The September 11 cross is lowered by crane into a subterranean section of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Saturday, July 23, 2011 in New York. The cross was discovered upright in the ruins of ground zero following the attacks of September 11, 2001. (Mark Lennihan/Pool/AP Photo)
An atheist group sued today over the inclusion of cross-shaped steel beams, dubbed the "World Trade Center Cross," in the exhibit at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum.
Last weekend the 17-foot cross, discovered in the rubble of 9/11, was given a "ceremonial blessing" by the Rev. Brian Jordan, removed from it's temporary post near St. Peter's Church and lowered 70 feet into its permanent home inside the museum.
But a group identified as American Atheists filed a lawsuit today claiming the inclusion of the cross-shaped steel beams promotes Christianity over all other religions on public property and diminishes the civil rights of non-Christians.
"The Christian community found a piece of rubble that looked like an icon and they deified it. But really 9/11 had nothing to do with Christianity," said American Atheists president Dave Silverman. "They want a monopoly and we don't want that to happen."
"I think we're all injured when we lose rights," said Silverman. "The injuries that we're talking about here are mental anguish and being hurt because [the plaintiffs] are being left behind."
Atheists Sue Over Cross in 9/11 Memorial and Museum
In a statement to ABCNews.com, the memorial foundation identified the cross as a "symbol of spiritual comfort for the thousands of recovery workers who toiled at ground zero," as well as an "authentic physical reminder" that "tell[s] the story of 9/11 in a way nothing else can."
Silverman said, "It just so happens that the WTC was made out of T-joints and they found a T-joint. They put it in the church, kept in the church for years, prayed over it, blessed it. You don't get to do that just in the coincidence that your icon looks like a T-joint."
The atheist group said that they have contacted the 9/11 Memorial and Museum requesting to display their own atheistic memorial next to the steel-shaped cross, possibly in the form of an atom or an American flag, to represent the "500 non-religious Americans" who were "among the victims of the 9/11 attack."
The response, they claim, was "dead space."
Silverman also said that, "We have not heard of any other religious groups at all that have been allowed to put something up."
Memorial foundation president Joe Daniels said that steel girders made into other makeshift crosses, Stars of David and possibly some Eastern religious symbols, would also become part of the museum, according to the Associated Press.
"What he says there, he acknowledged that this is a religious memorial...he was admitting that we're talking about a religious icon," said Silverman.
Silverman said that if the memorial foundation allows all other religious memorials of equal size and prominence to be displayed in the museum, the group would "happily, happily, drop the case."
"It's an all or nothing deal. They can remove the cross, or they can let everybody else in. Either way is legal and we would drop the case," Silverman said.
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NOTE:
Where were your "voices" when those who attacked America on 9/11 claimed "victory" by proposing that a "Mosque" be built at Ground Zero?! Surely, if you wanted to "sue" over something, you should have joined in during the protests against having an Islamic Mosque built on the ashes of almost 3,000 dead Americans. I think I smell hypocrisy! The Cross you so vehemently object to was smoldering after the attack - it has more right to be included in a 9/11 Memorial than the Islamic half moon and sword.
Amid the smoke and rubble at Ground Zero, rescue workers came across a twisted steel cross that became a landmark of hope for firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers
The Greek church that NYC still refuses to allow to rebuild was there during the attacks; they have more right to BUILD than those promoting Islam and its ideology, at Ground Zero.
A Greek Orthodox congregation has been waiting longer—and working harder—than Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to restore the church that was destroyed on September 11, 2001.
Pick your fights, boys, but the Judeo-Christian culture is a part of America's history.
AND, here's the latest from Atlas Shrugs:
PAMELA GELLER, WND: GROUND ZERO: YES TO MOSQUE, NO TO CHURCH
If my column this week in World Net Daily doesn't get you to our 911 Freedom Rally at Ground Zero on the tenth anniversary of the 911 attacks on America, then you aren't paying attention. Your country needs you.
Ground Zero: Yes to mosque, no to church Pamela Geller, WNDThis will make your blood boil. While New York City officials rush to build the Ground Zero mosquestrosity, a 15-story middle finger to America, they've allowed the rebuilding of the 95-year-old St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which stood at the base of the World Trade Center towers and was destroyed by Muslim terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, to be mired in obstruction and endless red tape.The church has fought a 10-year-long sisyphean battle to rebuild that magnificent icon, but still can't rebuild, while the Islamic supremacist grifters behind the Ground Zero mosque havebeen helped by city officials to clear all obstacles.
In a letter to Christopher O. Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, CeCe Heil, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, charged that the Port Authority had "misrepresented the nature of its preliminary agreement with St. Nicholas Church, engaged in fraud while moving away from negotiations, relied upon defamation to mask its activities, and trespassed on St. Nicholas Church property without warrant or legal justification." Heil added that "the Port Authority's activities are a violation of St. Nicholas Church's rights under federal law 42 U.S.C. §1983 and the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution."Heil accused the Port of "bad-faith dealings and obstructionist tactics towards the St. Nicholas Church" and charged that "the extensive delay caused by the Port Authority's bad-faithnegotiations coupled with an arrogant attitude toward people of faith lead to the conclusion that the Port Authority's actions towards St. Nicholas Church are motivated by hostility toward religion – a violation of equal protection of the laws under both the U.S. and New York constitutions."
Read the rest here.
Posted by Pamela Geller on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 12:43 PM
