Monica, McCain, and the Monkey Trial
Date 3/16/2000 12:00 AM | Topic: NewsNo event in history is exactly the same as another, but people have a tendency to draw similarities between two events. As a result, Afghanistan was the Soviet Union's Vietnam, and McCarthyism was the 20th century's Salem Witch trials.
Here's a new one: the Monica Lewinsky Scandal is the end-of-the-century equivalent of the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Let's revisit 1925. John Scopes, a substitute teacher in Tennessee, illegally teaches Darwin's Theory of Evolution and breaks a state law that says only lessons based on the Bible can be used to teach human origins. In one of the first "Trials of the Century," the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) hires the legendary Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes while the former populist presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan prosecutes the case.
Scopes admits to teaching evolution, so the case is basically open and shut, but Darrow continues the case to attack the law. Eventually, Bryan takes the stand to defend his Biblical point of view against Darrow's unrelenting cross-examination. Darrow's questions paint Bryan's Biblical point of view as a series of ridiculous contradictions. Although Scopes loses and is fined $100, the American public sides against the religiously motivated anti-evolutionists. Bryan dies four days later.
The event also brought the so-called Third Great Awakening to an end. The early 20th century saw a surge in the number of Americans who regarded themselves as fundamentalist Christians. These Americans considered themselves born-again, read the Bible with a strict literal interpretation, and emphasized an approaching millennial event. When America rejected the decision in the Scopes trial, the fundamentalists retreated from the public eye.
Some contend the late twentieth century witnessed the Fourth Great Awakening and a revival of evangelical and fundamental Christianity, beginning symbolically with Roe v. Wade and the pro-life movement. The Moral Majority and Christian Coalition represented the revival politically. A few commentators are beginning to argue now, however, that evangelical Christians are starting to withdraw from politics again as they grow increasingly frustrated with a system that does not seem to respond to their agenda.
John McCain's condemnation of the Religious Right during his unsuccessful campaign may be a sign this is happening. For the first time in a long time, a legitimate Republican presidential candidate declared his disagreement with the Religious Right, something conventionally regarded as political suicide. McCain knew he didn't stand a chance in primaries that were not open to independent voters, so he took a chance by urging Republicans to "reclaim" the party from the Christian Right. He failed, but the fact that he tried means something is up.
If we are witnessing the withdrawal of the Religious Right from politics, the event that probably did it was the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Here a president committed a moral wrong, but instead of being punished for it, public opinion swung in his direction and the Republican Speaker of the House lost his job over it. As a result, Conservative Christians may be losing their faith in the American system and choose to retreat rom the public eye, just as fundamentalist Christians did following the Scopes Trial.
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Jason Stonerook
Chips Columnist
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