Posted on 06/18/2002 2:52:56 AM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
Decry plan to use symbol as part of 9-11 memorial
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The organization American Atheists is protesting a proposal to use a large steel cross found in the rubble of the World Trade Center in a memorial to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Describing itself as a "nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of nonbelievers," the group said in a statement yesterday that 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 Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is the local agency in charge of planning for the rebuilding of the site.
Ed Malloy, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council and a board member of the agency, has asked that the cross be made a permanent part of any future memorial.
According to the New York Daily News, construction workers, firefighters, police officers and family members have held weekly Sunday services at the site of the cross since Sept. 11.
"We're hoping it will stay right where it is and become part of any permanent memorial," Malloy was quoted as saying in the Daily News.
Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists objects to the possibility that the cross might be used in a taxpayer-supported project.
"This is an inappropriate use of taxpayer money," she said in the statement, "You can't take government funds to promote religion, especially sectarian religion in the form of a cross or any other religious symbol."
Johnson added that any memorial to the victims of the attacks "should bring Americans together, not divide them on the basis or religion or anything else."
Ron Barrier, national spokesman for the group, stressed that Muslims, Hindus and other non-Christians were killed in the attacks as well.
What about them? he asked. "Are we going to turn the site of the WTC into a religious shrine with competing religious slogans, symbols and displays? Any monument to the victims, and those who helped in the aftermath of Sept. 11 should be tasteful, as well as a unifying statement about America and humanity.
"Christian symbols are as inappropriate as a Muslim crescent or some other religious label," Barrier said.
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."
Said WorldNetDaily columnist Ann Coulter in an October column : "The cross at Ground Zero was not simply the cross beams remaining from an existing building. It was formed out of beams from Building One plunging, splitting and crashing into Building Six."
"There's no symmetry to anything down there," an FBI chaplain said at the time, "except those crosses."
Johnson said that her group would go to court if necessary to challenge the use of government money for the placement of any religious symbol at the WTC site.
Notice that these 'atheists' have no problem with Muslims or any of the 'designer religions' that have popped up, like Scientology. I think most of them aren't really atheists, they are just anti-Christian.
I have an idea though. The cross could be donated to a church and placed in the church's front yard. Some highly public church. Whatever makes them spin their heads at 360 degrees and spit out split pea soup. [Therefore, lets keep trying what we're trying. That really ticks them off.]
They are not "non-believers". They are strident believers in Atheism. That is their "religion". They want to push "their religion" on everyone else.
Is it just me, or has the number of people who have no lives exploded in the past year or so?
And no symbol stands for atheism by default. What a crock.
For Ghu's sake, EAT a little something before your brain starves to death.
The cross beams are obviously formed by an original joint that remained in place.
True.
I am an non-believing agnostic and I hate these radical atheists.
I didn't take the ramp tours. I mainly stood by that park to the south east of the center where lots of people played chess. When I worked downtown in the mid 90's, I went through there everyday. Now it's parking lot. I wasn't comfortable at all.
The one thing that surprised me was that the cross was still there. I remember reading about it when it was discovered but I had presumed it had been carted off site. Instead, it's prominately displayed.
Why people are so intent on taking away a symbol so meaningful to most of those who work at the site and presumably, to those who died there, is beyond me.
The prime motivating factor in the attacks of 9/11 was hatred. Cool, irrational, senseless hatred. Religion was the cloak it hid behind. Just as ir-religion is the cloak these vermin hide behind.
Religion WAS the sustaining force throughout the dark days when the rubble lay burning and the air filled with the stench of rotting flesh. The first official act of recovery was the High Mass at the National Cathedral. It was probably the most unifying gesture Bush could have made.
These naysayers have outlived their usefulness. It's time to shut them up.
I think their number hasn't changed, they're just louder and more annoying.
Unfortunately, as long as the liberal media is controlling what the masses see and hear...this won't happen. The Constitution protects Freedom of Speech, but has no guarantee that anyone will listen. These anti-Christian zealots have learned over the years...their cause will be promoted by their "fellow-(non)believers" in the media! When there is no choice...people will hear the message. The press (and the ACLU) will ensure that.
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