The statue of Christ at a federally owned Montana ski resort is looking to be the next hot-button religious monument controversy. Friday's NYTimes ran a profile of the dispute, which started in August when the U.S. Forest Service denied the application renewal of the Knights of Columbus, which previously had a permit for the memorial for many years.
What caught my eye in the piece was the incredibly bad argument from statue proponent and Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT):
“Would we take the crosses and Stars of David out of Arlington Cemetery?” Mr. Rehberg, who is running for the Senate seat held by Jon Tester, a Democrat, said in an interview. “I don’t think so.”
Religious symbols on the gravestones of fallen soldiers in Arlington Cemetery – from crosses and Stars of David to the Wiccan pentagram – are individual memorials subtly marking each gravesite at the request of the family of the deceased. They represent the religious beliefs not of the U.S. military, or of the country, but of the individual buried there. A general monument to Christ, standing alone on public land, on apparent behalf of all Americans, is a very different kind of memorial, inappropriate for display on government property.
