For a little bit of background:
The World Trade Center cross, also known as the Ground Zero cross, is a group of steel beams found amidst the debris of the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks which resembles the proportions of a Christian cross. [NO!!! You are not supposed to say that!]
The World Trade Center was built using prefabricated parts which were bolted or welded together at the site. This process dramatically reduced construction time and costs. Using this process, t-beams and other types of cross beams were created and used in each of the World Trade Center buildings. When the Twin Towers collapsed, it sent debris down on to 6 World Trade Center, and gutted the interior of World Trade Center 6. In the midst of the WTC6 debris was this intact cross beam, which its discoverer believes came from the North Tower.
The potential use of the cross in the World Trade Center Memorial has been controversial. Many groups such as families of certain Christian victims want the cross to be included. Other organizations disagree, notably the American Atheists (who have filed suit pertaining to this issue) as well as the Coalition for Jewish Concerns
And hence we this judicial verdict the absurdity of which not withstanding, its timing is mind numbing: it came on March the 29th, which happened to be Good Friday.
In the matter of American Atheists’ lawsuit against the taxpayer-funded 9/11 Memorial Cross, a judge found no state action endorsing religion and found that the symbol itself is not religious but instead an artifact.
The ruling states, “Since the decision to include the artifact in the Museum’s Historical Exhibit has a secular purpose, Defendants have not advanced religion impermissibly, and the cross does not create excessive entanglement between the state and religion. Thus, Plaintiffs’ Establishment Clause claim fails.”
How thoughtful, your honor. Did you ever hear of the guy who was crucified on the days you issued this? Also, there were tons and tons of debris (sorry, “artifacts”) found at the site of the notorious religious attack on the US. How come just this one made it to the state-sponsored memorial site? Precisely because others did see it as a religious symbol.
Some saw the crossed metal as a Christian cross and felt its survival was symbolic. Fr. Brian Jordan OFM, a Roman Catholic Franciscan priest, spoke over it and declared it to be a “symbol of hope… [a] symbol of faith… [a] symbol of healing”. One minister at the site says that when a family of a man who died in the attacks came to the cross shrine and left personal effects there, “It was as if the cross took in the grief and loss. I never felt Jesus more.”
What puzzles me is why the Religious Right have to resort to such laughable ideas for the sake of an end-run around the law. From declaring that Christianity is not a religion (!) to saying that a cross is not a religious symbol, they have shown us that they care only about the ends, not the means. The stench of dishonesty is revolting.
Well. It is time to open our wallets again.
“We will appeal. We’re fighting it. This is not dead,” American Atheists’ President Dave Silverman said of the ruling. “This is a place where religion destroyed American lives. This is something all Americans must fight. This is injustice. What could possibly be more religious than a cross? The only thing would be a cross with the name ‘Jesus’ carved in it.”
