“Inherit the Wind” was on TV this morning and I semi-listened to it because Ed was channel surfing (switching back and forth between this movie and several Westerns) but kept going back to it. It’s a brilliant semi-fictional recreation of the famed “Monkey Trial” of the 1920s. Here is a brief synopsis I Googled in case some of you don’t know the history:

SYNOPSIS: “Inherit The Wind” is a classic American drama based on the Scopes “Monkey” Trial of 1925, pitting the teachings of Darwinist evolution against Fundamentalist Christianity. The town of Hillsboro, Tennessee, is the site of this monumental legal clash between Matthew Harrison Brady (in real life, William Jennings Bryan, played by Fredric March), a leading Christian scholar and former Presidential candidate, and opponent for the defense Henry Drummond (Clarence Darrow, played by Spencer Tracy), a defender of free thought and the leading legal mind of his day. The whole town watches along with the world as this precedent-setting social battle plays out. ***

The judge was sympathetic to the religious interpretation of life and the verdict for the young teacher on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in his classroom was guilty. He was fined $100. Bryan was so fatigued by the stress of this trial (during which he was thoroughly trounced by Clarence Darrow) that he died a few months afterwards.

I mention all this as background because, much to my dismay, the evolution vs. creationism debate continues to this day with many devout believers insisting that there is no reality to evolution, that only the religious explanation suffices. These ill-informed people who can vote, are sadly gullible and pathetic, and I expect that their next mission will be to resurrect The Flat Earth Society.

When I moved to New York, incidentally, I re-registered to vote in my new home and was given a literacy test. I don’t think this is done any more and I wonder why not? Also, I think that anyone running for ANY political office, including dog catcher, should need to take not only a literacy test but a HISTORY test and the higher the office, the more comprehensive this test must be. Need I suggest that many aspirants to office would not score highly on such a test?

xx, Teal