This July marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes “Monkey” Trial — a pivotal moment in American history that reverberates far beyond the courtroom of Dayton, Tennessee. While often caricatured in popular memory as a clash between faith and science, the 1925 trial was far more than a debate over Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. It was — and remains — a flashpoint in the cultural and legal battle over the soul of the nation. And 100 years later, its legacy reminds us that truth matters, law shapes culture, and silence is surrender.
The trial of John T. Scopes, a high school teacher who knowingly violated Tennessee’s Butler Act by teaching evolution in public school, drew the national spotlight. On one side stood famed orator and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, defending biblical truth and the right of a state to set educational standards rooted in its values. On the other side stood Clarence Darrow, the celebrity attorney championing academic “freedom” and modernist skepticism.
Though Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, the verdict was later overturned on a technicality, leaving the constitutional questions unresolved. But the cultural and jurisprudential impacts were lasting. The Scopes Trial marked a defining moment when the elite class began openly mocking biblical Christianity and treating traditional values as backwards relics of a less “enlightened” time. The courtroom became a theater for the cultural revolution.
Today, many look back on the trial as a loss for creationists. However, from a biblical worldview, the real loss was not legal—it was cultural. The trial exposed the growing divide between a nation founded on biblical principles and a modernist elite bent on uprooting them. This was not merely about biology curricula. It was about who decides truth, who shapes young minds, and whether God has a rightful place in public life.
It’s no coincidence that a legal one accompanied this cultural shift. Over the following decades, court decisions increasingly banished God from the classroom and redefined liberty as license. What began in Dayton echoed in decisions like Engel v. Vitale (1962), removing prayer from schools, and Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), which struck down the teaching of creation science as unconstitutional. The courts became battlegrounds, not just for legal doctrine, but for moral foundations.
That’s why the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial is more than a historical marker. It’s a rallying cry. It’s a reminder that culture is never neutral — and neither is the law. The courtroom, the classroom, and the Capitol are all arenas where worldviews compete. The Scopes Trial reminds us what happens when the biblical worldview is relegated to the sidelines.
Don Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, understood this well. He didn’t see culture as something to be consumed passively, but something to be engaged, shaped, and — when necessary — fought for. His legacy, carried forward in projects like the documentary “Culture Warrior,” calls Christians to courage, clarity, and conviction. We are not meant to retreat from public life, but to contend for what is good, true, and beautiful.
As Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That transformation isn’t just personal — it’s cultural. It begins when believers refuse to compartmentalize their faith and instead bring a comprehensive biblical worldview to every sphere of influence: media, education, law, and government.
One hundred years after Scopes, the question remains: Will we speak truth in the public square, or cede ground to those who deny it even exists? Will we disciple the next generation with the confidence that God created them with purpose and design, or will we surrender that sacred duty to the voices of nihilism and relativism?
The anniversary of the Scopes Trial is not just a history lesson. It’s a wake-up call to become culture warriors — not with anger or arrogance, but with conviction, courage, and love. The battle is not over. The truth is still under assault. And the time to stand is now.
Let us remember Dayton — not just as a courtroom drama, but as a call to engage, to defend, and to proclaim the truth that “In the beginning, God created…”
And that truth still matters.
Walker Wildmon serves as Vice President of American Family Association (AFA). He has been quoted by CNN, Fox News and other major news outlets. Walker is Chief Executive Officer and on the Board of Directors for AFA Action, the 501(c)(4) governmental affairs affiliate of AFA. He graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in Political Science. He calls Tupelo, Mississippi, home and is beginning to raise a family there. Walker and his wife, Lexie, are happily married with five children.
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