Supreme Court to hear Mojave Desert Memorial Cross case

On May 29th, the Supreme Court will hear the case of “ Salazar vs. Buono ” which will determine the fate of a 75 yr old cross erected by WW I Veterans atop Sunrise Rock, in what is now the Mojave Desert Preserve. Originally erected on land which was open range land, and free to public use; the cross was erected in memorial to those Veterans who’ve died serving their Country in war. However, since its inclusion in a 1994 land Federalization move by the Clinton administration, the presence of the cross has come under fire from the ACLU, which maintains it constitutes a Government endorsement of religion. At stake is the future of all such “religious displays” which occupy, or may soon occupy federalized lands. Defenders of the cross monument argue that both the antiquity, and the intent of the display do nothing to promote any religious group over another, but merely respectfully acknowledges the supreme sacrifice paid by so many Veterans in defense of the Nation. The use of a cross is an innocuous accommodation to the reality that most of those veterans were adherents to one form of Christian faith or another, and not an advocacy of Christianity itself. Filing suit against the display is a former Nation Park Service worker Frank Buono, who now resides in Oregon, far from the offending display. The precedent set in this case may well affect all such displays deemed “religious”, and in violation of the current interpretation of the “establishment clause”. Will Arlington National Cemetery be next…? The Washington Memorial?