Roadside cross memorials unconstitutional?

[basas]

<<If a national atheist organization has its way, a series of 12-foot-tall memorial crosses that adorn Utah's highways will be taken down.

But not if the families of the people those crosses honor — state Highway Patrol troopers killed in the line of duty — have anything to say about it.

American Atheists Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the 13 white, steel crosses represent the death of Jesus Christ and therefore violate the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits government establishment of religion....>>

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311956,00.html

 

[Beth76]

I don't so much have a problem with it. Isn't that what gravesites are for?

 

[HelenePA]

soon people will be suing the churchs to take them down off the church because they can see it on the chruch as they pass by.. if ya dont like it dont look. is it really going to hurt you? what if it wasn't a cross.. what it if was a plain old stick? would that be okay?

 

[sha_lyn]

I don't have a problem with it if all the troopers honored by the crosses were christian, and if appropriate tributes would be allowed to honor non-christian troopers.

 

[sha_lyn]

soon people will be suing the churchs to take them down off the church because they can see it on the chruch as they pass by.. if ya dont like it dont look. is it really going to hurt you? what if it wasn't a cross.. what it if was a plain old stick? would that be okay?

Churches are not government agencies using taxpayer funds.

 

[PrincessTiff]

It's people like them that give atheists such a bad name.

 

[HelenePA]

Churches are not government agencies using taxpayer funds.

funds for the crosses? Okay what if the families paid for the crosses would that be okay?

 

[va32h]

Wow - 12 feet is really big.

Were these 13 officers killed at that spot on the highway? In some big incident?

Or is it just honoring all troopers ever killed in the line of duty? I suppose I'd find it more logical if there were some sort of organized memorial with an offramp and a parking lot and a visitor center, rather than 13 enormous objects that might lead to traffic mishaps as motorists randomly pull over to check them out.

 

[sha_lyn]

funds for the crosses? Okay what if the families paid for the crosses would that be okay?

My comment you quoted was in direct response to your comment about Churches.
See my first response in this thread for my opinion about the OP

 

[va32h]

sha-lyn, according to the article, the crosses were paid with private funds:

he Utah Highway Patrol Association, a private organization, designed and constructed the memorials with private funding in 1998. Private citizens can memorialize troopers who died in the line of duty, under Utah state law, Babione said.

"There's nothing unconstitutional here because the memorials cost taxpayers nothing," he said.

So I guess the issue is that they are on state-owned land and that the cross is a Christian symbol.

 

[sha_lyn]

sha-lyn, according to the article, the crosses were paid with private funds

My comment was directly in response to comment about churches.

 

[va32h]

My comment was directly in response to comment about churches. Can no one here read?

I'm not picking on you! I happen to agree with you, but I guess you can't read either. Sheesh. Sorry.

 

[sha_lyn]

Quotes are from the linked article:

The Utah Highway Patrol Association defends the crosses, which have the Highway Patrol logo on them and have been erected on government land. It says they are secular symbols that both honor the troopers and remind speeding drivers to slow down.

Crosses are secular? Sure

 

[sha_lyn]

I guess you missed the part in the bible about Judge not

 

[Bust*A*Stitch]

Crosses are secular? Sure

Christians weren't the first to use crosses just like Hitler wasn't the first one to use a swastika.

I hate it when minorities try and get everything THEIR way.

That was sarcasm.

If people put as much effort into actually trying to change things that matter rather than wasting the courts time and money on subjects like this, this country might just be a little better than it is.

 

[Bust*A*Stitch]

I guess you missed the part in the bible about Judge not

Did you ever even read it? It is spelled out pretty simple, and the previous poster said it fairly directly...=D

Have a great day!
Busta

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Hopefully we can keep this thread open and have a discussion on this topic. Please try to stay within the guidelines when posting on this subject...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

 

[Chuck S]

Personally, I think if the "memorials" (in this case, crosses) bear the official logo of the state highway patrol, on state land then it could be construed as the state sanctioning a religion, whether they are actually paid for by the state or not.

I'm not against a memorial for fallen law enforcement officers, but to me an official monument or secular memorial placed adjacent to nice rest area, where people could read it and properly reflect on the meaning would be more appropriate, and also be safer and less distracting to drivers.

 

[talulabelle]

people on the "Golden Compass" thread are all saying that watching a movie that was written with atheism as it's basis, and is an anti - God movie won't make your children atheists. I agree, but looking at crosses on the highway isn't going to make these peoples children Christian either. Why so much hate agaisnt something that makes the families of these troopers feel better? It doesn't effect them at all.

 

[yasmina]

There was a huge discussion about these roadside memorials on local talk radio this past summer. The main problems of them, by those opposed, had nothing to do with there being crosses. They were concerned about: 1) the memorials are a distraction to those driving, 2) persons visiting the site are endangering themselves by being so close to the side of the rodes, and 3) that's what gravesites are for.

I tend to agree with these reasons, but if the memorial sites are allowed, I have no problem with crosses.

Sheesh, next thing you know, Bill O'Lielly will be adding this story to his war on christianity.