Posted on 07/21/2015 2:13:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
However, legal questions still linger in the much-debated case
After more than 25 years of lawsuits and court rulings about the cross on San Diego’s Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial, the recent sale of a plot of land under the cross may be the final solution to the quarter-century church-and-state conflict.
Documents confirm the title for the half-acre plot of land beneath the Mount Soledad cross was transferred from the federal Department of Defense to the Mount Soledad Memorial Association on July 17 for $1.4 million. Bruce Bailey, president of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association, also confirmed the deal is in escrow.
The giant cross – and topic of much debate over the decades – has stood on government-owned land overlooking Mission Bay and La Jolla and has been at the center of a legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Back in December, Congress approved a bill authored by Congressman Duncan Hunter proposing the transfer of the property from the federal government over to the Mount Soledad Memorial Association in an effort to eliminate the concern by opponents that a cross on public property violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
Bill Proposed in Mount Soledad Cross Dispute[DGO] Bill Proposed in Mount Soledad Cross Dispute A bill proposed by local Congressman Duncan Hunter is an interesting development in the decades-long legal dispute. (Published Monday, Dec 8, 2014) In December 2013, a federal judge ordered the cross to come down, saying it violates the establishment clause of the Constitution by unlawfully endorsing one religion over others.
In July 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review the decades-long legal dispute.
James McElroy is a San Diego-based attorney whose clients have battled the cross for the past 20 years. On Tuesday, he told NBC 7 he is considering challenging the sale of the land at Mount Soledad, so the litigation on this ongoing controversy may not be over just yet.
Litigation challenging the cross on federal property is pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is being advised of the ownership change. There’s a chance the Ninth Circuit could reach out to the District Court for additional proceedings or take some other action.
The Mount Soledad Memorial Association has overseen the maintenance of the memorial since its establishment in 1954 when the 43-foot-tall cross was first erected on public land in San Diego.
In 1992, the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association purchased the land and in 2006, the memorial was officially transferred to the Department of Defense. The memorial site is home to more than 3,700 plaques honoring U.S. military veterans of all religions who served in various wars.
Half an acre for $1.4 million? Whose pockets does that go into?
$1.4 million for half an acre of land?
Awesome.
Pass a Bill of Attainder for James McElroy to be drawn and quartered. It would be fun seeing him cite the U.S. Constitution to challenge that.
“Half an acre for $1.4 million? “
In coastal California that’s not out of line.
The government should have done this for $1. Shame!
I would add that this doesn’t “solve” the issue. It dodges the issue, which is whether or not atheists can sue to eliminate crosses or the Ten Commandments or anything Christian on government land or in a government building.
It does, at least, preserve the cross. But that never should have been in question in the first place.
Which just goes to prove that this had nothing to do with the "separation of church and state" and everything to do with hatred of Christianity.
one small victory that points the way for Christians in this new world of anti-christs. get your hands out the gov’t’s pocket and be free again. thank God and bless these Christian soldiers for their efforts.
bingo...they want this destroyed like ISIS does.
bump
Freedom of religion isn’t free
Looks like our compatriot was not far off.
Matt is incommunicado just now. Fair and following seas, Chu-tau.
You ought to see the base of that memorial. The picture doesn’t do it justice. There are granite plaques by the hundreds with the names of veterans. It is inspirational, it is awesome.
Exactly.
Many trees exhibit the shape of a Cross. The only thing we can do is clear cut all national parks and forests. Also, the letter “t,” looks like a Cross so the federal government should not use the letter “t” in any documents or laws. It’s the Constitution.
This recent practice of persecution of Christianity and purging all signs of Christianity from the public square and public schools is unconstitutional and is the banning of our Traditions and prevents truth and the transfer of culture to the next generation. This censoring of speech and religion is unconstitutional....and that should be obvious to ALL of us. Having a cross on public land, nor having the 10 Commandments on court houses, is a violation of our Constitution. It does not establish a church, or force a religion on anyone. Since elimination of them forces Secular Humanism, it is a Catch-22, isn’t it?
They claim having a cross on public lands forces Christianity on people-—which is a provable lie, but they argue that banning the Cross won’t promote Secular Humanism, which it obviously does since it ends the conversation of the dominant religion of the Vets and who they worshipped which should be a part of history.
