The Supreme Court ruled in April that the war memorial could stay on federal land despite church-state concerns.
A cross at the crux of a recent Supreme Court case has been stolen from the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California, the Associated Press reports. The World War I memorial cross, erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), was at the center of the Court's April ruling about whether such memorial crosses violate church-state separation.
The National Park Service told the AP that someone cut the bolts holding the metal cross late Sunday. Preserve spokesperson Linda Slater told the Desert-Dispatch that the cross's wood covering was noticed missing Saturday. The uncovered cross was seen Sunday but was missing later in the day when preserve staff went to replace the wooden cover.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on April 28 that Mojave's cross could stay for the time being, as the First Amendment "does not require the eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm." It sent the case back to lower courts that had ruled against the cross as governmental endorsement of religion. Christianity Today has followed the case since it went before the Court in October 2009.
Meanwhile, the VFW is offering $25,000 for leads on the cross's whereabouts and the perpetrators. Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute, a Texas-based group "guided by principles that limit government and promote Judeo-Christian values," said they " . . . will not rest until this memorial is re-installed," reports The Press-Enterprise. "This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves. It's a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans."
Posted by Katelyn Beaty on May 11, 2010 10:56AM
Comments
Let's remember that this is a memorial cross for the Vetrans of Foreign Wars. It means something to them. Are we going to uproot all the crosses at Arlington Cemetary? I think people just have nothing else to do but be hooligans!
Posted by: Elizabeth at May 11, 2010
Fools mock. We would all live enslaved but for the sacrifice of our soldiers through the centuries.
In Flanders Fields the poppies grow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place, and in the sky, the larks still singing fly.
We are the dead. Short days ago we lived, saw dawn, saw sunset glow. But now we lie in Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch. Be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who lie, we shall not sleep
Though poppies blow in Flanders Fields.
Posted by: Dawn E. Hall at May 11, 2010
Wouldn't this be considered a "Hate Crime" as well as "Theft"? Or are the rules different when they are applied to us Christians?
Posted by: Martin Klemet at May 11, 2010
Martin,
It's definitely not a hate crime, because Christians aren't the victims, because the whole defense in the SCOTUS case was predicated on the cross not being a Christian symbol.
Congratulations, Christendom! We just proved that the cross doesn't actually have a Christian meaning! Now that we've made our bed, let's see how we sleep.
Tyler
Posted by: Tyler at May 11, 2010
Whether stolen for its scrap value or as a statement, it's a sad, sad, thing.
Most five-year-olds know that it's wrong to take what isn't their own. I wonder why so many adults are challenged by that concept.
Posted by: Sheila at May 12, 2010
Why deface a natural environment with religious totems? Perhaps those who removed the Christian sectarian symbol simply preferred to see the land in its beatiful natural state without the advertisements and territorial markings of religious sects. You can bet if it was a big pentagram the Christians would be screaming murder.
Posted by: beatrice at May 14, 2010
beatrice, you do realize that the cross was in a desert, right?
Posted by: cybereagle777 at May 14, 2010
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