9th Circuit Court Holds Soledad Cross Unconstitutional

By Deacon Keith Fournier
1/10/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Court held, in effect, that because the Cross is a Christian Symbol it must be removed from a war memorial

This 9th Circuit opinion is an example of a growing governmental hostility toward religious faith, religious symbols, and, in particular, Christian faith and Christian symbols, in the public square. The effort to scrub the public square of such religious expression and symbols is a threat to religious freedom and represents an incorrect application of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.

The Cross at the Mt. Soledad War Memorial

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On Monday January 4, 2011, a three judge panel of the United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals filed its long awaited opinion in what has been popularly called the "Mount Soledad Cross Case", Trunk v. City of San Diego, Case No. 08-56415. In effect, they held that because the Cross is a Christian Symbol it must be removed from a war memorial.

I know that some who read my assessment will take exception. However, I will not "nuance" the anti-Christian bigotry revealed in the opinion of these three unelected black robed Federal Judges. They held that the Mount Soledad cross, which has stood on Mount Soledad since 1913, has somehow now become a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution simply because they say it has.

All who are concerned about the growing hostility toward religious speech and expression in the United States have watched this case with great interest. I make my assessment as a constitutional lawyer who has long questioned the current establishment clause law in our Nation. In 1992 following the incomprehensible Supreme Court opinion in Lee v Weisman, while serving as the Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm, I wrote a law review article entitled "In the Wake of Weisman: The Lemon Test is Still a lemon but the Psycho-coercion Test is more bitter Still".

In that article, after tracing the history of the interpretation of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the developments of the last few decades, I predicted the insanity that would follow from the efforts of the Supreme Court to apply the so called "Lemon Rule" (named after the Courts 1971 opinion in Lemon v Kurtzman) and it's ever expanding "interpretations" and permutations. That is precisely what has occurred. We have experienced a judicial ping pong game of incomprehensible opinions requiring a showing that religious symbols have a "secular" purpose - as though religion and the common good are mutually exclusive!

Let me demonstrate the level of hostility toward religion and religious symbols in the Court's own words. The Court, with great concern, took judicial notice that "After the Cross's dedication in 1954" there were "Easter services at the Memorial annually until at least 2000, and other religious ceremonies have been held there since. The annual Easter services included readings from the Bible, a Christian prayer and benediction, and songs such as "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" and "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name."

They decried the fact that, "The Cross's importance as a religious symbol has been a rallying cry for many involved in the litigation surrounding the Memorial. LiMandri (a Catholic lawyer with the Thomas More Law Center seeking to preserve the cross) and the Thomas More Law Center were integral in devising the plan to designate the land as a national veterans' memorial."

They critically pointed out that the Thomas More Law Center "publicly characterized the campaign to save the Cross in religious terms-for example, as a "spiritual battle. LiMandri declared that "Christ won the war on Calvary. These are just kind of mop-up battles . . . . LiMandri also participated in a fifty-four day prayer movement in front of the Cross that opened with the singing of "Immaculate Mary," and the prayer of twenty mysteries of the rosary.. Other Christian advocacy groups like the American Family Association, the American Center for Law & Justice, and Fidelis launched national petition campaigns for the Cross; an intercessory prayer movement was held by the Christian Defense Counsel outside the White House."

This 9th Circuit opinion is an example of a growing governmental hostility toward religious faith, religious symbols, and, in particular, Christian faith and Christian symbols, in the public square. The effort to scrub the public square of such religious expression and symbols is a threat to religious freedom, runs contrary to our founding documents, and is unfaithful to our history as a free people. It also represents an incorrect application of the Establishment Clause, found in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

This opinion also demonstrates that the 2005 Supreme Court decision of Van Orden v. Perry, a "ten commandments" case, has now made the illogic of Establishment Clause Jurisprudence even more pronounced in the United States. Now, even the convoluted trail left by the Lemon case and its progeny can be abandoned by a Court, under the ruse of an "exception" to the Lemon analysis, only to be replaced by Judicial whimsy.

Federal Judges now make up their own rules by which they decide whether a religious symbol, especially a Christian religious symbol, will be ...

