San Diego’s 17 Year Stand Against A Lone Atheist

The 43 foot high, free-standing cross erected at the Soledad War Memorial in San Diego has a special place in our hearts.

The ACLU lawsuit to tear down the cross was unabashed animosity directed toward the symbol of the Christian Faith, typically guised under the cloak of protecting the constitution.

It was the ACLU’s ruthless determination, over a period of seventeen years, in arrogant opposition to the will of the vast majority of the citizens of San Diego, that drew our attention to the fact that Christians’ rights of religious expression are under similar assault in courtrooms across the country.

And it was our judiciary’s eager complicity with the ACLU that made us realize that the Christian majority in America could one day be silenced by a small minority of atheists, secularists and liberals.

The Mt Soledad Cross has been the recognized symbol of the the Mt Soledad Korean War Memorial, since 1954. In 1989, an atheist who found the cross “offensive” asked the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the city of San Diego.

The suit, citing the usual fallacious “separation” argument, charged that the city’s ownership of land upon which a religious symbol stood violated the constitution.

With no lack of ACLU-friendly judges in California, the initial decision went against the city. But the citizens of San Diego, through their city council, fought back to maintain their collective wishes and rights over those of one unhappy atheist. While the decision was being appealed, the city held a ballot referendum in which the people of San Diego voted to maintain the cross by rezoning or reallocating the land upon which the cross stood. A judge struck it down, ruling that such a referendum should have to require a 2/3 “super majority” in order to be valid.

A second referendum was held. This time, 76% of the votes cast favored maintaining the cross. ACLU attorney James McElroy responded to the citizens of San Diego with a brief statement: “It doesn’t mean a damned thing”.

And apparently he was right. In-the-pocket judge Patricia Cowett promptly invalidated the “super majority” vote of the people, citing the referendum “unconstitutional”.

Oh how atheists and the ACLU love our constitution. That love, however, is as transparent as the “king’s new clothes”. It was now quite plain that it was not San Diego’s ownership of the land that was “offensive”. The real issue, all along, had been that the symbol of the Christian Faith was visible, no matter who owned the land on which it stood.

And so it went, back and forth through the courts over a period of 17 years. The San Diego city council made numerous attempts to reach a reasonable compromise by transferring ownership of the land out of government control. All were summarily dismissed by the ACLU or ruled invalid by their carefully shopped judges.

On May 3, 2006 a California district court judge told the city of San Diego that enough was enough. If the offending cross was not taken down by August 1st, the city would begin incurring a fine of $5,000 for each day the cross continued to remain in place. The judge also found the people of San Diego liable for ACLU legal fees. The city council was ordered to pay the knights in flaming armor $230,00 for their noble work on behalf of the US constitution.

The city appealed to the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals, widely known for it’s liberal activism. It is also the most overruled appellate court in the nation by a wide margin. The result was as expected: Appeal denied- tear down the cross, pay the ACLU or start incurring the fines.

San Diego’s city attorney refused to lay down the fight and took the case to the US Supreme Court. On July 3, Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a stay, allowing the cross to remain in place, and forestalling the fines, until the matter could be heard by the high court.

The tenacity on both sides finally attracted needed public attention. Several petition drives were undertaken, asking President Bush to have the Mt Soledad Cross, and the land, declared a national monument under the protection of the federal government.

One such drive was spearheaded by the Thomas More Law Center. The Thomas More Law Center can be considered “Christianity’s answer” to the ACLU. The Law Center was heavily involved in the legal battle to maintain the cross, doing pro-bono work on behalf of the city and filing several “friend of the court” briefs.

The American Legion then joined the fight, rightly understanding the true significance of the Mt Soledad Cross- the real reason the ACLU has backed the lone atheist for over seventeen years.

The cross standing at the Mt Soledad War Memorial was intended to be the domino cross. If the Mt Soledad Cross were ordered taken down by our judiciary, every cross, at every public war memorial or cemetery, right down to the individual crosses on war veterans’ graves, would have been in the ACLU’s crosshairs.

On July 19, 2006 congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced a bill which would transfer ownership of the entire Soledad Veteran’s Memorial to the federal government. The bill passed the house by an overwhelming 349 - 74. The senate quickly followed with a unanimous vote of approval on Aug 1. On August 14, President Bush signed the bill into law. The citizens of San Diego would retain their historical cross.

The ACLU, undaunted by a mere act of congress, continued to press for removal of the cross, even after the death of their atheist client, in October of 2006. But for once, the handwriting on the wall clearly spelled defeat for the ACLU.

In a typically unethical final manuever, the ACLU requested that all the files pertaining to this victory for Christian America be sealed. Why? Sealing the files would prevent the arguments and decisions in the Soldedad Memorial Cross case from being used as precedents in their continuing war on freedom of religious expression. The request was denied.

After almost eighteen years of litigation, the case finally came to a close on January 12, 2007 when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals formally reversed the district court’s order requiring the City of San Diego to remove the Mt. Soledad Cross. The ultra liberal 9th Circuit was forced to vacate the order because the City no longer owns the land on which the Cross stands. Thus the petition was considered moot.

This is a valuable lesson for the Christian majority in America. If we wish to defend our faith and our rights as Christians, we must remain vigilant, vocal and proactive. Our elected officials will respond if they know that we are involved and that we will hold them accountable.

Thank you citizens of San Diego