As Wittgenstein stated, the Limiting of Ideas/Words is the Limiting of Concepts, and that is what is going on here-—the Leftists want to destroy the transmission of ideas and culture to the next generation. It is to make them ignorant so that the Leftists can recast history and lie. It is the State intentionally demeaning and belittling the concepts of only Christianity here. That is interference of Church and State and censorship to promote hatred of Christianity.
Psychologists know that when laws promote ideas (and they ALL do), then that will have a powerful affect on the beliefs of the masses. When they ban the idea of Christianity, it is banning that concept from the masses, and the State can not censor ideas-—they can’t favor Satanism or Secular Humanism over Christianity when Christianity is the only compatible belief system which promotes our Justice (virtue) System, since it is based on Christian Ethics only.
Promoting Satanism ejects our “justice” system and is antithetical to our Constitution and Individual Natural Rights from God. Secular Humanists use individuals in inhumane, vile ways—as a Means to an End, like in Marxism, which is unconstitutional.... and forces a Vice System.
Christian Ethics are in line with our Constitution, so promoting it is never in violation of our “Justice System” and all Law has to promote Justice (a virtue and a Christian moral system at that). The promotion of Satanism or Muslim ethics should be banned and people who adhere to those belief systems should never be granted citizenship because their belief systems are antithetical to our Constitution.
ALL ideas are based on some “Faith”. All people have a Faith. The only one banned now is Christianity and Judaism—no Satanic, Secular ones are banned from the public square or schools-—they are actually promoted 24/7 by our unconstitutional “laws” and rules, even in public schools. it has to end!!!!
Our Constitution is only based on Rational Faith-—those that promote “public virtue” and Truth and Reason/Science/Logic, etc. That is why doctrines of Christianity are generalized in our “Justice” System, because their ideas of Truth is the same and consistent with our Rule of Law (Higher Law/God’s). Not voodooism or even Mormonism when it promoted polygamy was allowed in our “Justice” System.
All Satanic irrational religions, that practice sodomy and killing babies, which are irrational and dehumanizing and evil, and removes purpose and meaning from the human body should be banned-—a felony which it was for hundreds of years before the Leftists kicked Reason and Truth out of our Justice System which was unconstitutional and has to be restored.
Just Laws can never promote evil or vice. That is the fundamental meaning of Justice (the very Queen of Virtue in Western Civ.)——When Law ceases to be Just, it ceases to be law. All unjust law is “null and void” like abortion “laws” and sodomy “laws”, etc.
Marxism and Socialism should also be illegal, since it is promoting the vice of theft and literally rewards vice and punishes Virtue. All Just Laws only promote “public virtue”, and if they promote vice, they are unjust law and unconstitutional by definition.
Displaying our historical beliefs and truth in history is a Natural Right-—and ALL beliefs in our Founding were based on the Christian worldview. So, why is only our God and Christianity being banned and now the State forces Satanism on us (The Religion of Ba’al Worship—(sodomite “marriage” and baby sacrifice (abortion) ?
In complete violation of their irrational conception of separation of State and Church—why can the SCOTUS now force abortion and sodomite “marriage”—both Rites of Ba’al Worship—on us, when our Justice System is only compatible with Christian Ethics only, and Justice can only promote “Virtue” (Justice) and sodomy and killing babies are provable vices?
Just my thoughts of the day. Any govt. money used to sue for such irrational things as removal of our Traditions and Heritage should be condemned and the source of money completely ended-—just like for the unconstitutional use of money for that vile organization Planned Parenthood. If we would dry up all this taxpayer money to fund such stupid, evil organizations, then they couldn’t do so much damage to culture. We need to reform the Law and make it promote Justice in the Classical sense, and eliminate the IRS, and destroy their system of mass indoctrination of our children, now.
We really have to restore Rule of Law (Just Law). As Cicero stated, that when Law doesn’t promote Virtue (Justice), it will collapse the culture and result in tyranny. It is why Libertarianism is so dumb-—without morality, there is no civil society and as Cicero/Founders knew, all Just Law promotes “public virtue” at all times for a Free Republic.
“The giant cross... has stood on government-owned land overlooking Mission Bay.” Who would have a problem with that? Oh, I know. Losers who feel a pathetic need to become school yard bullies.
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