Darrow v. Bryan '05

What, indeed, is the matter with Kansas?

If ever it was thought that the evolution/creationism debate, at least in public forums, was settled 80 years ago by legendary heavyweights William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, then think again.

The stage is set once again, this time in Kansas, as a conservative state Board of Education gears up for four days of hearings beginning today.

The hearings will address state school science curriculum, as some are intent on diminishing or discrediting Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection, and implementing a science standard based on intelligent design.

Evolution proponents criticize the move, saying the concept of intelligent design is merely a mask sitting over the face of creationism.

Remember, as well, that in the original trial Scopes actually lost the legal proceedings, but did so defiantly:

Within eight minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty and the judge ordered Scopes to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. In his last words to the court, Scopes, the man who was reluctant from the start, said, "Your Honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future ... to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my idea of academic freedom."

The law fell against the favor of acedemic / non-religious freedom, which the jury was obligated to honor. The message was mixed and somewhat ambiguous: We must honor the code of law (and God has been thusfar codified and separated: "In God We Trust" on coins comes into ambiguous conflict with the separation of Church and State) while honoring the freedom of scientific acedemics in the public world. This strange non-committment is what's the matter with Kansas: a lack of definition has led to legal conflict which permeates the culture today. And thus, our cultural conflict is one of ambiguous definition.

But hey, it makes for great drama, eh? We can relive this every few years and sell a few more books. Plus TV movies, young adult novels, graphic novels, etc etc etc!