Atheists still fighting against WTC cross

World Net Daily ^ | September 9, 2003 | WND

[joesnuffy]

DAY OF INFAMY 2001 Atheists still fighting against WTC cross Group calls symbol an 'insult' to non-Christians

Posted: September 9, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Just shy of the two-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, an atheist organization is once again warning against using a steel-beam cross at the site of the World Trade Center disaster from being used in a permanent memorial to the victims who died there.

"Many people who died on Sept. 11 weren't Christian. There were Jews, Muslims and atheists who died," Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, told the Trentonian newspaper. "This is a Christian religious advertisement, and allowing it to stay there is an insult to everyone who doesn't believe in that particular religion."

As WorldNetDaily reported, last year, the organization first spoke out about the issue after Ed Malloy, a board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, asked that the cross be made a permanent part of any future memorial.

The atheists said use of the cross in a government-funded monument "would violate the separation of church and state, be insensitive to those victims who had no religious beliefs and would incredibly pay homage to religion – the prime motivating factor in the faith-based attack of Sept. 11."

The Associated Press reports Johnson and her group, founded by the late Madalyn Murray O'Hair, is considering a lawsuit to prevent the cross from becoming part of any permanent memorial.

Construction worker Frank Silecchia happened upon the perfectly symmetrical cross in the midst of the WTC wreckage just a few days after the attacks. It was standing straight, 20-feet high, surrounded by many smaller crosses.

"When I first saw it, it took my heart," Silecchia said. "It helped me heal the burden of my despair, and gave me closure on the whole catastrophe."

After the cross was discovered, construction workers, firefighters, police officers and family members began holding weekly Sunday services at the site.

The names of fallen police officers and firefighters were also scribbled on the cross, along with the message "May God forgive their evil," reported AP.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency overseeing the rebuilding of the area, has made no decisions on what a Ground Zero memorial would include.

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Previous story:

Atheists protest Ground Zero cross

Related column:

Dressing for distress

[Sunshine Sister]

I got news for these people. This ain't gubmint property. They can't stop anything! For once!

[Damocles]

Many people who died on Sept. 11 weren't Christian.

And many were. Separation of church and state again? These people need to get another playbook.

Denying Christians an expression in this memorial is absurd...

[big_Rob]

In a country founded on religious freedom, the steel beam cross is the perfect memorial to the people lost in this tragedy. These petty, narrow-minded individuals protesting the cross seem to forget that even though some in the towers were atheists, most were not. I watched quite a bit of the coverage on 9-11, and I don't remember seeing any people praying to allah for help. This isn’t about political correctness, it’s about remembering the defining moment in our history which brought this country together to stand against those who hate our way of life. We are one nation under God. We cannot and should not deny it.

[EggsAckley]

These people make me so angry. I hope they just move the cross to some "suitable" place. The cross is one of God's miracles amidst the devastation of the WTC.

[ClearCase_guy]

The day will come when the atheists try to remove all the crosses from government cemeteries (like Arlington). They are just waiting until they think they might get away with it.

[Peach]

But those same folks will probably be all for putting the Koran on display somewhere if a Muslim groups so requests. Need to be PC (to everyone but Christians).

And since the cross was found on the site of the worst attack in our nation's history, why SHOULDN'T we display it? It's not as though someone made the cross.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The atheists who say this garbage are among the worst of liars. A true atheist would care what was put up because they don't believe that there is ANY god! To the TRUE atheist cross has no more religious meaning than a sphere or a statue of a horse or a plaque with the names of the victims.

These people are not atheists, they are anti-religious fanatics who seek to force their beliefs on others and as such their rantings should be ignored by the media and the courts.

[almcbean]

The more stories I read about these type of folks, the more I feel pity and compassion for them. How sad it must be to live such a negative, spiteful unfulfilling life with nothing better to do than this. I know it is an easy target and there will l be many posts ridiculing this person and the organization, but these folks are lost and blind and need our prayers, not enmity.

[Paved Paradise]

EXACTLY!!!! They wouldn't object to a giant Santa Claus, I'll bet.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Good point. Atheists I have met are more "obsessed" with God than any 10 Christians I could name.

[Blood of Tyrants]

See my post #8 above.

[FeliciaCat]

Why are Atheists always so interested in Religion and the religious?

[Tribune7]

These guys don't-- and never did -- have the law or Constitutiion on their side. What they have is corrupt judges. That's why we have to take back the courts.

[Blood of Tyrants]

A true atheist would look at religion as an adult looks at a child with a pretend friend. Amusing and harmless as long as it makes the people better citizens.

[Alouette]

I have no objection to a Koran placed on public display--as long as it is immersed in a bucket of urine.

[Wondervixen]

>>Many people who died on Sept. 11 were Athiests

Then, I guess they'd be paying for that "oversight" about now, wouldn't they?

[Wondervixen]

What do you expect from the Athiest-Communist Litigation Union?

[Peach]

You nailed it but unfortunately our media are in that group of people who hate Christianity, it seems.

[AngieGOP]

Atheists should consider the crossbeams remaining at the WTC site as remnants of the orginal structure. If Christians want to view the crossbeams as a religious symbol so be it. There is no need for it to be moved anywhere.