A group of atheists is trying to force the 9/11 Museum to remove the “Miracle Cross” because they say its existence in the museum violates the Constitution.
The “Miracle Cross” is a 17-foot cross-shaped beam that was found in the rubble of 9/11. The cross was displayed at Ground Zero and many workers on the site considered it a source of comfort and hope in the midst of the death and destruction.
The anti-Christian group American Atheists says the cross is part of religious history, not American history, and says that its existence in the 9/11 Museum that opens in May violates the separation of church and state.
The Museum is on land owned by the Port Authority and financed by taxpayers.
The atheist group says that if the cross is displayed, that his group wants a similar item such as a plaque that reads, “atheists died here too.”
Federal Judge Reena Raggi appeared to be skeptical of the claims by the atheists.
“There are countless cases of museums including religious artifacts in their exhibits and it’s going to be described in a way that talks about the history of the object,” Judge Raggi said. “What is the problem here? An argument has been made that you’re trying to censor history.”
A ruling is expected in several months.
An anti-Christian group threatened to sue the grieving mother of a young man killed in an accident because she placed a cross at the accident site.
AnnMarie Devaney set up the cross after her son, a Christian, was killed when a car struck him as he crossed a street in Lake Elsinore. The memorial included a 5 foot tall cross because her son was a devoted Christian.
The anti-Christian American Humanist Association threatened to sue unless the cross was removed. The letter from the anti-Christianists was sent to the grieving mother a week after a judge backed the group’s suit to stop a veterans memorial in the city that would have a cross on it.
Community members rallied around the family and wanted to deliver a message to the anti-Christianists that their bigotry and intolerance would not be tolerated in their town. Residents created crosses of their own and placed them at the site of the accident saying that the only cross the anti-Christianists demanded removed was the cross of the dead man’s family.
“We did it like a homeschool project to teach (our children) about tolerance and not to be afraid of expressing what you believe,” Holly Alteneder said to the local Press-Enterprise newspaper.
The anti-Christian group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says a cross on the top of an elementary school is a horrific violation of the Constitution.
The AUSCS says that a small concrete cross on the top of Spearville Elementary School in Spearville, Kansas offends an unknown person in the town. The group routinely uses anonymous people as the basis for their claims against any Christian emblem or symbol being seen in a public place.
The Dodge City Globe obtained a letter from the group that said the “school’s cross display violates the constitutional prohibition against government action that ‘conveys or attempts to convey a message that religion or a particular belief is favored or preferred’.”
The USD 381 Board of Education told the Globe that they won’t be taking any action until the group files a lawsuit.
The building used for Spearville Elementary was a Catholic school until the Dodge City Diocese to the local school district in 1975. Because the building was constructed in 1925, it’s possible that the building could be considered a historical landmark in the town.
The anti-Christian organization American Atheists is threatening to sue Princeton, New Jersey if they display a 9-11 tribute that includes a beam from the World Trade Center that has a cross cut out of one side.
The group calls the beam “grossly offensive” because of the cross. Continue reading →
Atheists are coming after one of Riverside, California’s longest standing monuments.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is threatening to sue the city unless they destroy a 35 foot tall cross that has towered over the city from the Mount Rubidoux peak since 1907.
The atheists are claiming that the cross’s existence means the city is telling non-Christian residents they’re not welcome in the town. Continue reading →
