Government Buys Crucifix

H.R.5683 : To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Hunter, Duncan [CA-52] (introduced 6/26/2006)
Cosponsors: (2)
Committees: House Resources; House Armed Services Latest Major Action: 8/1/2006 Passed/agreed to in Senate.
Status: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

This bill is a blatant attempt to perform an end run around the judiciary branch of the government. You can read about the history of the memorial and the court cases involving the cross at Wikipedia. To make a long story short, the latest court decision was that the cross must be removed. The purpose of this bill is to circumvent efforts by church-state supporters to have a huge religious symbol, a 29 foot-tall-cross, removed from this public memorial since it is owned by the City of San Diego and therefore violates the doctrine of church-state separation. Under the findings section of the bill, as the third of seven items we have an inconspicuous reference to this primary purpose.

The United States has a long history and tradition of memorializing members of the Armed Forces who die in battle with a cross or other religious emblem of their faith, and a memorial cross is fully integrated as the centerpiece of the multi-faceted Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial that is replete with secular symbols.

The key word in the above text is "centerpiece." The cross at Mt. Soledad does not memorialize a certain individual in the memorial like the crosses placed on individual gravesites at Arlington National Cemetary. It casts a religious shadow over the graves of every dead soldier buried at the site. While a majority of Americans are Christians, there are, contrary to the popular saying, atheists in foxholes. This symbol of Christianity stands over even their graves.

Even if you are a Christian, you should understand this country was based on letting each individual make their own decision about matters of faith. When Congress goes to lengths to preserve the religious symbol of one particular faith over all others, they are violating the first amendment, if not in fact (as determined by the courts) certainly in spirit.