# Anti-evolutionary disbelief (“I’m not descended from monkeys.”) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716 "2014-04-22T20:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/41 "2014-04-23T19:51:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > All involved agreed to have a trial for their mutual benefit even though their benefits were different from each other. Certainly, it was an arranged case. But, I can’t accept the description as “little more than a publicity stunt”. The benefits the parties sought involved _more_ than just publicity. The defense was sincere in wanting to challenge the interpretation and constitutionality of the antievolution law. Bryan was sincere in wanting the law upheld–not to persecute Scopes, of course (he offered to pay Scopes’s fine) but to discourage other teachers from teaching evolution. The local prosecutors, it’s true, were driven mostly by civic boosterism and would never have brought the case of their own accord. But once involved they all said also that they supported the law and wanted it upheld. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/42 "2014-04-23T20:08:14Z")
“Descended from monkeys? Let’s hope it’s not true. Or, if it is, let’s hope that it doesn’t become widely known!” ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/43 "2014-04-23T20:11:04Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Other than involving evolution the trial bore little resemblance to _Inherit the Wind_, which is a very fictionalized work of fiction. Good thing, since [**Bertram T. Cates**](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0948685/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t4) later married a witch. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/44 "2014-04-23T20:38:39Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Certainly, it was an arranged case. But, I can’t accept the description as “little more than a publicity stunt”. > > The benefits the parties sought involved _more_ than just publicity. The defense was sincere in wanting to challenge the interpretation and constitutionality of the antievolution law. Bryan was sincere in wanting the law upheld–not to persecute Scopes, of course (he offered to pay Scopes’s fine) but to discourage other teachers from teaching evolution. The local prosecutors, it’s true, were driven mostly by civic boosterism and would never have brought the case of their own accord. But once involved they all said also that they supported the law and wanted it upheld. Fair enough. I think we are on the same page. My disillusionment came from finding out it was all set up in advance and not a noble pursuit of justice for Scopes like in the movie. But you are correct, it was a publicity stunt but not _only_ a stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/45 "2014-04-23T20:59:53Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > There’s also an idea in many branches of Abrahamic religions that Adam and Eve were the most perfect humans and each subsequent generation is more corrupt and farther from their god’s ideal. That’s why, they’ll point out, the earliest people mentioned in the bible lived thousands of years and we only live to be a fraction of that. To them it actually seems like a logical argument to say “If monkeys were our ancestors we’d be less intelligent than them and live shorter lives. Instead we’re more intelligent and longer lived so we can’t be descended from them. Even a scientist can understand that.” It’s not just the Abrahamic religions - virtually every civilization in history used to believe in some mythological past “golden age”, when people were wiser, more heroic and longer-lived. In fact, there’s a theory that the reason the world has changed so much in the past 300 years or so is that for the first time, some people started believing that the future \*could \*be better than the past. ---
**Author:** ![BrianJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@BrianJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianJ)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/46 "2014-04-25T18:59:52Z")
“If evolution is true, why didn’t we evolve wings?” Oh I don’t know, have you ever seen a bird use a wrench? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/47 "2014-04-25T20:53:37Z")
Based on genealogy research done by an uncle, I’m almost certainly descended from some criminal types on my Mom’s side. So, the monkeys definitely wouldn’t be my most embarrassing ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716/48 "2014-04-25T22:40:28Z")
Some great writing by Mencken here. [http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/menk.htm](http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/menk.htm) Try the July 11 section as a taster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-evolutionary-disbelief-i-m-not-descended-from-monkeys/686716.md?page=2)