Posted on 12/02/2005 8:53:03 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
A lawsuit filed by the American Atheists in U.S. District Court on Thursday seeks to remove steel crosses that dot roadways throughout Utah and memorialize Utah Highway Patrol troopers who have died in the line of duty.
The suit has drawn harsh reaction from family members of the fallen troopers and promises to be the source of an emotional battle.
The crosses, which stand about 12 feet high and bear the trooper's name and the UHP insignia, were erected starting in 1998 and serve as a memorial for 14 troopers who have died since 1931. About nine of the crosses are on public land and all of them are placed near the spot where the troopers lost their lives.
Plaintiffs Stephen Clark, Michael Rivers and Richard Andrews in conjunction with the American Atheists Inc. also seek to have the UHP symbol removed from the crosses.
"The presence of the UHP logo on a poignant religious symbol is an unconstitutional violation of the United States Constitution. It is government endorsement of religion," said Rivers, Utah director for American Atheists.
The suit names Col. Scott Duncan, superintendent of the UHP; John Njord, executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation; D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, executive director of the Department of Administrative Services; and F. Keith Stepan, director of the Division of Facilities Construction and Management Department of Administrative Services.
Rivers said the purpose of the suit is to eliminate religious symbols used by government agencies and placed on government land. American Atheists claim to have a membership of 30 million people. They are not opposed to memorials, just the crosses.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
well, I want the athiests removed!
People who are offended at seeing crosses should put in some productive time at making a difference in their community: start a program cleaning up their city streets. Trash has to be more offensive than crosses. I suppose the letter "t" will go next for these twits.
Excellent!
BUMP!!
The law of probability would seem to get one of these cases before a common sense judge that would just say this is dumb and hit the ACLU with a big fine for wasting the courts time and resources.
Their answer:
The First Amendment says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion......." It doesn't require a particular one.And my response
Did Congress put the crosses up in Utah?My point is that putting up a cross does not establish ANY religion. The crosses have, I am told, the troopers’ names on them. They are a kind of memorial.
Remembering the dead is indeed done by religious people, but I note there is a reference to Ms. O’Hair (excuse any possible misspelling, not intentional) on your site. Is your site a religious site? Clearly not, so remembering the dead is not intrinsically religious, though those of us who are religious might, as I have done, be reminded by a mention of your “hallowed dead” to pray the Fatima prayer for them.
Not only are you failing to show that putting up crosses establishes a religion, or religion in general, you are also suggesting that the First amendment as you quote it does not apply because it says nothing about what Utah can do, since the clause you cite refers to Congress. What law did Congress make that “respected” putting up crosses in Utah?
The ACLU has once again overstepped. They will be slapped down, once again.
Excellent again. Please continue to give them Hell!!
"Arlington is next......"
Followed by Gettysburg.
I'm waiting for the moment when someone stands up to these people and tells them, "How dare you impose your morality on me and my beliefs? Who are you to force your beliefs on me?"
I will die of a swelled head. Thank you so much for your encouragement!
BUT ... I am trying to give them Heaven. They are on the outskirts of hell as we speak and they clearly have (I hope only temrporarily) lost "lo ben dell'intelletto" -- the good of that faculty which was made to resonate in harmony with the Eternal Word.
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