Shame On Display

[Neo-Scholastic]

People sure like to stand behind freedom of speech until someone says something they don't like.

Hypocrisy 101.

Like filing a lawsuit because someone puts up a cross.

[Silver]

Like filing a lawsuit because someone puts up a cross.

Separation of church and state. Ever heard of it?

[freedomfromforum]

Like filing a lawsuit because someone puts up a cross.

Separation of church and state. Ever heard of it?

Nah, Chad only hears the voices in his head *REDRUM*

[Heir Apparent]

"There are few groups more hate filled than the atheists."

My irony meter fucking pegged then spun completely out. Thanks whoever said that. Watch some more Faux News please.

[Airyaman]

I don't know, this cross thing is a good reminder for folks. It's Jesus saying "I could have saved 3000 lives that day, instead I just left behind this reminder of me".

I honestly do not know how this cross can be a positive thing when nothing really positive happened that day.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Like filing a lawsuit because someone puts up a cross.

Oh, come on. This is a little more than '...because someone puts up a cross.'

As I understand it, the WTC reconstruction is funded with government money, which means tax money, which includes taxes paid by non-Christians. Thus, the erection of a cross is a government endorsement of religion.

Neither American Atheists (nor anyone else of whom I'm aware) has ever filed a lawsuit '...because someone puts up a cross.' You want a cross on your house? Peachy. You want one on your car? Fine. You want to wear togs all decked out with little crucifixes? No one will try to stop you. But when you seek to use other peoples' money to put YOUR religious symbols on public places, you've effectively spit on religious freedom.

Chad, I'm assuming you're an American (correct me if I've got that wrong). I'm not. I grew up in a place with a State-sponsored and endorsed religion, and it helps to make life a living hell for anyone not in the proper pigeonhole. If you think government intrusion into religion is a bad thing, you should be shrieking at the top of your lungs that THIS particular cross in THIS particular place is not a good idea.

Boru

[Heir Apparent]

Boru's got it. As much as Christians want to scream that America is a Christian nation, it's not. It's a secular nation which is why separation of church and state exists.

The government can't endorse a specific religion or they are violating the constitution, so anything paid for with government money must be secular. This includes the WTC and government funded businesses such as schools. That's why it's been voted unconstitutional to have morning prayer or prayer displays in some schools.

Edit - government funding generally means taxpayer money also, and I know I don't want my money going to a public school where they force all students to pray before classes start.

[Drich]

I didn't see my comment up there, I'd though for sure it was radical enough to make that cherry pickers list.

[Faith No More]

I didn't see my comment up there, I'd though for sure it was radical enough to make that cherry pickers list.

You clearly don't understand the concept of cherry picking.

[Brian37]

I thought the memorial was for the first-responders who found inspiration from the cross-shaped debris or who died in their service. The cross at ground zero may have been specific to Christianity but it was also part of the history of the site and an important image (like the falling man) from those events.

What about the first responders that saw nothing but a random piece of steel left in the shape of a cross? By choosing a symbol with religious implications, regardless of the fact that it was an actual piece of the building, you are tying your religion to a tragedy while simultaneously denying the existence of the other religions and the fact that people of various different beliefs suffered and died on that day. You can always remember that cross and Christians can choose to glorify its signicance, but turning it into a government sanctioned memorial is publically declaring that you do not care about the beliefs and memories of the victims that were not Christian.

While you may see it as honoring the memories of the people that died, it is, in fact, disprespecting the memories of many of them.

I use the word value. But yea, that cross being the biggest symbol of ONE religion on the grounds of a complex called "World Trade Center", is a finger in the eye of the non Christians that died as well.

It says "We are using this horror as a billboard for our religion"