Posted on 09/10/2003 7:26:35 AM PDT by bedolido
NEW YORK (Talon News) -- An atheist group is fighting an effort to place a cross at the site of the World Trade Center towers as a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The American Atheists, which was begun by renowned anti-Christian activist Madalyn Murray O'Hare before she died, are opposed to displaying the 20-foot tall cross that was found by a rescue worker named Frank Silecchia in the midst of the rubble just a few days after the buildings collapsed.
Silecchia said he "cried for 20 minutes after his discovery," the Associated Press reported at the time. "Some people will say it's velocity of physics that put it there. To me, it's an act of God."
That cross, along with many smaller crosses around it, served as a source of comfort for many of the construction workers, firefighters, policemen, and family members of the victims in the weeks following the loss of thousands of American lives.
The cross bears the names of police officers and firefighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001. Also inscribed on the cross are the words "God Bless Our Fallen Brothers."
Nevertheless, American Atheists has threatened to sue for the right to keep this cross from becoming a part of a World Trade Center memorial.
"Tax money must not be used to construct any sectarian memorial," remarked American Atheists President Ellen Johnson.
Johnson said allowing the cross in the memorial would "insult the victims, rescue workers, and other Americans who are not Christians, who do not believe in a deity, and are not religious."
The project developer, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, indicated previously that the cross should be included as part of the memorial display.
Supporters of the "Ground Zero Cross," as it has become known, believe it should be a part of the memorial as a lasting symbol and tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Copyright © 2003 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
No Christian would complain if a jewish person placed a Star of David on the site or any other religious symbol. Its the atheists that resent any acknowledgement of God that are the root problem because people acknowledging God are a rebuke to their insipid philosophy.
Several years ago a suit was brought against the City of Pittsburgh by, of course you know who, concerning a manger scene AND a menorah displayed during the Holiday season.
No acknowledgemnt of God is acceptable to atheists. Apparently being reminded that the vast majority of their fellow citizens worship a higher being is deeply disconcerting to their fragile psyche.
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