Righting America

A forum for scholarly conversation about Christianity, culture, and politics in the US
Scopes Trial | Righting America

Whitewashing History: Jerry Bergman’s Review of “Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation,” by Brenda Wineapple

by William Trollinger Burning of 80 ft. cross, KKK, August 9, 1925. Jerry Bergman’s campaign to invent an anti-racist William Jennings Bryan continues apace. This time, it involves a review of Brenda Wineapple’s best-selling book on the Scopes Trial.  It is...

Evolution and Society since Darwin: Teaching History and Drawing Lessons from the Past

by Kristin Johnson Kristin Johnson is a professor in the Science, Technology, Health and Society Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Her recent books include The Species Maker (an historical novel set in the era of the Scopes Trial),...

Distorting History in Behalf of a Creationist Myth: William Jennings Bryan and Racism

by William Trollinger People gathering at the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marian, Indiana, 1939. Image via NPR. Jerry Bergman is at it again. And it’s as bad as ever. A prolific writer for the Answers Research Journal and similar creationist outlets,...

Yet More Fabricated History: Herbert Wendt’s Search for Scopes

by Glenn Branch Glenn Branch is deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization that defends the integrity of American science education against ideological interference. He is the author of numerous articles on evolution...

From Creationism to QAnon: Answers in Genesis and the Culture Wars

by Susan Trollinger and William Trollinger We are pleased to announce that our article, “From Creationism to QAnon: Answers in Genesis and the Culture Wars,” has been published in the June issue of Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society. Below is an excerpt...

What the Scopes Trial Meant: Bryan, the Modernists, and Science

by Edward B. Davis Edward B. (“Ted”) Davis, Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Messiah University, writes about Christianity and science in the Scientific Revolution and modern America. His new book, Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in...