A note about the Atheist Legal Center, or at least its founder

[Ed Brayton]

Volokh, Eugene wrote:

>	
>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.)
>  
>
I think it's also important to note here that Darby's views are in fact 
extremely rare in atheist circles. Anti-Semitism in particular has far 
deeper roots and a very long and distinguished history in Christianity, 
from some of the early church fathers through, most obviously, Martin 
Luther, whose views on Jews are virtually indistinguishable from those 
of Adolf Hitler. I would dare say that David Duke has far more followers 
(by many orders of magnitude) who call themselves Christian than who 
call themselves atheists. Still, it should also be obvious that 
anti-Semitism has today been relegated to a small minority within 
Christianity as well, and we're all better off for that. However, I 
agree with you that atheists should be made aware of his views so they 
can disassociate themselves from them as completely as possible. Darby 
is to atheism what Fred Phelps is to Christianity - way out on the 
lunatic fringe.

Ed Brayton