Mount Soledad Cross

Aren't we a country founded on Judeo- Christian principles? I mean just how bad is having a war memorial with this cross on it? Is it really the separation of church and state that is at stake or is it something else? Or is it that people hate the idea of Christianity so much that it's worth tearing a fifty year old monument down.

Background: The Mount Soledad cross sits on land controlled by the federal government. However, opponents say the presence of the cross there violates the state constitution. Supporters contend the cross is part of a larger war memorial and there is no constitutional violation. The Latin cross was dedicated on April 29, 1954 to honor Korean War veterans.

"The 20-ton, 43-foot-tall cross has been the center of an epic legal battle begun in 1989 that has concerned one question: whether the presence of the cross on government property violates the religious establishment clause of the state constitution. "

"For decades the cross stood on land owned by the city of San Diego, but in 1991 U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson ruled it violated the state constitutional ban on government preference or aid for religion. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the late Philip Paulson, a Vietnam war veteran and atheist. The ruling survived several appeals and stood for more than a decade. "

"New plaintiffs were the Jewish War Veterans, a national veterans group, and San Diego resident Steve Trunk, who took the place of Paulson after he died. "

"The city is out of the case, and defense of the cross now falls to the federal government. At yesterday's hearing, the plaintiffs argued that the cross is a clear religious symbol and is not simply one element in a larger, secular war memorial to honor dead veterans, as cross supporters maintain."

History:

Three differently shaped Christian crosses have been constructed since 1913 on City government property at the apex of Mt. Soledad (Mt. Soledad Natural Park) in the community of La Jolla.
The original wooden cross on Mt. Soledad was erected in 1913 by private citizens living in La Jolla and Pacific Beach, but was stolen in 1923; later that year it was affixed back in the ground in Mt. Soledad Natural Park only to be burned down by the Ku Klux Klan.

The second cross was erected in 1934 by a private group of Protestant Christians from La Jolla and Pacific Beach. This sturdier, stucco-over-wood frame cross was blown down by blustery winds in 1952.

The third (current) cross, 29 feet (9 m) tall on top of a 14-foot (4 m)-tall stepped platform, was installed in 1954. It still stands today. A windstorm damaged one of the flimsily constructed cross members in 1955 and the concrete structure had to be repaired.

According to Wikipedia, the granite and marble memorial stones around the base have been added since 1989's lawsuit challenge.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , there are several possible ways to resolve the current situation:

+ The cross may be dismantled.

+ The cross may be sold to a third party and physically transferred off the public land. An Episcopal church, located within a few hundred feet from the present location of the cross, has agreed to place it on its property.

+ The government may hold an auction and sell the parcel of the land with the cross to the highest bidder. However, the government is not allowed to give any preference to those buyers who are interested in preserving the cross. An auction such as this was the subject of Proposition K in 2004, which failed 40% to 59%.

Defenders of the cross see all these options as unacceptable and are determined to find a way to leave the cross intact in its present location. (As a side note , San Diego citizens have voted overwhelmingly on several occasions keep the cross at it's current location- so much for the will of the people).

Imagine the outrage if Spain tried to tear down the cross that Franco erected at the Valley of the Fallen Memorial? It's the same thing in San Diego- but on a smaller scale.

Hmmm. This whole, sad battle has benefited no one but lawyers. I would guess that millions of dollars have already been spent on both sides- trying to prove their point. And it looks like millions more will go out to line the pockets of our litigators before this gets settled. Nearly twenty years of fighting to tear down a monument to United States soldiers killed in the Korean War.

When does the legalism stop? The next thing you know they'll be going through our national military cemetery's to rip up Christian crosses and replace them with square headstones. What will be next? Maybe it's time to take "Christmas" off the government calendar as a national holiday? Maybe having the government seize land that has a church on it through the process of "eminent domain" and then tearing it down because it's on state land?

Is it any wonder we stay divided as a country? With all the "real" problems that face Americans- we still fight over this.