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 Michael Medved

Erasing history - In the shape of a cross

May 3, 2012 @ 9:36 am

Militant secularists have launched an outrageous campaign to ban one of the most famous symbols of the September 11th attacks from a place of honor in the new memorial museum at the World Trade Center site. Many Americans felt inspired by two twisted girders that somehow survived the wreckage and formed the huge 9/11 cross. Now American Atheists has begun legal action to keep that cross out of the publicly funded museum despite its historic significance, insisting it's a religious relic that belongs instead at a nearby cathedral. This obnoxious allergy to crosses, and the ongoing push to drive them from monuments and parks where they've stood for years, shows that it's the non-believers, not religious conservatives, with a radical, intolerant agenda. They want to change America beyond recognition and to sweep away any symbols that challenge their absolutist views.

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Comments (19)


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  • ron prevost wrote...
    In the Middle Ages and beyond, the sign of the Cross
    May 3, 2012 9:27 am
    repelled weirwolves and vampires. Probably the basis of today's hatred. The hate is pathological - no moment of silence even for some. .......................... I believe we should start calling atheist secular humanism what it REALLY is - a religion but without a god. And as such, all other religions in America should be afforded the same protections as if attacked and legislated against by any other religion. ..... That is freedom OF religion - not freedom FROM religion.
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  • Hayduke wrote...
    Hmmm, so Medved's against federal funding of pretty much anything.
    May 3, 2012 9:46 am
    Unless it's a cross in a museum. Then we're just fine with it.

    Medved, you're such a supporter of the so-called "free market," I'm sure you'd be able to cobble together enough private funds from like-minded people to house the cross.

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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    @Hayduke
    May 3, 2012 11:38 am
    The museum is being built. The girders are an artifact. Interesting how atheists are putting religious value to it. Must be some sort of intrinsic sense of God that does it...
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  • Drool wrote...
    Interesting how atheists are putting religious value to it
    May 3, 2012 12:50 pm
    Atheists weren't the first to put religious value to it. It was all over the news/web and why do you think they chose THAT particular artifact? Personally I don't care but I can see the sensitivity. The religious in America (especially certain brands of Christianity) have a history of shoving religion in peoples' faces all the way from knocking on doors to changing the pledge of allegiance. It is no surprise there is push back.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    Wait a minute
    May 3, 2012 12:53 pm

    Atheists or not, they are American citizens and pay taxes just like the christian right and should have a say on how there tax money is being spent.

    I believe in god, but I don't feel that my belief should be held higher than another mans tax dollars.

    So because Atheists don't want there tax money spent on this cross, they are trying to change the face of America?

    Just how weak is your faith in your religion?

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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    @Drool
    May 3, 2012 1:19 pm
    Is it a cross? Was it designed as a cross? Or is it twisted, torched metal girders?

    Funny that when I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that I didn't see a single atheist protesting that museum. And that thing is LOADED with religious symbols and artifacts.

    Oh, I almost forgot. It's en vogue for the least tolerant of people to attack Christians and Christianity...

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  • Drool wrote...
    Is it a cross? Was it designed as a cross? Or is it twisted, torched metal girders?
    May 3, 2012 2:57 pm
    It is a broken up piece of structure that resembles a cross, is being called a cross and is being displayed as a cross. It is no coincidence this piece of structure was chosen to display. That's fine but don't try and tell me they just happened to choose this piece and just happened to orient is that way.
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  • dvdrafael wrote...
    what country
    May 3, 2012 2:30 pm
    Some days it feels more like the USSR than the USA. This Country was founded on religious tolerance not religious suppression. If there isn't someone there preaching to the crowd you have the option to just walk on by.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    Atheist wussies
    May 3, 2012 3:15 pm
    I Googled "atheists protest Holocaust museum". Nothing. And that thing is LOADED with religious images and artifacts, on US Government grounds.

    I guess it's "PC" to attack the religion of Jesus...the Prince of Peace...but goodness forbid to attack other religions. Wussies.

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  • Drool wrote...
    Seattlenative
    May 3, 2012 4:03 pm
    The Holocaust museum displays those images as artifacts. It would seem to me the object in question is a religious symbol created from an artifact....especially how it is displayed.
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  • Drool wrote...
    Looks Like a Religious Symbol to Me
    May 3, 2012 4:06 pm
    ...and it is being treated as such. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_cross
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  • Rick (4) wrote...
    I laugh at this!
    May 3, 2012 4:46 pm
    First, the atheists are NOT offended by this. Second, it is just another way for liberals to attack Christians and their religion. As others have said, you never see atheists upset about other religions and their symbols. I am not a Christian but I could careless about this twisted metal piece being displayed.
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  • Hayduke wrote...
    Waaaaa!!! I want my religious dogma subsidized by the taxpayers!
    May 3, 2012 5:59 pm
    Say the same folks who are against any taxes (especially on churches, even if they engage in political activities) and big government.

    Oh the poor, poor Christians, they're just so mercilessly attacked by atheists, liberals and government.

    Give me a break.

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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Medved overlooks the actual message and power of the cross....
    May 4, 2012 9:07 am
    Who can be surprised that the symbol of the cross attracts scorn, ridicule, and public condemnation? That is *exactly* what Jesus promised would happen to his followers, and for 2000 years that promise has been well kept.

    "Blessed are you when men curse you, and revile you, and say all manner of evil things against you for my sake..."

    To Christians, the cross represents the triumph of spirit over flesh and a confirmation that even death does not extinguish the Father's love for his children. The fact that the cross is despised, as Jesus was despised, empowers it!

    From a constitutional standpoint, (IMO) if the "cross" is being displayed as a curious artifact that survived the destruction of the WTC, as a work of art, then public funding is entirely appropriate. If the cross is going to be used to establish a place of Christian worship, then private funding would be in order. How tough can it be to recognize the difference between a religious symbol presented as a work of art, and the same symbol presented as a device to instigate worship? How it is presented, and for what purpose makes the difference here- not the fact that it is a cross.

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