If you build it, they will come. Or in this case, if you put a cross up at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack, atheists will come to take it down.
The titles “Miracle Cross,” “World Trade Center Cross” and “Ground Zero Cross” all refer to beams of steel that were found laying in the debris a few days after Sept. 11, 2001.
When the beams were discovered, they appeared to resemble the proportions of the Christian cross.
The Miracle Cross was temporarily sent to St. Peters Roman Catholic Church, which faces the World Trade Center reconstruction site, to await the opening of the 9/11 Museum. It has served as a source of inspiration and hope for passersby and even Americans across the country.
However, a New Jersey group called American Atheists has made headlines for its efforts to prevent the cross from being placed in the 9/11 Museum. According to the Los Angeles Times, the museum will be operated with both public and private funds.
The American Atheists group has sued for unequal treatment, arguing that the cross disrespects non-Christians who died on Sept. 11, 2001 and also violates rights to separation of church and state.
The group is currently in the middle of appealing the decision of a lower court, which determined that the cross is more historic than religious.
We do not think that this cross is necessarily a sign of religion, rather simply a sign of faith and inspiration. We oppose efforts that seek to keep the cross separate from the site where it was found.
This sentiment is shared with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a group that has argued “museums don’t censor history,” according to Fox News.
Edwin Kagin, national legal director for American Atheists, was reported in the Washington Times saying that the cross “screams Christianity.” He has voiced the group’s concerns that the placement of what they feel is a religious symbol on public property alienates atheists.
The group has indicated that it could be satisfied with the placement of something that specifically includes the atheists and non-religious individuals who died in the attack. Religion News Service reported that Kagin suggested a plaque that simply says, “atheists died here too.”
The politicized nature of this conflict has left us frustrated. We sympathize with the Americans who have taken great comfort in the Miracle Cross, and feel that to legally separate it from the 9/11 incident will send a discouraging message.
The cross was found by construction worker Frank Silecchia, who said on NBC’s Today Show that the cross is not about religion, and commented that it merely comforted him at a time when he was “tired and weary.”
We think an “atheists died here too” plaque would be more disrespectful than inclusive because it would signal that politics and legal balancing of interests take precedence over a restoration of hope in the wake of a national tragedy.
Allowing the 9/11 Museum to host the Miracle Cross is not a breach of separation of church and state, and it is not an intentional, government-led effort to exclude atheists.
The country has enough of a cross to bear without this kind of conflict