Judges: tear down that cross for WW1 vets
I was reading a newspaper this morning when an item caught my eye that gave me a bad start to my day. This article said that (as I write this blog article) the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a case involving a cross erected in the California desert by World War I veterans to honor their fallen comrades.
According to a Youtube site, “After WWI many U.S. soldiers moved to the Californian desert to find physical and emotional healing. In 1934, they erected a memorial to honor their fallen comrades, a single white cross, — a symbol used around the world to memorialize those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“The site for the memorial was chosen because at a certain time of day, the sun casts a shadow on the rock which resembles a WWI doughboy. For more than 75 years, the memorial has stood as a reminder that there were those who fought and died for our freedoms. But sadly today, the ACLU and a federal judge in California, want to tear it down. In fact, the judge has ordered the memorial covered from view while the case is on appeal.”
I have written on this blog before about a relatively new “strain” of militant atheism. People certainly have every right to declare themselves atheists. But these militant atheists give me the impression they don’t want ANYONE ELSE to have belief in and faith in God.
The “Founding Fathers” of this nation did not want to restrict religious freedom in any way. The wanted religious freedom for all, not freedom FROM religion for all. But, over the decades this has been subverted by those who say that this nation was founded on a premise that religion should be severely limited in its public expression in America.
Tell me, how is a little white cross out in the desert “offending” anyone’s religious or irreligious sensibilities? To a Christian, the cross represents faith and hope in the resurrection of Christ and the foundational belief that there will be a heaven waiting for us. To those who are not believers in Christ: what can it represent that is so offensive? What indeed is the negative connotation of the cross as a symbol? For the unbeliever, it could represent the life of a man who spoke and walked in selfless love and compassion…..a man who was willing to put His life on the line to confront the self-centered attitudes and narcissism of those who were in power during His time on Earth.
Are we going to be a nation that allows militant atheism to dictate what symbols we may or may not place value on in public life? Are we going to be a nation that tramples all over the memory of, and shows direspect for, these World War I veterans?
Heaven help us if that small, white cross in the desert remains covered from view forever.