A Poem for the 100th Anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial, by Warren Bonham

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Hairless Apes

On the 100th Anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial

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In nineteen hundred twenty-five,
as Darwinists began to thrive,
they wisely chose to hang their hopes
upon a teacher named John Scopes
who’d contravened the Butler Act
by teaching children, it was fact
that humans, not so long before,
had been mere apes, and nothing more.

When Scopes was charged, his plight soon drew
support from the ACLU
which paid for him to mount a case
they hoped would serve to bring disgrace
upon creationist accounts.
Although they lost, they can announce
that as they battled case by case,
they put God in his rightful place.

We’re now taught we just live, then die,
but if thought through, we must ask why
we should control our inner beast.
That wouldn’t matter in the least
to hairless apes whose thumbs oppose,
since apes should do what they suppose
will bring about what they think’s right,
if needed, through deceit or might.

Those with just ape-like DNA
to guide their footsteps every day,
have urges they must satisfy,
and no act they can’t justify,
since what is virtuous and true
is just based on their point of view,
and not a perfect paradigm
from He who started space and time.

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Poet’s Note: What is now popularly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial concluded on July 21st, 100 years ago. John Scopes was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee. He was accused of violating the Butler Act, which prohibited teaching the theory of evolution in public schools in that state. The American Civil Liberties Union agreed to fund the defense of Mr. Scopes so they could mount a challenge to the constitutionality of the law. Although that effort failed, this was the first of many battles that ultimately led to teaching Darwin’s evolutionary theory as a proven fact for how new species were created.

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Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.