ever accuse Alabama American Atheist Director Larry Darby or retired Merchant Marine-turned-artist Bill Teague of doing anything in a small way.

   The two men have a plan to include a seven-foot sculpture of an atomic whirl in the state Judicial Building rotunda, right next to a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments ordered placed there last August 1 by Chief Justice Roy Moore. The decalogue display has prompted a public debate over the separation of church and state in Alabama. Darby says that Moore's monument is unconstitutional and should be removed; but in the meantime, he proposes to have different groups, including American Atheists, display their symbols and other items as a test of the "free speech" zone which Moore has created.

   Judge Moore remains unrepentant, though. He cites his authority as the "leaseholder" of the Judicial Building in the stealth placement of the Commandments monument. The move also fulfills a campaign pledge Moore made while running for the state's highest judicial post -- that he would carry his long-standing war on behalf of placement of the Commandments in public places, to the capital in Montgomery.

   While a judge in Etowah County, Moore attracted national coverage and support for displaying a hand-cared Commandments tablet above his courtroom dais. Even when ordered to remove the presentation, or "secularize" it by including other symbols or documents, Moore refused and emerged as a hero for many religious right, anti-separationist groups.

   Moore's decision to place the enormous Commandments monument in the rotunda of the state's court building has been attacked as "smug," "brazen" and unconstitutional. He makes no secret of the religious motivation for locating the display on government property. He told reporters in August:

"The monument serves to remind the appellate courts and judges of the circuit and district courts of this state and members of the bar who appear before them as well as the people of Alabama who visit the Alabama Judicial Building of the truth stated in the preamble of the Alabama Constitution that in order to establish justice we must invoke 'the favor and guidance of Almighty God.' "

   That is all too much for Larry Darby, an attorney who says that Moore is violating Section 3 of the State Constitution which warns against establishing any religion by law, and the First Amendment. Immediately after the Commandments display appeared, Darby asked Moore to remove the religious symbol. He is still mulling a lawsuit. Meanwhile, black legislators led by Rep. Alvin Holmes attempted to place a plaque honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King in the rotunda area, but were turned back by a phalanx of security policy.

   Darby then contacted Moore, asking for "equal access" to the Judicial Building, and requested permission to erect a representation of the atomic whirl, which he said showed "the importance of the use of scientific analysis in the creation of a better life for mankind." The symbol has also served as the organizational logo for American Atheists, signifying materialism, the scientific method, and the quest for knowledge. In a tersely worded statement sent to Mr. Darby in late September, Moore rejected the proposal saying that the symbol was not "in conformity with the purpose or theme of the foundation of American law and government..."

   Sculptor Bill Teague started construction of the display in late August, and today told Associated Press that he is displeased with both Moore's religious monument and the decision to reject the Atheist alternative. "I don't appreciate him turning that courthouse into a museum or cathedral," Teague said. "It's a courthouse." A lifelong Atheist, Teague said that constructing his sculpture has been "therapeutic."

   The Black legislators, who originally had the support of many Atheists and separationists in their effort to have a display honoring Dr. King, have now apparently turned their back on Mr. Darby. Rep. Holmes continues to spar with Judge Moore, but told AP that he has no sympathy for Atheists and their cause. "I'm against anything atheists represent because I believe in God," he declared.

   Judge Moore recently included a bronze plaque in the rotunda display, which quotes from the Bill of Rights. Mr. Darby says that he still wishes to see something that "commemorates the secular nature of our government and law," and adds that Bill Teague's art is just what's needed as an expression of diversity, separation, and free speech in the state's leading judicial building.

   Darby added that while Moore is off the mark on the issue of separation of church and state, "He has caused atheists to come out of the closet."

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