Posted on 06/20/2017 6:43:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
Atheists across the fruited plain are rejoicing after a federal judge declared that a cross erected in a Florida park violated the law and must come down.
“I am aware that there is a lot of support in Pensacola to keep the cross as is, and I understand and I understand and respect that point of view,” U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson wrote in his ruling. “But, the law is the law.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2016 by the notorious Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Humanist Association on behalf of four Pensacola citizens
The judge pointed out that park has hosted tens of thousands of people for roughly 75 years without causing anyone offense – until now.
“When a city park serving all citizens – nonreligious, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian – contains a towering Latin cross, this sends a message of exclusion to non-Christians, and a corresponding message to Christians that they are favored citizens,” said Annie Gaylor, the organization’s perpetually offended co-founder.
The original cross was erected in 1941 in Bayview Park. It was replaced with a 34-foot, white “Latin Cross” in 1969 by the Pensacola Jaycees.
Judge Vinson noted in his ruling the “Bayview Cross” is “part of the rich history of Pensacola and Bayview Park in particular.”
He said the cross had been the focal point for Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day services – not to mention Easter Sunrise services.
“However, after about 75 years, the Bayview Cross can no longer stand as a permanent fixture on city-owned property,” the Reagan-appointed judge ruled.
He directed the city of Pensacola to remove the cross within 30 days. He also ordered the city to pay the aggrieved plaintiffs one dollar in damages. That comes out to a quarter apiece.
The American Humanist Association celebrated the judge’s ruling.
“We are pleased that the Court struck down this cross as violative of the First Amendment,” attorney Monica Miller said in a statement. “The cross was totally unavoidable to park patrons, and to have citizens foot the bill for such a religion symbol is both unfair and unconstitutional.”
Judge Vinson based his ruling on a court case involving a similar cross that suffered the same fate in Rabun County, Georgia.
“If the cross under review in Rabun County violated the First Amendment and had to be removed, the cross here must suffer the same fate,” the judge wrote.
Oddly, Judge Vinson seemed rather reluctant to rule against the cross.
“The historical record indicates that the Founding Fathers did not intend for the Establishment Clause to ban crosses and religious symbols from public property,” he wrote. “Indeed, ‘the enlightened patriots who framed our constitution’…would have most likely found this lawsuit absurd. And if I were deciding this case on a blank slate, I would agree and grant the plaintiffs no relief. But, alas, that is not what we have here.”
As I wrote in my book, “The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again,” people of faith are facing unrelenting attacks from a ruthless bunch of godless atheists -- hell-bent on eradicating Christianity from the public.
Should Christian citizens be relegated to some sort of second-class citizenship? Should they be directed to keep their beliefs hidden inside the church house?
Will they demand that city leaders rename Los Angeles and San Francisco? Should The Ten Commandments be chiseled off the doors of the Supreme Court? Should references to God be sandblasted from our national monuments?
Just how far do the atheists intend to go in this cultural jihad on our Judeo-Christian values?
The whole thing could have been avoided if the local government deeded the small area of land to a non profit group willing to maintain the cross.
One day, they will all bow their knees to the King of Kings. So much for their offense.
The ungodly have already lost the battle against Jesus. They just don’t know it yet.
I bet its ok to have a call to prayer blaring from a mosque loudspeaker 5 times a day.
The city could have some fun with this if they wished to, fence off the area, call it a sensitive area and strictly prohibit human traffic. Grant the Judge and ONLY the Judge permission to the closed property for the purpose of removing the cross. Disallow any and all construction equipment on the property by non city employees. Give the Judge a shovel and tell him to have at it.
Thank you Obama for pushing for these kinds of "Get rid of the Christians". How Muzzie of you.
Absolutely....
This is a false understanding of the law. The US Constitution does itself refer to “Our Lord” in it’s ending statement.
“The cross was totally unavoidable to park patrons, and to have citizens foot the bill for such a religion symbol is both unfair and unconstitutional.”
So, apparently, people were running into it?
Wonder what the bill amounted to? It was there for decades...what could it cost to keep standing? Paint it every few years???
The Constitution does not prohibit religious expression on public land. The Constitution itself ends with the words "Year of our Lord" ...
He is saying that because of established law/cases ruled prior, he had no choice. What needs to happen is for the case to go to the Supreme Court and have 5 constitutionally oriented judges rule the opposite.
The Right Honorabl Judge knows it, too. He knew it all hus like. But when the pukes on that era’s Supreme Cabal ruled against it, he gleefully jumped aboard. IMHO.
We are a Christian nation, established on the principles of Natural Law, the invincible Laws of God. We are not an atheist nation or a humanist nation or an Islamic nation. As Christians we welcome all faiths to join us in good will to nurture this nation in freedom and dignity.
Yes, we are a Christian nation. We are a nation of loving, caring people who respect those who respect us and help those most in need. We will not, however, surrender our faith to the faithless or our God to the Godless.
Since we are simply making isht up as we go along, how about we just start removing judges?
The ungodly have already lost the battle against Jesus
really? how...?
“”I bet its ok to have a call to prayer blaring from a mosque loudspeaker 5 times a day.””
If I lived in an area where this was happening, I would be organizing citizens to take it to court and put an end to it. If an inanimate object like a cross can be interpreted to mean “establishing a religion”, then certainly the noise from their loudspeakers is also. There can be many people who never SEE the cross in question but who can escape the NOISE from their loudspeakers?
What is the matter with people? Fight fire with fire and put an end to this madness.
We don’t need to remove this judge . . . we need him to oversee Hillary’s trial for gross negligence of confidential governmental communications. There is no “intent” provision in the law of her crimes.
“The law is the law” he says. He would have to convict her. Then he would have to apply the federal conviction guidelines. Those would see her in prison for a nice long time applied regularly
Judge shopping at its best.
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