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Mount Soledad Cross Will Be Purged from Veterans Memorial
After 24 years of litigation, a federal court revealed in an emotional hearing that it has ordered the famous Mount Soledad Cross removed from a veterans memorial, holding it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Since 1913, a cross has stood as the centerpiece of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, surrounded by nearly 3,000 granite plaques, individually honoring war heroes from every American war, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The structure is a 29-foot Latin cross, which was erected in 1954. For much of this time, it was in a city park in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. Then, in 1989, the ACLU filed a lawsuit, arguing that allowing a cross on government land violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. This memorial has been embroiled in litigation ever since.
In 2004, Congress passed a law making this city-owned display a “national memorial honoring veterans of the United States Armed Forces,” dedicated as a tribute to those service members “who sacrificed their lives in the defense of the United States.” Congress officially found that the “patriotic and inspirational symbolism of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial provides solace to the families and comrades of the veterans it memorializes.” Although the Latin cross is identifiably a Christian symbol, Congress noted that the memorial is also “replete with secular symbols” and symbols of other faiths, such as 18 Stars of David. In this pluralistic context, the cross plays the role of commemorating veterans’ service and death.
That law sparked the latest round of litigation in federal court. In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its prior decision on this display, holding that because of the cross, the memorial “primarily conveys a message of endorsement of religion.” Specifically, it “projects a government endorsement of Christianity.”
The United States Supreme Court denied review in 2012 but sent a written message noting that the lower courts were still considering whether the memorial could be modified in a way that preserves its character. In a statement by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court signaled that it would seriously consider taking the case if these additional efforts did not produce a positive outcome.
After almost two years of additional proceedings, on Dec. 12 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California reluctantly held that under controlling precedent from the Ninth Circuit, the district judge still had no choice but to declare the cross an endorsement of Christianity. He has ordered it removed within 90 days.
Judge Larry Alan Burns read the order from the bench in court and appeared to choke up as he ordered the memorial’s destruction, observers told Breitbart News. Burns then issued a stay of his decision to give the memorial cross’s lawyers time to appeal back to the Ninth Circuit and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court.
Originally, the U.S. Justice Department defended the cross memorial. However, when President Barack Obama was elected, the government’s defense of the memorial under Attorney General Eric Holder seemed to become lackluster, and the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial Association stepped in to bolster the defense. They are represented by Allyson Ho, a partner at the powerhouse firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius (Ted Cruz was a partner at that firm prior to his Senate election, and in fact Cruz and Ho were the co-chairs of the firm’s Supreme Court practice group), and Jeff Mateer and Hiram Sasser from Liberty Institute, one of America’s foremost religious-liberty law firms.
Hiram Sasser tells Breitbart News, “We will continue to fight for this memorial and the selfless sacrifice and service of all the millions of veterans it represents; it is the least we can do for those who gave so much to us all.”
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by AQUAMAN on
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Since our very inception as a country, our forefathers founded us as a Christian nation, under God. Statistics of recent reveal that the U.S. is still 80% Christian faith based today. Why then does this thing have to happen and prevail? If only 20% or less are non-christian, why should their efforts to over-turn such religious symbols prevail, esp. with our own court systems? The onslaught of wrecking this coming Christmas is also upon us daily, and will continue until we the majority say enough is enough.
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Permalink Reply by easymoney on
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FRC’s Perkins: ‘Administration on Search and Destroy Mission with Religious Freedom in Military’
By Katie Yoder | December 13, 2013 | 09:28
1 8 Reddit0 1A A Religious freedom is under attack – first and foremost in the United States military – according to The Family Research Council, a Christian conservative non-profit dedicated to advancing and protecting “Faith, Family and Freedom.”
During a broad-ranging interview with MRC Vice President for Business and Culture Dan Gainor, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins asserted that, “This administration is on a search and destroy mission as it pertains to religious freedom in our nation’s military.”
Gainor noted, “We’ve seen a lot of repeated instances recently involving the military, about criticism of Christians – somehow demonizing people of faith. Is this a trend that worries you?”
In response, Perkins explained, “We’ve now catalogued incident after incident where the this administration – the civilian leadership apparently driving this – linked with outside radical leftist organizations, are doing everything they can to squash religious affiliation association and practice in our nation’s military.”
Story contiunes after the video.
Beginning with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” “I think what we’re seeing in the military is really a microcosm of what’s going to be happening in the macro view of things with legislation like ENDA, the employment non-discrimination act,” Perkins warned.
He cited the example in Air Force Sergeant Phillip Monk, “who had a lesbian commander wanting to force him to acknowledge that a traditional view of marriage was discriminatory” at the cost of his position. Like Monk, many are fearful of going public with their stories because “if they do, they risk their careers.”
And they can expect no help from higher-ups. “This administration is doing everything they can to ferret out conservative Christian values in our nation’s military,” he explained.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/katie-yoder/2013/12/13/frc-s-perkins-a...
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Permalink Reply by Willy on
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Obama has been replacing conservative Generals with more progressive / liberal thinking Commanders. I know people connected with the military and the Pentagon and I am told the military services hate Obama due to all the changes. Moral is very low. Liberals have been planning this for years. We are going to see far reaching changes throughout the Government in the remaining years of Obama. If the Republicans don't get off their as-ses and stop this we may never see the likes of America again.
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I am a firm believer in separation of Church and State but in this case I think the court was wrong in it's ruling. The reason I say this is because the cross and other religious symbols in the memorial do not represent the Government but the people honored at he monument, thus the reason for differing religious artifacts. The artifacts represent the many faiths of those honored and as long as each religion of those honored is displayed then no particular religion is being singled out and focus is not solely on a single religion. If it were dedicated as a Christian monument only then, in my opinion we would have a violation. This ruling is setting a dangerous precedent because if they can eliminate religious monuments here then all publicly owned cemeteries must follow suit. I think the new courts appointed with liberals is finally showing it's influence and bias.
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