A World War I memorial in the shape of a 40-foot cross can continue to stand on public land in Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The justices ruled 7-2 in favor of the cross’ backers. They concluded that the nearly 100-year-old memorial’s presence on a grassy highway median doesn’t violate the First Amendment, which bars the government from favoring one religion over others.
The case had been closely watched because it involves the place of religious symbols in public life. (See “Maryland Memorial Cross.”) Defenders of the cross argued that a ruling against them could doom hundreds of war memorials that use crosses.
Christians embrace the symbol of Jesus’ death for sins. The Apostle Paul said: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14)
In writing the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito acknowledged the cross as representing Christianity. “The cross is undoubtedly a Christian symbol,” he said. He then continued, “But that fact should not blind us to everything else that the Bladensburg Cross has come to represent.”
“For some, that monument is a symbolic resting place for ancestors who never returned home. For others, it is a place for the community to gather and honor all veterans and their sacrifices to our Nation. For others still, it is a historical landmark. For many of these people, destroying or defacing the Cross that has stood undisturbed for nearly a century would not . . . further the ideals of respect and tolerance embodied in the First Amendment. For all these reasons, the Cross does not offend the Constitution,” he wrote.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented (disagreed).
The cross’ challengers included three area residents and the American Humanist Association. They say the cross should be moved to private property or modified into a nonreligious monument such as a slab or obelisk.
Defenders included the American Legion and the Trump administration. Maryland officials argued that the cross, sometimes called the “Peace Cross,” doesn’t violate the Constitution because it has a secular purpose and meaning.
(Visitors walk around the 40-foot Maryland Peace Cross dedicated to World War I soldiers in Bladensburg, Maryland. AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
