Life, 1925-06-18 · page 24 of 43
Life — June 18, 1925 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the **Scopes Trial era (1925-1926)** clash between religious fundamentalism and scientific modernism in America. The timeline mockingly presents human intellectual progress—from Hammurabi's Code through Darwin and Edison—before culminating in a brutal joke: Tennessee's 1925 evolution-teaching ban, followed by a fictional 1926 prediction that the "Twentieth Amendment prohibits thought" and forces citizens to elect William Jennings Bryan president, join the Ku Klux Klan, and relocate to Florida. The cartoon below depicts a tree crowded with figures engaged in heated debate, labeled with various intellectual positions. The caption—where two characters claim superiority to "fundamentalists and modernists"—satirizes how both sides of the evolution debate claimed intellectual high ground while the public brawled below. **The message**: Life mocks anti-evolution legislation as fundamentally anti-intellectual, portraying it as regression from centuries of human progress.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
0 “> ein 2 x Why © LIFE: = A Brief History of Thought 23 5 B. C.—Hammurabi’s Code formed, thus giving to Babylonian State its first re- corded constitution. 1200 B. C—Moses, having led Isra- elites from Egyptian bondage, receives Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. 500 B. C.—Buddha resolves Oriental philosophy into religion bearing his name. 450 B. C—Democracy born in Athens; dies there. 4B. C.—Jesus of Nazareth born. 631 A Islam. D.—Mahomet organizes 1500 A. D.—Italian Renaissance marks end of Dark Ages. 1530 A. D.—Luther spreads Refor- mation through Europe, consum- mating efforts of Roger Bacon, Wyclif, Huss, et al. Vloor 1600 A. D.—Shakespeare plays. writes 1609 A. D.—King James version of Bible prepared. 1789 A. D.—Constitution of United States ratified. 1800 A. D.—Golden age of science dawns, producing Fulton, Dar- win, Huxley, Pasteur, Lister, Bell, Edison, Thoreau, et al. 1925 A, D.—State of Tennessce en- forces law prohibiting teaching of evolution. 1926 A. D.—Twentieth Amendment to Constitution of United States prohibits thought; enforcement act compels citizens to clect William Jennings Bryan Presi- dent, subscribe to doctrines of Methodist Church, join Ku Klux Klan and move to Florida in a body. RL ELS. faret Cot a ciated qm ~ “pon’T GET MIXED UP WITH THOSE FUNDAMENTALISTS AND MODERNISTS, OSWALD, WE'RE ABOVE suCcH THINGS!” comicbooks.com