SCOTUS allows cross in California’s Mojave National Preserve
The end of a very long saga
"In a significant shift away from church-state separation, the Supreme Court gave its approval Wednesday to displaying a Christian cross on government land to honor the war dead, saying the Constitution ‘does not require the eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm.’
Speaking for a divided court, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the First Amendment calls for a middle-ground ‘policy of accommodation’ toward religious displays on public land, not a strict ban on symbols of faith.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices reversed lower courts in California that ordered the U.S. Park Service to remove an 8-foot tall cross that has stood in various forms in the Mojave National Preserve since 1934 as a memorial to the soldiers of World War I.”
Source
5 comments:
"...Constitution ‘does not require the eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm"
DAMN! It's about time one of those morons on the sub-prime court actually READ the constitution.
It's amazing what you will find (or won't) if you actually read it.
Amazing!
It's nice to see sanity prevail. Well, once in a while anyway.
Another article stated that the ruling stipulated that, in this case, the cross was not erected as a Christian symbol, but to honor the war dead. Supposedly, this specific intent was stated by those who erected it back in the early 20th century.
The cross is/was also a cultural symbol of sacrifice where the victims were presumed to be at least from a christian-orientated background. If they were known to be jewish or muslim another appropriate symbol of their religion was normal placed.
It's worrying that this was only on a 5-4 split. God help us if BHO gets the chance to radicalise the Court with more "wise latina" types.
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