Christian Message Boards: Cross erected in desert 1934 to honor WWI vets "offends" ACLU

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Posted by Kindgo (Member # 2) on :

says it's got to go
[uhoh]

Ruling may mean end of Mojave cross
LAWSUIT: The ACLU convinces a judge that a religious symbol has no place on public land.

07/25/2002
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories...ss25.582d2.html
By JOHN WELSH
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

A 6-foot cross in the Mojave National Preserve must go, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued the cross violated the Constitution because it was a religious symbol on public land, and U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Timlin of Riverside ruled in their favor.

The cross atop an outcropping 11 miles south of Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas dates to 1934.

A prospector, John "Riley" Bembry, raised a cross to honor World War I veterans and asked a friend, almost as a dying wish, to make sure it remained there.

After the ACLU filed its March 2001 lawsuit against the National Park Service, Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, got a bill through the House making the cross a national landmark. CBS Morning News featured the cross and its supporters.

"Unless the government is willing to open up the land to everyone, in a come one, come all manner, then the government has no business allowing one symbol," said Peter Eliasberg, staff attorney of the ACLU's Southern California chapter.

The Press-Enterprise
The cross, constructed from pipes painted white and cemented to outcropping, is off Cima Road in the Mojave National Preserve.

The U.S. Department of Justice represented the National Park Service. It was uncertain if Timlin's ruling would be appealed, said Justice Department spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"We haven't had a chance to review the opinion yet," Perino said.

Timlin's 21-page ruling was filed about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Timlin cited a 1996 9th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in the Separation of Church and State Committee vs. the city of Eugene, Ore.

"The presence of the cross on federal land conveys a message of endorsement of religion," Timlin wrote.

An appeal would be heard in the 9th Circuit court.

Pipes painted white and cemented to the outcropping next to Cima Road formed the latest version of the cross, put there by Henry Sandoz, a former state transportation worker who lives on the preserve's edge in a spot off Interstate 15 called Mountain Pass. The prospector asked Sandoz to look after the cross before his death in 1984.

Sandoz said Wednesday he was surprised by the judge's decision.

"I figured it was over, and I figured it would maintain," said Sandoz, 63, who has hunted deer in the preserve for years.

Sandoz, his wife, Wanda, and roughly 50 other people have held Easter services at the cross, atop a pile of boulders locals call Sunrise Rock.

"We're devastated," said Wanda, 58, who has baked cinnamon rolls for those Easter-morning services. "But I still don't think it will go. Maybe I'm hard-headed or something. I really can't believe it will come down."

Although the Sandozes say they have religious convictions, the couple said Bembry wasn't much of a religious man.

"He didn't put it there with any religious significance whatsoever," Wanda Sandoz said. "To him, it was there strictly to honor veterans."

The ACLU argued the cross is clearly recognized as an important symbol of Christianity.

"One thing important to remember is the government has no more business putting up a sign saying 'God is dead,' " Eliasberg said. "And another thing, this is not an anti-veterans lawsuit. There are many veterans of this country who are not Christians."