Congress Blesses Mt. Soledad Christian Cross By Sham Land Sale

Sadly, the Senate ignored the FIRST RIGHT protected by the Bill of Rights -- freedom from government sponsored religion (a.k.a. the Establishment Clause) when it passed the National Defense Authorization Bill on Friday, December 12.

Section 2852 of the bill requires the Secretary of Defense to sell the Mt. Soledad Veteran's Memorial to the privately incorporated Mount Soledad Memorial Association. What is significant about the memorial is that its principal component is a 29-foot Christian cross on top of a 14-foot base for a total height of 43 feet. That's a powerful religious endorsement of Christianity telling persons of minority faiths and nonbelief that they are unwelcome or second class citizens.

The Mount Soledad Cross has been the subject of litigation for over 20 years. The City of San Diego and the U.S. government have lost at every step of the way, including a 2013 federal judge ruling from the bench upholding the Ninth Circuit's ruling and ordering that the cross must come down.

Time and again Christian dominionists have used the instruments of government to protect Christian crosses and Ten Commandments monuments on public lands by sham land sales where the religious symbol remains in place within the larger public park or other public property. Only the "donut hole" becomes private property!

A sham land transfer was also used by Congress to "save" the Sunrise Cross in the Mojave National Preserve in California. (I authored an amicus brief in opposition to the sham land transfer in Salazar v. Buono, Sup. Ct. No. 08-472, on behalf of the American Humanist Association, et al.)

Similar sham land transfers were also used by local governments to prevent the removal of Eagles-donated Ten Commandment monuments on public property in La Crosse (Cameron Park), Wisconsin, Hanover, Pennsylvania (Wirt Park), Frederick, Maryland (Memorial Park) and Nebraska City, Nebraska (Otoe County Courthouse).

These governmental acts demonstrate complete disrespect for, if not violation of, the First Amendment. Passage of the National Defense Authorization Bill is a sad day for religious freedom in America.

In concluding this post, I would like to take this opportunity to rebuke my Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine for their vote supporting this egregious violation of religious freedom and remind them that Congress has no authority under the Constitution to prefer one religion over another, or religion over nonbelief.)

Robert V. Ritter