The Constitution Promises Freedom Of Religion Not Freedom From Religion

Photo by the talented Shane J Montgomery

 

The Memorial Weekend is a time to remember....

Emily Zanotti @ American Princess has been waging a relentless war around the clock on behalf of The Thomas More Law Center, to keep the Mt. Soledad 43 foot tall stone Cross Monument up. Erected  in San Diego, California in 1954, it today honors veterans of World War I and II and the Korean War.

“In bitter irony, the very freedoms Captain Martino and Major Jerry Bloomfield died to protect are being perverted by the ACLU and atheists to deprive them and their grieving families the honor and solace they deserve,” said Richard Thompson, President of the Thomas More Law Center.

Emily, who is a fellow member of The Cotillion group of brilliant girl bloggers, tells me: "Last summer, after the city had voted to just tear down the cross and keep the land, the people of San Diego voted to hand over the land to the federal government, which would put the cross out of the reach of the ACLU (thanks to some quick thinking by Congress, the feds declared it a national monument), but the city still didn't want to give it up, and 76% voted to save the cross."

The 17-year vicious battle over whether religious symbols can be displayed on public land, has of course been fought against the dreaded ACLU, who have finally on May 3rd (how dare they spoil my Birthday) won an order against the City of San Diego to have the mountain top cross removed within 90 days or face a daily fine of $5, 000.

Now the fight picks up the pace, and Emily's concern grows stronger, as time is not on their side. The petition which hopes to achieve 100, 000 signatures this week, can be found here, together with a letter to be sent to the President, asking him to take the land under the federal government's powers of eminent domain:

Dear President Bush,

In 2004 Congress passed a law designating the land on which the Mt. Soledad Cross stands and the granite memorial walls surrounding it as a National Veterans Memorial.

You once stated in a letter dated May 22, 2001 that you considered the Mount Soledad Cross and Veterans Memorial as a "…place to reflect on our past, be inspired by true American patriots, and offer war veterans our heartfelt gratitude for the freedom we all enjoy today."

On May 3, 2006 a Federal District Judge ordered that the Mt. Soledad Cross be removed within 90 days.

In order to save the Mount Soledad Cross and Veterans Memorial, I respectfully urge you to direct your Secretary of the Interior to immediately begin legal proceedings to take the subject land under the federal government's power of eminent domain.

World Net Daily who has carried the banner of this plight all the way, writes:

In an effort supported by Christian advocacy groups nationwide, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders met with White House lawyers in Washington, D.C., to ask President Bush to issue an executive order that would save the Mount Soledad cross after a judge ruling in a case brought by the ACLU ordered it removed.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., also discussed the issue yesterday with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Sanders told the Copley News Service the president's lawyers "indicated it's going to be tough to get this done and we're going to have to work real hard, and they'll give us as many options as they can." [...]

The [executive] order [requested from the President] would complete the annexation of city land first initiated by Hunter in November 2004. One month later, Congress passed legislation requesting transfer of the war memorial site to the federal park system. Last summer, 76 percent of voters in a special election in San Diego agreed to the transfer but courts, citing California law, blocked the vote.

The citizens group is represented by the Thomas More Law Center, which says it has "pledged to do whatever we can to save" the cross.

Charles LiMandri, West Coast regional director for the Law Center, says that after reviewing case law, he believes federal jurisdiction is much more tolerant of religious icons located on federal property.

A cross has been at the present location, in one form of another, since 1913. Sanders and many citizens consider the cross and the war memorial an important part of San Diego's history. The battle began in 1989 when Phillip Paulsen, an atheist, filed suit, and a court ordered the city to remove the cross.

Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association, says more than 247,000 e-mails have been sent to President Bush in nine days.

His father, AFA founder Rev. Don Wildmon, has contacted the White House about the issue.

Tim Wildmon is using his weekday show on American Family Radio, "Today's Issues" to bring the debate to the attention listeners to more than 180 radio stations.

Jay Sekulow, head of the American Center for Law & Justice, also is asking his radio audience to communicate with the White House.

Last week, Rev. Jerry Falwell told WND he planned to contact the Bush administration. Gary Cass of Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida has also pledged his support.

Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Fund and Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council are planning a press conference at the Mt. Soledad site today to urge supporters to come to San Diego to help save the cross.

Mahoney said in a statement "it must be constantly stressed that the Constitution promises freedom of religion not freedom from religion."

