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.
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.
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.