A World War I memorial has to come down. That’s the ruling from a federal court. Wait until you hear the reason why.
In Bladensburg, Maryland, there is a memorial to the 49 men from the area who died in WWI. It was erected in 1925 by the American Legion.
The memorial is known as the Peace Cross and is forty-feet in height.x
The American Humanist Association is a group representing people who believe in “being good without a god.” They regard the memorial as unconstitutional because it is a religious symbol giving the impression that it is only honoring servicemen who were Christians.
In 2014, they filed a lawsuit demanding the memorial be destroyed, changed or taken away. Earlier this month that suit received a ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that agreed. The court ordered the memorial must be taken down because it is shaped like a cross.
According to the ruling, the cross is the “core symbol of Christianity,” and therefore a government-sanctioned memorial in that shape is a breach of the separation of church and state. The court in its 2-1 ruling stated that an observer would conclude from the memorial that the government endorsed Christianity.
Chief Judge Gregory dissented. In a separate document, he wrote that the memorial was dedicated to the character of the deceased soldiers who bravely fought for their country and the liberty of others during the war. He believes that a monument dedicated as such cannot violate the Constitution that those men defended.