Captains Quarters has an interesting piece out on the latest chapter in the legal squabbling over the Mount Soledad Cross in San Diego, CA.
For those of you unfamiliar with the cross, it was erected in 1954, at the height of the U.S.’s scare over those “godless Communists”. A war memorial grew up around it shortly after some folks started opposing the idea of a government-erected religious symbol (although the cause-and-effect relationship of those two developments is apparently up for some debate).
Quoting Captains Quarters:
The struggle to keep a landmark San Diego cross on public land took a new turn on Monday, as George Bush signed a bill making the land under the monument federal territory. That removes one particular legal threat to the 29-foot-tall cross, long visible for miles to Southern Californians, but brings up new challenges on the federal level[....]
The order brings an end to the pursuit of [atheist cross-critic] Paulson’s efforts in California courts. State jurists no longer have jurisdiction on the property, and with Congress making its intent known in the legislation, portends a difficult path for opponents of the landmark. It might make the case come to a conclusion more quickly, however, as federal issues have always been in play in this controversy. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a stay against the destruction of the cross recently, and the court will likely have its say soon.
Although I do have to salute cross-supporters’ creativity in finding ways to defend the cross, I’ll admit that I too am uncomfortable with the idea of a government-erected religious symbol. I am not fond of the idea of government expressing a preference for any one particular religion (or religion over non-religion).
But the “governmentness” of this particular religious display isn’t what bothers me about this story.
It just seems like a tremendous amount of resources are being spent squabbling over this cross and other religious or quasi-religious displays on public property / at public expense. Just the other day, I posted an article referencing the unfunded future obligations of the federal government as a multiple of our GDP. In a rational world, that larger problem would draw more attention and energy than this.