Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Appeals Court Orders Atheists to Justify Lawsuit Against 9/11 Cross
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered American Atheists to justify its claim that placing the Ground Zero Cross at the National 9/11 Museum in New York City constitutes a “particular and concrete injury” to atheists and "marginalizes them as American citizens."
“Plaintiffs’ brief should, at a minimum, clarify both the injuries alleged and legal theories relied on to support standing,” the court order said.
“The Constitution does not guarantee citizens a right entirely to avoid ideas with which they disagree," the court added, giving American Atheists until July 14 to respond.
The order was issued after the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed an amicus brief in the case, asking the court to look into the validity of the group’s claims, including one that said some atheists had experienced “stress, headaches, and indigestion” after reading about the display.
The Becket Fund says it filed the amicus brief because other defendants failed to address American Atheists' "frivolous" claims. “Courts should not allow people to sue just because they claim to get ‘dyspepsia’ over a historical artifact displayed in a museum," it said in a press release.
“Lawsuits for violations of the Establishment Clause should be limited to circumstances where the government is truly coercing people to engage in religious activity,” said Eric Baxter, a lawyer for the Becket Fund. “The Constitution is not a personal tool for censoring everyone’s beliefs but your own.”
The 17-foot tall cross consists of two steel beams found in the World Trade Center rubble by a construction worker. In the days following the deadliest attack on American soil, it provided a source of solace for many of the rescue workers and was eventually placed on a pedestal and blessed by a Franciscan priest. It was later placed in the 9/11 museum as a historical artifact of that day.
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12 comments:
I am an atheist and I think that the action by the atheist group against the cross is highly reprehensible. People have a right to enjoy their religious beliefs without the permission of others. Sadly that is not true in most Muslim countries.
It presumably depends on how the cross-beam is displayed and described in the museum, as to whether or not the entire museum is suggesting an undue emphasis on Christianity; otherwise it seems quite reasonable to have a Christian symbol amongst any other religious or non-religious symbols in the museum.
"some atheists had experienced “stress, headaches, and indigestion” after reading about the display."
Those atheists are like the Tea Partiers and the religious right in the conservative movement. They make a lot of noise and wreck it for the rest of the group.
Anon 1:56 --- You just showed how little you know about the Tea Party and the Religious Right. You've been listening to the Liberal Left's descriptions of the and have absorbed that bilge-waste as true instead of rejecting it as a rational person would.
You must not forget, the enemy is an adept liar.
If I go to a museum run by the government that covers the history of Chinese laborers on the Transcontinental Railroad, should I be able to pitch a fit if some of the artifacts in that museum include Buddhist icons or items? Does that mean the government is promoting the religion by including those historic items that gave comfort to many of those workers? Will I suddenly find myself having stress, headaches, and indigestion because I see these religious articles that I do not share in? If I do then I'm an idiot. The government is not promoting Buddhism by the display and neither is it promoting Christianity at the 9-11 memorial. People need to start acting like adults instead of spoiled brat children when life isn't exactly as they would have it be.
2:01 - one word come to mind about people like you. Brainwashed. If you are happy with your point of view. More power to you. Just realize that all conservatives are not like you.
There was bound to be a large metal cross-beam of some sort amongst the ruins of such a huge skyscraper, and to make some Christian symbol out of it, is a bit on the primitive and superstitious side, especially to think it might have had some supernatural cause connected to the Christian Cross.
It isn't inconceivable that some broken beams might have resembled a swastika, but then it would have had quite another interpretation.
A steel cross-beam shape in the 9/11 ruin that resembled a swastika, or the symbol of any non-Christian religious idea, would have been ignored and sold on with all the other steel scrap (which was done so unseemly fast) to *Communist* China to benefit its more vibrant economy. That sale of scrap was certainly more symbolic!!
finally a judge with brains.
You do not have the right to not be offended. if the sight of a cross (this was a natural formation form the collapse) os if it bothers you sooo much stay away!
Why is it ok to alienate 85-90% of the population that is christian to keep from hurting the feelings of a few whiners?
So would this mean that the Star of David should be removed from the Holocaust museum in DC. It is a religious symbol after all. How about the religious symbols in the National Museum of the American Indian? How about religious themed artwork? Where would you draw the line?
Oh wow 4:20 - those museums were about specific religions. Was the 9/11 muuseum just about Christianity? Did it imply that all or most victims were known to be Christians, or that only Christian victims were of any account or worth?
Good work 2nd Appeals Court lets see these athiests little twerps explain why the 911 cross is offensive to their sensitive little feelings
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