Posted on 10/25/2006 6:15:14 PM PDT by radar101
Philip Kevin Paulson, who fought a 17-year legal battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from public property, died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was 59.
Paulson, a 6-foot-5 Vietnam veteran who lived in City Heights, became so passionate about the separation of church and state that he filed a civil lawsuit against the city of San Diego in 1989 without an attorney. He won the case, and as the appeals dragged on he became one of the county's most reviled and respected characters.
The Cross
Typical Memorial Plaque around base
During interviews with The San Diego Union-Tribune in September and October, a few months after doctors told him he did not have long to live, Paulson said he was unconcerned about death and proud of the stand that defined his life.
“The real message is equal treatment under the law, and religious neutrality. That's the purpose of why I did it,” said Paulson, who turned away from religion early in life. “It has nothing to do with me being an atheist or whether I was a Bible-thumping fundamentalist Baptist preacher.”
Paulson, the grandson of a Lutheran preacher who shunned media attention to protect the case, agreed to exclusive interviews on the condition that his comments remain confidential until his death or the end of the case.
He said he wanted people to understand why he pursued the removal of the cross, and that he was never motivated by a hatred of Christians.
“I don't harbor those kind of feelings,” Paulson said. “My mother's a Christian. I was raised a devout Christian. I'm not anti-Christian. The reason I did it is because it's not fair to the other religions. America is not just the Christian religion.”
Paulson, who grew up in Clayton, Wis., a town of 300 people, taught computer and business classes at National University.
When it became clear last summer that Paulson's condition was terminal, he and his lawyer, James McElroy, made plans to add another plaintiff to the case so that it could continue. The city has agreed to the move, although the change awaits the judge's signature. The new plaintiff, Steve Trunk, is a Vietnam war veteran, an atheist and also the product of a religious upbringing.
The city has argued that while the cross has religious significance, it also has a secular purpose – to honor war veterans. Paulson contended the memorial portion of the hilltop site was built only after he filed suit. The cross is a religious symbol that should be moved from public land, Paulson contended.
President Bush signed a bill this year that transferred ownership of the cross and war memorial site to the Department of Defense.
You mess with The Man and you will get burned.
Well, he won't be winning THIS one on appeal...
SAINT PETER: Howdy, Phil.
PHIL: Who're you.
SAINT PETER: I'm the receptionist. Take a seat. the COO will be here shortly.
PHIL: COO?
JESUS: Hello, Phil.
PHIL: Who're you?
JESUS: Da guy on da cross, Phil. Phil? Phil? Wake up, Phil.
What a shame all around....
When Paulson, an atheist, was lying in his casket, you cant help but feel sorry for the s.o.b.-
All dressed up and No Where To Go .....
Does too. Just look at which one's whining.
Good!
ping
I bet he isn't an athiest now.
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Mark 8:38
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Psalm 81:15
Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever
Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
it aint about "karma"... but more..... ironic doncha think....like rain on your wedding day.....
like a free ride when you've already paid.....
>I can't find Karma in my Bible. Can you cite chapter and >verse?
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
Job 4:8
He spent years trying to remove a war memorial because it was a cross -- I find his claim that his atheism was not a motivating force for this crusade unbelievable.
So in a way, he did us a favor
An excellent point. And, interestingly, atheists do cause believers to question themselves, and usually to come away being glad they have their faith. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
"You got some essplainin' to do!"
Ricky's God?
No sense in telling an atheist to rest in peace, so...
That guy has weird-alien eyes.
bump
"You got some essplainin' to do!"
Moses didn't get to see the Promised Land either!!!
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