Are the Christians in this portrayed accurately?
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Edward_de_Vere — 11 years ago(April 07, 2014 09:14 AM)
I'm not religious and find Creationism laughable as "science," but I think that this film went overboard in portraying Christians as fundamentalist bigots. The scenes where the people of the town were throwing things at Cates (Scopes) and burning him in effigy were over-the-top (if funny). In reality, there was no hatred on the part of the townspeople of Dayton towards Scopes or even towards Darrow.
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Edward_de_Vere — 11 years ago(April 09, 2014 10:20 AM)
In the reality, Scopes had assigned the chapter on evolution from the textbook while substituting but had never lectured on it. So technically he was guilty of "teaching" evolution, but basically he was recruited to A. have his name on Darrow's cause to challenge the Butler Act in court and B. to generate attention, publicity, and revenue by the town of Dayton. Far from hating Scopes, the town council and most townspeople saw him and the trial as a cash cow for them!
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Zanza8 — 11 years ago(April 12, 2014 07:23 AM)
As a Christian, I would say yes, the Christians were portrayed accurately. Some of the Christians were foaming-at-the-mouth fundamentalists. Some of them, like Bert and Rachel, were Christians who didn't take the Bible literally but tried to follow the teachings of Jesus. Some of them, like the young men in Bert's class, were Christians who were willing to go against their elders when they saw their elders were in the wrong. Matthew Brady was a Christian who could see when things were going too far, like when the reverend wanted to curse his daughter. So yeah, I'd say the Christians were portrayed accurately-across a spectrum, like most people.
http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/ -
scott-269-715736 — 10 years ago(July 02, 2015 11:02 AM)
I believe the rural fundamentalists were portrayed accurately for the time and location. Even the meeting in the field seems to be based on an actual gathering during the trial - the movie being a mix of facts, fiction and entertainment. If it was meant to appeal only to the evolutionist view Drummond should have been an atheist, not a man willing to consider both sides of the argument - he and Hornbeck could have celebrated together while making fun of the slain messiah of the mid-west.
The law this movie is based on was passed by the legislature in the belief the Governor would veto it. As I recall the Governor passed it with some vague claim he assumed it would never be enforced (not sure we should believe that.)
I suppose it's fair to say Scopes was a fraud but he was an arranged fraud. The town saw a chance for publicity, so they wanted to host the test case and that's what it was, which is why Scopes agreed and why the people of town could be friendly to the prosecution and the defense. The town was racing the clock since some city or town was likely to offer a test case if they waited too long.
Apparently they didn't expect so many people to travel in from nearby locations and those people weren't in on the reason for the trial, so they took more offense at the defense team and the circus atmosphere in the town. It was their faith being challenged, not a recently passed law. They relied on Bryon to dominate the trial and destroy the defense arguments but then he compromised on a few of the answers.
The verdict went to the prosecution but the law was exposed for what it was - not repealed for years it was no longer strictly enforced. Also important is the verdict was overturned since the judge imposed the fine of $100. The Butler Act required the $100 but the state constitution set a judge's authority to $50. -
Navaros — 10 years ago(July 31, 2015 11:27 PM)
Are the Christians in this portrayed accurately?
Of course not. darwinist scumbags like the "heroes" of this film could never defeat God, the Bible, or godly people.
"Science creates fictions to explain facts" - Gilman -
Roquefort — 10 years ago(November 21, 2015 02:23 PM)
Anybody interested in the history of the real trial should watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvz7vyGsQv0