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1 - 10 of 50 Comments

Matt
2 years ago
I appreciate the comments above, but just as you have your beliefs (and are pretty well 'set' in them), so do I. I know I'll be atheist for the rest of my life because it goes to the core of my personality. I'm scientific in nature, always looking at evidence and making judgements about the validity of things based on the evidence at hand. Faith has no place for me--it just seems illogical and nonsensical. Anyway, I didn't come here to bash you all--this is a catholic forum after all. I just wanted to weigh in on the Soledad Cross question. Best wishes to all, whatever your path may be.
Theresa
2 years ago
Rob, thank you for re-iterating the point about the need for those of us us who believe to live our faith--Indeed, so that those who see us can say: "See how they love one another!" (Tertullien) LIkewise, we must be ready and able to refute error, as St. Peter advised us: "Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence...." 1Pet 3:15)
Clara Vande-guma
2 years ago
If your worried about this ruling, wait until 'God' is replaced with 'man' in your nations motto, 'In God we trust'. The worst is yet to come, from these free masons.
Rob
2 years ago
Guys, it is precisely for the "Matt's" of the world that we have to do a better job at living our faith. Sometimes we need to be very careful about what we are evangelizing about our faith. Our all of our actions leading people to Christ? Is it obvious in my day to day life that I am a disciple of Christ? It saddens me that Matt would say "I am a better Christian than most of the Christian's I know." That is a pretty remarkable statement.
vance
2 years ago
Matt, Yes, I have had many conversations and arguments with atheists in years gone by. They all say the same thing, "you can't prove there is a God". I always say Jesus Christ is the proof. He revealed himself as God and performed many creations (miracles) in front of hundreds and on two occassions thousands of people. There were no video cameras to capture the events but even some witnesses refused to believe. Those were the spys for the Pharasees. When they witnessed Lazarus rising from the dead, their response was, "We need to kill this man". Another event occurred in Fatema, Portugal. There "the miracle of the Sun" occurred in 1917 in front of a crowd of 70,000 witnesses and many of them were non-believers such as yourself. They were there as journalists and Portugal's Socialist Party rulers. They were there for the expected 'Laugh" they thought they would have on all those "Gullible" people. The journalists thought they would capture the "Hoax" on their cameras. But what a huge surprise they witnessed. You have convinced yourself that when you die, you just become humus on Mother Earth. All those atheists who have gone before us had the tragic experience of the big "Whoops" I made a mistake and there is no going back to do it over again. Again I encourage you to embrace God who loves us all and cares for us all. He is all love and justice.
Theresa
2 years ago
Matt: I often wonder why atheists say they don't believe there is credible evidence that God exists, that faith makes no sense because it is believing in something without evidence. St. Paul never saw Jesus while He was alive on this earth, so he says, precisely this: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. the conviction [or "evidence"] of things not seen," (Heb 11:1) Ultimately, science cannot prove how the universe was made without recourse to the (yes) insane "idea" that it (for all intents and purposes) just popped out of nothingness! There is a "cause" for everything that exists in nature, in the universe, however momentarily. There is only one "cause" that is not caused--and that is the One whom we call "God"--the "Creator," par excellence. Jesus Christ proved the power of God. No scientist (or unbeliever) has proven anything that makes the point for God's NON-existence, like Jesus did FOR God's existence!
Bulbajer
2 years ago
Matt, just because there isn't any solid evidence for God's existance deosn't mean that he doesn't exist. I can see why you distrust belief in God because so many who profess to believe do and say horrible things. But God does love you, just acknowledging that, and maybe talking to him a little, might seem absurd, but it brings hapiness to people. I'm not suggesting you join a religious establishment, at least not immediately; most are orientated towards firm believers. Just establish a personal connection with God, even if your heart isn't in it at first. Peace.
Matt
2 years ago
"My previous conversations with atheists reveal that it isn't so much that they don't believe in God, it is that they hate God. He gets in the way of their sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. These things are more sacred than God. God still loves you and has his loving arms open to you to come to him."

Vance, please keep in mind that your previous dealings with atheists probably involved some debate back and forth, and therefore the potential for animosity. My lack of belief in god is simply that I don't believe there is credible evidence that he exists. Faith makes no sense to me--it is believing in something without evidence, and if that is the case, you could be made to believe in anything.

I'm a loving husband, a doting father, and successful businessman. Granted I like sex (with my wife) and rock and roll (the classic type), but not drugs. I'm the most 'Mr. Cleaver' of guys you'd probably meet. I don't have alot of male friends because I'm viewed as pretty much a 'square'. That's fine with me--I like my family life as it is.

I'm often amazed at the behavior of those that claim to be christians. How could they not know that what they're doing isn't 'christian'??? At times it seems that I'm the most christian of those that I know, and it kind of baffles me.

Anyway, I know that there are plenty of good christians out there, and I'm happy that they are out there, because they are responsible for alot of good in this world.

Atheists aren't as organized and there are few groups out there for us to belong to that are charitable in nature. For us, charity is an individual thing, as evidenced by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's efforts.
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vance
2 years ago
Matt, The words,"We are endowed by our Creator" is in the constitution. Separation of church and is not. The First Amendment tells government that it is not allowed to create its own religion. That's it! We the people have ceded artificial authority to the government to dictate whether or not crosses or Nativity Scenes will be in public places. It is up to we Christians to stand up and fight for our faith. You say you are an atheist. I am sorry for you because you are throwing away your eternal life for nothing. As I have said to many other atheists, it does not matter whether or not you believe in God. He is still there and not going anywhere. You can wish him away or bury your head in the sand and pretend he doesn't exist. It still doesn't make him go away. My previous conversations with atheists reveal that it isn't so much that they don't believe in God, it is that they hate God. He gets in the way of their sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. These things are more sacred than God. God still loves you and has his loving arms open to you to come to him.
Matt
2 years ago
As an atheist I agree with the above comment that the cross is garish. I have no problem with a cross being there, but a 40 ft. tall cross is so large and dominant that it does give the impression that the government is giving the cross its 'stamp of official approval'.

I also don't have a problem with the crosses at Arlington, although I wonder how many non-believers are buried there and had crosses erected over their dead bodies simply because they were brought up in the tradition, or their family didn't want their grave to stand out or be desecrated.

One final point. Our coins didn't originally say "in god we trust' on them. Our national motto wasn't originally 'in god we trust'. The pledge of allegience didn't originally say 'under god' in it. Ten Commandments tablets were placed on courthouse grounds many years after the courthouses were erected.

These things were all added later by religious people. Now that non-religious people want things restored to their original form, we are being called 'attackers of religion'. We simply want to restore the secular origins of this country--remember, the constitution has no single reference to God or Jesus in it. If this country were truly 'founded on religion' as lots of christians like to say, the constitution would say so.

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