9th Circuit Court Holds Soledad Cross Unconstitutional

1/10/2011

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allowed to stand on public land or in a public building. There is not even a pretense that the actual words of the Establishment Clause have any effect in this new world of the judicial oligarchy. The 224 page opinion rendered by the 9th Circuit in the Mt Soledad case is one more example of why it is absolutely essential that we reclaim the "Separation of Powers" doctrine and rein in Federal Judges and Courts.

The Establishment Clause is best understood as an "anti-establishment" clause. It was intended to prohibit the "establishment" of one particular religion - in the sense of a Federal or State sponsored Church which mandated adherence from unwilling citizens. The American founders fled coercive approaches to religion which compelled adherence to a particular sect. Yet, they were not anti-religious.

They were assuredly not against religious symbols or religious expression. Our history is filled with them. Or, more accurately, it once was. Religious symbols are no longer seen as a wonderful sign of the history of the West and the American founding by the new Judicial Oligarchs. Rather they are seen as a threat to the secularist order. When they are allowed they must be demonstrated to have been eviscerated of any religious meaning and somehow thereby rendered "secular" and acceptable.

This Court showed hostility toward the Cross writing, "[C]onsidering the entire context of the Memorial, the Memorial today remains a predominantly religious symbol. The history and absolute dominance of the Cross are not mitigated by the belated efforts to add less significant secular elements to the Memorial.... The fact that the Memorial also commemorates the war dead and serves as a site for secular ceremonies honoring veterans cannot overcome the effect of its decades-long religious history...The Memorial's relatively short history of secular usage does not predominate over its religious functions so as to eliminate the message of endorsement that the Cross conveys."

They seemed particularly offended by the size of the cross noting "(W)e cannot overlook the fact that the Cross is forty-three feet tall. It physically dominates the Memorial, towering over the secular symbols placed beneath it, and is so large and placed in such a prominent location that it can be seen from miles away."

The disjointed legal opinion concluded, "[A]fter examining the entirety of the Mount Soledad Memorial in context-having considered its history, its religious and non-religious uses, its sectarian and secular features, the history of war memorials and the dominance of the Cross-we conclude that the Memorial, presently configured and as a whole, primarily conveys a message of government endorsement of religion that violates the Establishment Clause".

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, is one of our Nations' leading constitutional lawyers. The ACLJ has been involved in the case as a "Friend of the Court" defending the monument and the Cross. Their European counterpart, the European Center for Law and Justice, is involved in the defense of crucifixes in public schools as the new secular religious cleansers have sought to remove any vestige of the Christian history of Europe. As usual, the ACLJ's summary of the 9th Circuit opinion is the clearest available and I commend it to our readers. You can find it here: http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/ACLJ_MtSoledadOpinionSummary_20100105.pdf

The ACLJ called the 9th Circuits opinion a "Faulty Ruling." I agree. However, it is much worse than that. It is one more example of a judicial oligarchy at work and a threat to religious freedom.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Soledad, Cross, religious liberty, Deacon Keith Fournier, First Amendment, Free Speech, Free exercise, establishment clause, First Amendment

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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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