"Therefore, we are issuing a national call for the faith community and people of good will to come to San Diego and peacefully intervene to prevent the removal of the cross," he said. We can no longer be silent as our freedoms and history are being stripped away."

So sharpen your pencils and get out your keyboards please, and make a difference NOW, as we on ATB are left to contemplate the importance of what the Constitution promises: Freedom of Religion, not freedom from Religion.

Are we simply fighting amidst the forces of atheism that are embarked on a campaign to remove every vestige of religion from public view? Well we know what the Democrats believe.

Emily Zanotti leads the charge, Beth @ MVRWC delivers her insignia stiletto, right where it hurts, Beth @ Blue Star Chronicles has more. Little Miss Attila gives it a plug. Claire @ American Diva: "...more fascistic nonsense sponsored by the Anti-American Commie Liberals Usurpers."

GM'S Corner has a worthy read about his treasured piece of "The Shining City On The Hill." It certainly made me shed a tear.

Spreading the word @ Wizbang, Mudville Gazette, Stop The ACLU, Third World County, Woman Honor Thyself, Cao's Blog, Adam's Blog, Stuck On Stupid, Right Wing Nation, Point Five, Samantha Burns. TMH, Church and State,

Comments

[probligo]

I see two parts here...

"Freedom Of Religion Not Freedom From Religion"

At its most fundamental, I would not have any problem with the sentiment.

I DO have a problem if Religion, one religion in particular, were to become the political system of my country. If I were American, I would still be fearful of that prospect. Bear in mind here that I believe very, very strongly in the idea of secular government. That belief has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am atheist. As Islam has shown over the past four or five centuries, and as Christianity showed in Europe at least until the time of the Magna Carta and even into the Renaissance (remember Galileo?), the direct influence and involvement of religion in government is most probably the most stifling influence to the overall development of humankind that one can imagine.

The second part is the "war" between religious factions in the US. I have to say at this point that "atheism" in the US, at least the small part that I see through the great lens of the internet, seems to be as much a fundamentalist, formulaic and radicalised system of beliefs as any of the formal religions. I am sitting here composing this and out to the right is Magritte's "Ceci n'est pas une pipe". I wonder - if one were to write "Atheism" on a piece of paper and the words "This is not the absence of a religion" beneath would it still make sense?

Suffice to say that the battle between religion and non-religion is not the battle that needs to be fought. That is no more than the conflict between individuals and their own prejudice and intolerance.

In no circumstances should a state become a "Christian State" in the same way that Islam has (for some centuries past) become the system of government in other states.

Why not?

Look no further than Iran.

Oh, and for those who have lost family members in any war, my thoughts go with you this day.

[GM Roper]

Thank you for the tear shed for my remembrance of my dad. He was one of the truly great patriots and I do miss him so much.

[Angel]

Excellent read!..Its shocking and shameful that religion is steadily being exorcised from our Nation. Thanks for the link as well!

[Darrell]

There's a piece of the puzzle missing in the above. A judge has ruled that the city CANNOT transfer the land to the federal gov't. Time for the city to sell the land to a private citizen/group. Bill Gates are you listening? Or are you too much of a weenie? How about the good citizen of California targeting those judges for extinction? And to clarify, I mean take them away from their jobs.

[North by Northwest]

Ultimately it all comes down to the elevation of the importance assigned to the perception of "self-importance". I say 'self-importance' and not the often misused term 'individualism', because the principle of being independent and self-reliant stands in stark contrast to a distorted and exaggerated sense of one's own value or importance.

The latter causes people with most often unhappy religious memories and experiences during earlier parts of their life to believe, that society 'owes' them compensation in the form of deference to said unhappy memories. If religious subjects and symbols were not causing emotionally charged reactions but were viewed with a merely neutral or even disinterested slant, this whole issue wouldn't exist.

It thus follows, that Phillip Paulsen, an atheist who filed the original suit backed by the ACLU in 1989 to have the cross removed, must have been pretty emotionally charged to go that far.

Which begs the question, why are the emotions of a Phillip Paulsen weighed heavier than those of a 76% majority, including that of the Mayor of San Diego?

[Francis W. Porretto]

The viciousness of the anti-religion forces, and the ruthlessness of the ACLU, have seldom been more clearly displayed. What of the many thousands of crosses that mark veterans' graves in publibly maintained cemeteries? Will they be next?

The time has come to recognize that our backs are to the wall. We have to stand and fight, or see atheism become, to all appearances, the sole acceptable religion for display in the United States.