Monkey murdered: Devolution at work?

Patas Monkey (by Alex Roberts)

The 1925 so-called "Scopes Monkey Trial" hinged upon whether Darwin's theory of evolution should be legally taught in the state-funded Tennessee school system.

According to Wikipedia, this case was seen as not only a "theological contest" (between "modernists" who believed
that "evolution was consistent with religion" and diehard                     "fundamentalists" who believed that "the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge") – but also as a more general contest of science vs. religion.  Clarence Darrow, an agnostic and a "famed defense attorney," argued on behalf of teaching evolution in the schools.  Devout Christian and trust-busting Democrat William Jennings Bryan railed against this, sputtering retorts such as this one (concerning the alleged origin of humans):  "Not even from American monkeys, but from old world monkeys…"

Imagine what Bryan might have said after reading a recent Associated Press headline titled "Monkey dies from blow to head after zoo break-in."  This article goes on to explain that somebody (human) broke into Zoo Boise in Idaho and viciously killed a Patas monkey via "blunt force trauma to the head and neck."

Might Bryan have then apologized for his insulting remarks regarding human evolution from monkeys - and might he have even concluded that humans devolved instead?

Only God (and/or Darwin) knows for sure…

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devolution_(biology)

http://news.yahoo.com/monkey-dies-blow-head-zoo-break-000540291.html

Copyright November 21, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved