Guilty as charged. Yes, John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching Evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, on July 21, 1925. He was fined $100 and costs. It was quite a trial and a pretty good movie too. (Inherit the Wind, with Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly)
But, there was Scopes, teaching evolution, the science of that which has evolved. Namely us, or so the postulate goes.
Evolution. It is an idea with a lot of supporting evidence. And that theory explains why animals and plants are so good at surviving in their environments.
But what it really maps out is this: A species changes over time and can even split into two new species. Hello, you beautiful humans.
The theory of Evolution was developed by Charles Darwin back in 1859. He rode around the world, a lot, on a boat called The Beagle. Anyway, when he got off the boat, he said that Evolution worked through natural selection. Natural selection means that some individuals in a species are better at surviving than others and will have more children. My parents had seven, just for the record.
For instance. Let’s consider rabbits. They live all over the place, eating their carrots and such. And those rabbits have dark fur, like a nice shade of brown or gray. But in a place where it snows a lot, white fur would be an advantage. White rabbits would be harder to see in all that snow. They’d be more likely to survive and have children. So, an evolution of white-furry rabbits takes place. Those babies rabbits will inherit their parents’ white fur. Eventually, all the rabbits living in the cold place will have white fur. Presto. Change-o.
And then comes ‘survival of the fittest’ because animals that are best able to survive also fit better in their environments. We won’t talk about the likes of me in Preble County just yet, but I’m pretty sure Darwin would have put me in the other group.
Anyway. Evolution also explains how one species can become two, like with the rabbits. This is called Speciation. Back to the rabbits. After a long, long while, the white rabbits fit better where it snows. Dark rabbits where it snows less. After a time, those different rabbits will become different species.
Some animals are more closely related than others. Take alligators and crocodiles. They seem pretty much alike at a goo glance. But don’t look too closely, if you know what I mean. Then, a step away would be something like a frog. Similar skin, and less of a snout, little reptilian legs. Then a bigger step away would be humans, with our two eyes, two ears, mouth, two arms, two legs. We share similarities with the crocodiles, but not as many as the frog shares with them. Evolution says we are all related, coming from the same source billions of years ago. But you can see how things start branching out to adapt to different environments.
Of course, there’s so much more.
Here’s the important thing. Evolution means we share a common history with every animal in this world. Even the ones that have gone extinct. It suggests that we are a part of nature. Not above it.
Mostly, Evolution reminds us that we should respect those connections with nature and better protect them from our destructive ways.
The other theory, of course, is the Bible. That is really why Scopes was shot down in his case for Evolution. In the Bible, we all come from Adam and Eve. An apple was involved, and a snake. But that was it.
Now, I am no Bible scholar, but everyone should really flip forward to Noah and his wife, whose name I can’t tell you because it changes in all sorts of different books and versions. Regardless, I think they were two of eight people on the boat when the horrible rain came, wiping out everything on the face of the Earth. But, all people are from those eight. Good sailors, I might add. And, thankfully, they had a big boat for the 8.7 million species that are in the natural world. Times two.
Guilty, as charged.
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I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
― Galileo Galilei
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“The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!’ ‘Yes, and the strongest, in the existence of any social species, are those who are most social. In human terms, most ethical…There is no strength to be gained from hurting one another. Only weakness.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin
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“Folks, it’s time to evolve. That’s why we’re troubled. You know why our institutions are failing us, the church, the state, everything’s failing? It’s because, um – they’re no longer relevant. We’re supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You do know that, right?”
― Bill Hicks
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Scoping out Evolution vs. the Boat of all Humanity
