Written by Don Byrd
The LATimes editorial board today weighed in on the latest Mt. Soledad cross development (previous post here) by calling on the Supreme Court to order its removal. Here’s a snippet:
[A]llowing such a clear symbol of Christianity to dominate a public landscape strongly implies a government preference for one religion over others. The cross should be taken down.
Attempts to remove the 59-year-old cross have been unfairly vilified as attempts to wipe all signs of religion from public spaces. Of course, crosses have a proper place on public land. . . . The crosses that mark the graves of Christian war veterans are an appropriate way to honor both their service and their beliefs. But we doubt anyone would say that such a symbol belongs on the graves of Jewish or Muslim war dead. A cross is not a universal symbol for memorializing the dead. It is a Christian marker.
In recent years, some have tried to claim the cross is a universal, even a secular symbol, to justify its prominent placement on public land. But the LATimes is right: The cross is Christian. Removing it from the center of a public memorial would honor that significance, not diminish it, as many seem to fear.
