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The United States Supreme Court has begun hearing a case on whether a memorial cross honoring First World War soldiers violates the American constitution.

Mojave Cross in Mojave National Preserve, California

The cross – in California – has been covered up in recent years following federal court rulings that it amounts to government endorsement of religion which is prohibited by the constitution.

Some campaigners want the memorial removed because they say it favours Christianity over other religions.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars put the cross on public land more than 70 years ago in the Mojave National Preserve as a memorial to fallen World War One service members.

The cross was covered in recent years after a federal court ruled it violates the Constitution’s First Amendment, which prohibits government endorsement of religion.

Congress previously intervened in the case by designating the cross as a national memorial. Lawmakers also passed legislation to transfer the desert land where the cross is located to private ownership in an attempt to resolve the issue — but a court objected to that move.

The VFW and other veterans groups contend that if the Supreme Court rules against the cross, bulldozers across the country will soon be annihilating other war memorials, such as Arlington National Cemetery’s Argonne Cross Memorial and Canadian Cross of Sacrifice, as well as crosses on headstones and elsewhere.

If the ACLU is correct — if the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is correct — then the crosses that stand on Arlington Cemetery … must be torn down as well. And that is an extreme and radical view, and it is not consistent with the Constitution of the United States.

Where does it stop?

If the ACLU wins this one, they’re going to go after all these monuments including Arlington and Gettysburg. The ACLU has declared ‘War on America’.

Religious symbols like the cross were part of normal life for America’s Founding Fathers, who believed that morality should be nurtured by government.

The founders believed that without a moral citizenry, they would not be able to sustain a self-governing republic. The notion that you could get a moral citizenry without reliance on religion was preposterous.

These may be next if the ACLU gets its’ way:

The Memorial Amphitheater (left) and the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice Monument (right) in Arlington.

Sullivan Masoluem in Section 1 at Arlington National Cemetery.

Government issued headstones in Section 13 with Fort Myer chapel in the background.

Various memorials in Section 1 of Arlington

Memorials to the Space Shuttle Challenger (left) and the Iran Hostage Rescue Mission (right).

142 Penn Inf Cross at Gettysburg

Along the drive around the Wheatfield, we found a gorgeous Celtic cross

Irish Cross in Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA

Valley Forge: Washington Memorial Chapel – Altar and Cross

Ft McCord monument near Chambersburg PA

20th New York Infantry monument by Dunker Church. The 20th was part of the early afternoon attack which pushed the confederates back to the West Woods but they were unable to hold the ground they gained. The 20th also has another monument in the Antetum National Cemetery.

The Civil War monument at the west end of Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. Downtown Minneapolis lies beyond the Mississippi.

The Yosemite Valley Chapel is a place where worship, teaching and weddings for residents and visitors have occured during the past 130 years. The church is located in the center of Yosemite National Park, California.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina

In Glacier National Park

The Episcopal-run, but nondenominational, Church of the Transfiguration in the Grand Tetons provides solace for travelers.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, known as the Washington National Cathedral, is an Episcopal cathedral in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It is a listed monument on the National Register of Historic Places and the designated “National House of Prayer” of the United States.

In 2007, it was voted one of the three most beautiful buildings in the United States in a survey by the American Institute of Architects.

The cathedral was built by the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation under a charter granted by Congress on January 6, 1893. Construction began in 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt, and lasted for 83 years; the last finial was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. The Foundation operates and funds the cathedral, which does not receive any federal or local government funding.

When will it end?

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