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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Volokh, Eugene
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 1:11 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: A note about the Atheist Legal Center, or at least its founder
Since people on this list specialize in the law of government
and religion, they might be interested in the activities of the Atheist
Legal Center, and might even be inclined to work together with them on
some matters. (I would have been one such, on certain subjects.)
Given this, I thought I'd pass along an item I posted about the
Atheist Legal Center's former president and Alabama Attorney General
candidate Larry Darby -- who, by coincidence, has also participated on
this list. Mr. Darby has stepped down as the head of the Center in
order to run for AG, so perhaps his replacement does not share the views
I describe below. On the other hand, his having been involved in the
group, and the Center's having hosted David Irving while Mr. Darby was
president, makes me concerned about the group more broadly.
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_12_11-2005_12_17.shtml#113441423
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Leading Atheist Legal Activist and Candidate for Alabama Attorney
General
Has Some Rather Interesting Views About Jews, Zionism, and the
Holocaust: Larry Darby is apparently a pretty prominent atheist legal
activist. He was the president of the Atheist Legal Center (though he
has since stepped down to run for public office); filed amicus briefs in
the Supreme Court's Ten Commandments cases on behalf of various atheist
groups and also on behalf of Scouting for All; ran the Alabama chapter
of American Atheists; got the Atheist of the Year award from American
Atheists; has been quoted in various newspapers, mostly in Alabama but
also elsewhere; and has appeared on various television programs in
connection with his opposition to Judge Roy Moore's actions related to
the Ten Commandments. Darby is now running in the June 2006 Democratic
primary for Alabama Attorney General - I suspect that he has little
chance of winning, but I take it that he'll want to use the race as a
platform for expressing his various views, which include juvenile law
reform and decriminalization of marijuana.
Mr. Darby also (1) apparently wrote that "David Duke is right on with
the problem of Zionism and the Zionist-Occupied Government we live
under," (2) seems quite interested in whether media representatives who
contact him about such matters are Jewish, and (3) was substantially
involved in organizing a speech by noted Holocaust denier David Irving.
I first heard about this when an acquaintance of mine e-mailed me an
exchange that included Mr. Darby's "Zionist-Occupied Government" quote.
I then e-mailed Mr. Darby to verify the quote. (I had and still have no
reason to question my correspondent's veracity, but I thought that
checking would be a good idea.) The closest Mr. Darby came to denying
the accuracy of the quote is when he eventually said - after an exchange
of several e-mails - "Know that what you sent to me as represented by
[my correspondent] is not authentic," which seemed to me like a somewhat
coy way of addressing whether Mr. Darby indeed said the
"Zionist-Occupied Government" item.
I then followed up by asking "My question was simply whether you did or
did not e-mail the text I asked you about. Did you or didn't you?" He
didn't respond to that question, but instead insisted that I tell him
whether I was a Zionist and a Trotskyite. Mr. Darby's e-mails to me also
included the following, which further leads me to think that my
correspondent indeed accurately quoted the "Zionist-Occupied Government"
line:
[F]or the record, Dr. David Duke does offer insight into the
neoconservative or Trotskyist government in Washington, DC. Some of what
he has been saying for years is bearing out in the news today. Have you
ever read anything of Duke's your self? I'm sure he'd talk to you. Write
him at www.davidduke.com and find out for yourself. And read what he
really says for yourself, without relying on what Jewish Supremacists
say about him.
Have you been keeping up with all the Zionists (Jews and
Jewish-Christians) being arrested by the FBI? I know it hasn't made
mainstream media, but it is happening and expectations are that when
Kidan turns evidence against Uber-Zionist Abramoff, some other members
of Congress might be indicted. Those are only two of several people
arrested.
If you aren't keeping up with those issues, then likely you won't be
able to understand that Dr. Duke knows what he's talking about when it
comes to Jewish Supremacism and Zionism. . . .
Earlier in the exchange, Mr. Darby had also asked me whether I was a
"MOT," which he later elaborated to "MOT refers to Member of Tribe. In
other words, are you a Jew?" A quick Internet search revealed to me Mr.
Darby's invitation of Larry Irving.
* * *
It seems to me very important that irreligious people participate in
public debate, to defend the legitimacy of their views, and to protect
themselves against religious discrimination and hostility. I don't agree
with everything that all atheist activists urge; for instance, I don't
think that the Establishment Clause is properly interpreted as banning
religious speech by the government. Nonetheless, there are indeed some
egregious forms of discrimination against the irreligious (or the less
religious), for instance in child custody cases - these should be
assiduously fought.
Moreover, there seems to be a great deal of hostility to atheists among
the public: A July 7, 2005 Roper Center poll, for instance, asked people
about their views of various religious and political grounds, and
whether "your overall opinion of [the group] is very favorable, mostly
favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable?" For Catholics, the
total unfavorable percentage was 14%; for Jews, 7%; for "Evangelical
Christians," 19%; for "Muslim Americans," 25%; for "Atheists, that is,
people who don't believe in God," it was 50%, including 28% "very
unfavorable" (only 35% said they had either a "very favorable" or
"mostly favorable" view of atheists). Such religious hostility, it seems
to me, should also be fought (though of course through argument rather
than litigation). Anti-atheist bias is no more justifiable than
anti-Jewish bias.
I therefore have nothing at all against atheist political movements in
general, nor do I have any reason to believe that atheists generally
have any hostility towards Jews, or affection for David Duke. Yet this
makes it all the more important, it seems to me, for atheists who are
deciding whom to ally themselves with - or for that matter, for members
of other groups, such as Scouting for All or any marijuana
decriminalization groups - to know Mr. Darby's views that I describe
above, views with which I hope most atheists much disagree. Likewise,
Alabama Democrats should know who's running in their primary, and should
keep in mind the views I note above, even if some of them are tempted to
agree with him on marijuana decriminalization, juvenile justice, or even
religion in public life. (I doubt there are that many Alabama Democrats
who do agree with him on those latter issues, but I imagine there are
some.)
And it's also important for Jews - even in America, the place in the
world in which it is probably safest to be a Jew - to be reminded that
these sorts of views do exist in America, and in what might to many seem
like quite unlikely circles.
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To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
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Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private.
Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can
read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the
messages to others.
