by Rachael Kohn<\/p>\n
H.L. Menken, America\u2019s most legendary journalist, covered the Scopes \u201cMonkey trial\u201d of 1925 with bluster, verve and flourish. In this watershed case of religious journalism, Menken\u2019s prose leapt off the page with not the least concern for unbiased reportage and with a broad wink to the peanut gallery. \u201cMorons,\u201d \u201cbuffoons\u201d and \u201chillbillies\u201d pepper his daily accounts from the courtroom, while \u201cpalpable imbecilities\u201d were frequently identified as the bugbear of a fair trial.<\/p>\n
Menken\u2019s unconcealed contempt for religion was what remained of a Methodist upbringing and an ardent interest in Nietzsche. His turn-of-the-century youth would have implanted great expectations of the modern world about to unfold. Religion seemed to be hopelessly out of step with it.<\/p>\n
To Menken, the trial of John Scopes, the schoolteacher who taught Darwinian evolution from the Tennessee state school textbook, in defiance of the newly passed Butler Act, seemed like a desperate attempt to halt progress.<\/p>\n
Today, many journalists would agree with Menken \u2013 even if they avoid such open displays of bias when covering religion stories \u2013 and would pride themselves on being \u201cbalanced.\u201d<\/p>\n