Written by Don Byrd
Earlier this week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that display of the “Ground Zero Cross” at a national museum honoring September 11, 2001 victims and rescuers is not a violation of the separation of church and state. The court emphasized that the display is permissible because it is an “artifact of historical significance.”
Here are some key quotes from the ruling explaining the court’s reasoning.
[T]he record compels the conclusion that appellees’ actual purpose in displaying The Cross at Ground Zero has always been secular: to recount the history of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath.
…
The Establishment Clause is not properly construed to command that government accounts of history be devoid of religious references. Nor is a permissible secular purpose transformed into an impermissible religious one because the government makes an historical point with an artifact whose historical significance derives, in whole or in part, from its religious symbolism.
American Atheists, which brought the case, has not yet decided whether to appeal the decision.
