Religion & American Law

Several weeks later now, this article explains that the state has redesigned the crosses to be allowed to be placed along the roadside. Changes include stripping the Highway Patrol logo off the 12 foot tall crosses, but still bear the name each one was built to memorialize. The opinion of the association that erected the crosses is that it is not a memorial unless it is a cross, and will do everything in their power to maintain as much of the original design as possible.

The American Atheists Inc. believe that the cross remains a strictly religious symbol and has no place in memorials for fallen officers who are of various religious faiths. The Atheist association asserts they have no qualms with the idea of memorials for the officers and suggest secular alternatives such as an obelisk.

In response to the Atheist organization, the Highway Patrol Association says that they will add a small disclaimer to each cross stating it is not meant to be a religious endorsement or represent any one religion over any others. The association representative asserts that the sign would be large enough to be read by passing motorists.

In my opinion there is no reason to use the cross except to directly incorporate God. I think the Atheist incorporation has a perfectly justified claim that the crosses are still an establishment, and the use of an obelisk rather than the cross should be completely satisfactory for all parties involved. This clearly promotes Christianity and the Catholic faith over less mainstream religions or no religion. I do not expect that this compromise will be accepted and I wager that the entire design will have to be changed, as suggested the first time this went to the supreme court.

Do you think this is an establishment of religion? Is memorializing fallen officers an acceptable use of the cross by the state? If not, do you think there are any acceptable uses of the cross by the state?