Mt. Soledad Cross Dishonors Veterans, Say Humanists
August 14, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: Fred Edwords, (202) 238-9088 or, after hours, (301) 233-0351
FEdwords@americanhumanist.org
- www.americanhumanist.org
(Washington, D.C.) Today President George W. Bush will sign
legislation granting federal ownership of the Mount Soledad Easter Cross,
renamed the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial after litigation commenced 17
years ago. It is a 29-foot Latin cross that has for decades been on city
property in San Diego, California. The legislation allows the federal
government to purchase the property so it can preserve the cross as a
national military war memorial.
"This is an attempted end run on the U.S. Constitution," said Fred Edwords,
director of communications for the American Humanist Association. "That the
federal government would intervene in a purely local church-state dispute is
an example of election-year politics at its worst. Other such local cases
have been settled without so much fanfare." Christian crosses on federal
parklands have been ruled unconstitutional in the past.
Bush's signing of the legislation was allowed to proceed without delay,
despite the request for a temporary restraining order submitted by the
attorney for the plaintiffs. The request was denied on Friday by U.S.
District Court Judge Barry Moskowitz, though he noted that, next month, he
would hear arguments addressing the constitutionality of the transfer once
it is completed.
"It is disappointing that Judge Moskowitz declined the request," commented
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
"Transferring control of the cross to the federal government does nothing to
resolve the basic issues of the case.”
The lawsuit challenging the Mt. Soledad cross was begun 17 years ago by
Philip Paulson. Paulson has been an active member of the American Humanist
Association for over 30 years and is a local Humanist leader in San Diego.
Steve Trunk recently joined Paulson in his suit. Both Paulson and Trunk are
atheists and veterans of the Vietnam War, and they have argued that they are
effectively treated as second-class citizens by the government's sanction of
the memorial.
"Recognizing and honoring the sacrifices of our veterans is important,"
continued Speckhardt. "But the issue here is that the Mount Soledad Easter
Cross can only be construed as propagating the Christian faith. That
excludes the scores of nontheists, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and
others who are citizens--rendering them second-class. Also, to view the
cross as a veterans memorial fails to consider that many non-Christians gave
their lives for this great nation. Therefore, this supposed memorial
dishonors many who are among America's bravest veterans."
In harmony with Humanist opinion and that of church-state separation groups,
judicial rulings have consistently declared the cross a sectarian religious
symbol and have found its placement on government-owned land a clear breach
in the Jeffersonian wall separating church and state. On May 3 a federal
judge had ordered that the city of San Diego remove the cross by August 1 or
risk a $5,000 per day fine. That order was blocked by Supreme Court
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy and later rendered void by congressional
legislation transferring ownership of the land to the federal government.
Humanists anticipate that, as this case continues through the courts, the
earlier decisions calling for the cross's removal from public lands will
ultimately be upheld.
