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Utah’s Cross Controversy
Brian Barnard, a Salt Lake City attorney who represents the atheists, counters that the case hinges not on what a Mormon thinks but on how a reasonable observer would interpret a giant cross on the side of the highway. And when people see a giant white cross, he says, they don't just think of death, they think of the death of Jesus Christ. "It's hard to conceive of another symbol that is so instantly meaningful," Barnard says. "And here's the state of Utah putting its stamp of approval on it."
Besides, he notes, just because the LDS Church does not use the Star of David doesn't change the fact that it is a religious symbol exclusive to one faith. At one point in Tuesday's hearing, an attorney for the UHPA underscored Barnard's point, noting that if a Jewish trooper were killed, his family would have the option of erecting a giant Star of David in place of a cross.
Robert Kirby, the former police officer who came up with the idea for the memorials, says the cross was intended to be an easily recognizable symbol of the sacred, not a religious statement. Kirby, now a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, says that he and Perry debated a lot of different symbols—signs, giant rocks, tombstones—before settling on the cross. "We wanted something instantly recognizable at 75 miles per hour, something that would say, 'This is hallowed ground'," says Kirby. "I have a lot of respect for the atheists. I believe in separation of church and state. But this is a little bit picky, even for them."
Update: U.S. District Judge David Sam ruled Tuesday, Nov. 20, against the atheists, holding that the crosses erected around the state of Utah to commemorate fallen state troopers can stand. Sam's decision held that the Roman cross is not a recognizable form of Christianity, at least in this context. "Just as the Christmas tree evolved into a secular symbol of celebration, the cross has evolved into a symbol capable of communicating a secular message of death and burial," Sam wrote. The Texas-based American Atheists Inc., which claimed the memorials violate the separation of church and state, promised to appeal.
© 2007
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Member Comments
Posted By: mchave35 @ 07/13/2008 7:13:35 PM
Comment: This isn't about faith, this is about people that obviously have too much time on there hands, and even though they probobly hate it when anyone tries to preach to them, and make them beleive in something they do not beleive in , they are willing to do just that. Going to the point of legal action. This is a FREE country. If you do not want to see the crosses as a religeous article, then don't....and if you do, do. Incorporate self observance, and quit trying to decide for the general public. God, or not, no one has the right to tell anyone what to think, do, or feel. If you do not like it, don't pay attention, the World does not revole around you. Get a life!
Posted By: Joyfl @ 12/21/2007 6:35:35 PM
Comment: My Son is a Police Officer and I applaud Utah for this act !!!
Wake up people, if you used as much energy trying to protest our government's lack of help with the fuel situation, you'd actually be doing something........
Posted By: Augie BenDoggie @ 12/13/2007 8:58:29 AM
Comment:
When in fact, throughout all the history of the prophets of the Bible, ranging from Daniel, to Amos, to Ezekiel, to Isaiah, to all the others that came many years BEFORE the birth of Jesus...correctly predicted (or Foretold, if you like...) How the Son of God would be born, where he would be born, how he would live, what his ministry would be, and even, the how-when-where-what-and why of the final days of his life, leading to his execution.
Many Many prophets, so remote from each other through time and space, all foretold the Who and What of Jesus....they called him Immanuel, i think...meaning "God with us"
And if all those prophets, all those men, vastly remote and apart from each other, saw the same thing....and then many many many years later Jesus came to fulfill all those prophecies.....ALL OF THEM....then how are the Atheists going to prove to any of us that there is no God?
Perhaps it is God they have to thank for their existence and ability to deny his.
But before they can thank him, they have to acknowledge he exists, first.