It was reported last week that the Federal government passed a law that allowed the land underneath the Mount Soledad Cross in San Diego to be sold to a private Christian front group. The sale seems to bring an end to a 26 year court battle to have the cross removed from a public park. The case and end result shows how hard some religious conservatives will fight for their privilege and for their symbols. It is a sad day for the 1st Amendment.
The Friendly Atheist has the latest:
Last year, the U.S. House passed a bill that would transfer the land on which the cross rests to a private Christian group so that it’s off government property, making it legal once again. (Sneaky, eh?) The provision was tucked into the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.
That transfer finally took place this week:
The Mt. Soledad Memorial Association, the veterans group that maintains the memorial, announced Monday that it has purchased the half-acre of federal land on which the 29-foot Latin cross stands from the Defense Department for $1.4 million.
Mount Soledad Cross Transferred to Private Land, Ending a Battle That Began Over 25 Years Ago
This was the same kind of end around a court decision the city tried years ago before it gave the land to the Federal government.
The case was started back in 1989 by the late Philip Paulson and the cross supporters LOST EVERY SINGLE COURT CASE, yet due to the obvious Christian privilege, the supporters won the war. The cross will now remain on a small piece of land carved out of a public park just so Christians can thump their chest and strut around in their “awesomeness”.
See, religious conservatives subverting federal court decisions is nothing new.
I’m disgusted. This is a sad day for the 1st Amendment.
I’ve been following this case since I met Philip Paulson back in the late 90s and posted some info on the case on my website at the time.
Here is a link to previous posts on this blog about the issue:
