00 AM with the distinct sensation that I had heard a voice saying "Write a book about evolution." I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning I remembered that surreal moment and for some reason decided to pray. “Lord, did you ask me to write a book about evolution last night?" A still small voice in my head said, "And when you're done with that, I want you to go after Harry Potter and the sexual revolution." I was not a writer at the time, but who was I to argue with God. My first book All the Voices of the Wind was born. It didn’t dawn on me until later the significance of the title. Some creative atheists had brought Inherit the Wind to the silver screen. I guess God decided it was time someone heard all the voices of the wind and not just the propaganda based voice that gives new meaning to the term “political science”.
Today I get a chance to visit Dayton and partake of the ambiance of the newest Scopes Trial celebration. A reenactment of the trial highlights the festival. People will relive history as it is dramatically portrayed on the stage. I’ll make my small contribution to history as I sign books at the courthouse where William Jennings Bryant made a stand for God’s truth just two years before Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs and four years before the stock market collapsed, sending economic shockwaves throughout the world. If I make my book into a movie, I think Dayton would be an appropriate place to shoot it.
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