Atheists Sue Over World Trade Center 9/11 Cross: Should Christian Symbol Be Removed?

A national atheist group has filed a lawsuit to block the inclusion of the famous '9/11 cross' from a memorial at the World Trade Center site.

The cross, a fused steel t-joint which served to gird the towers before they fell, was unearthed from the rubble following the attacks. Unusual for its proportions resembling the Christian cross, it quickly became a symbol of hope for men and women coping with the horror of the day.

It was moved to nearby St. Peter's church in 2006, where it bore a plaque which read: "The Cross at Ground Zero - Founded September 13, 2001; Blessed October 4, 2001; Temporarily Relocated October 15, 2006. Will return to WTC Museum, a sign of comfort for all."

The cross was moved back to the World Trade Center site on July 23, but according to the American Atheists, it should have stayed at St. Peter's.

"The WTC cross has become a Christian icon," the group's president, David Silverman, said in a press release. "It has been blessed by so-called holy men and presented as a reminder that their god, who couldn't be bothered to stop the Muslim terrorists or prevent 3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only enough to bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross. It's a truly ridiculous assertion."

According to ABC News, Jane Everhart, one of the separate plaintiffs listed in the case, called the cross "an ugly piece of wreckage" that "does not represent anything ... but horror and death."

The group wants equal inclusion of other belief systems - including nonreligious groups - or outright removal of the cross. The 9/11 Memorial Foundation told ABC that other religious artifacts, including a Star of David and a Jewish prayer shawl, will be added the museum ahead of its scheduled opening on September 12, 2011.

This is hardly the first time an atheist's interest group has sued over a perceived religious injustice. The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued President Bush, the then-governor of Wisconsin and other officials over a designated National Day of Prayer in 2008 (another group in Arizona did so again in March 2011) and the Central Arkansas Coalition of Reason sued because it was being forced to pay for an anti-God bus ad campaign. Most recently, five Texans sued Gov. Rick Perry to prevent him from appearing in an August 6 prayer rally.

See a video report about the lawsuit -- and the cross that sparked the outrage -- here:

Atheists Sue Over WTC Memorial Cross

Comments

[rockgod]

09:26 PM on 09/19/2011

Oh boy. Really? These poor people must have had miserable childhood's tha's all I can figure.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

05:11 AM on 09/09/2011

Hey atheists, why are you picking on the cross at the WTC museum? There are thousands and thousands of crosses at Arlington Cemetery and all the cemeteries run the Veterans Administration, why don't you demand that all of those be removed? Only please, please, let me know when you make your demands because I would pay good money to see that.

[Brittany Lock]

11:45 PM on 09/11/2011

Haven't you heard? The directors are "doing away with religion" there. At least that's what conservatives are saying.

[Inannawhimsey]

09:02 AM on 09/15/2011

They can't get past all the anti-abortionists guarding the various cemeteries.

[aburch9351]

08:47 AM on 09/07/2011

SO SAD!!!!!: New York City Policemen & Firefighters are "NOT INVITED" to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 at Ground Zero. The Mayor claims "there isn't room for them".... Funnily enough, they weren't "invited" on that fateful day in 2001 either.... THEY JUST SHOWED UP AND DID THEIR JOB! re-post if they deserve to be there *more than* the politicians! Shame on them
LET the CROSS STAY

[Brittany Lock]

11:50 PM on 09/11/2011

How does the cross have anything to do with this claim?

[rockgod]

09:30 PM on 09/19/2011

Thank you.

[OneFish]

09:42 PM on 09/20/2011

What's wrong with finding a nearby church to house the silly piece of metal?

[lumberman]

10:51 PM on 09/04/2011

The cross belongs there and should stay.Are we getting that inhuman that we have to pick at it what is this world coming to?

[BurtonDesque]

01:39 AM on 09/05/2011

There are those of us who see the cross as representing something inhuman. It has no place there.

[looloohulu]

06:55 PM on 09/06/2011

How is the cross inhuman?

[scholar321]

10:04 PM on 09/04/2011

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven."

[rockgod]

09:31 PM on 09/19/2011

Copyright infringement!

[scholar321]

12:14 AM on 09/20/2011

It predates the very notion of a copyright as we understand it. :)

[spindok]

01:30 PM on 08/28/2011

I am Jewish and have seen the cross. They were just starting rebuilding at the time. It is a very powerful and emotional religious symbol and should stay. It belongs there.

[rockgod]

09:32 PM on 09/19/2011

I'm not Jewish and have seen the Cross. It will stay.

[sdmills27]

10:22 PM on 08/27/2011

"It has been blessed by so-called holy men and presented as a reminder that their god, who couldn't be bothered to stop the Muslim terrorists or prevent 3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only enough to bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross. It's a truly ridiculous assertion."

----------------

Why is this person so filled with hate? I'm not saying they don't exist...but I have never met a Christian that treats non-believers like this. I have, on the other hand, met a handful of atheists that act this way. Why?

[iknowscottyknows]

07:15 PM on 09/05/2011

It is only the truth that offends, hence the hatred of Jesus.

[Brittany Lock]

11:50 PM on 09/11/2011

Christians treat atheists like crap by trying to shove their religious icons in an area where 3,000 people of all different beliefs and non-beliefs died.

[lwolfmccall]

06:45 PM on 08/27/2011

This is something all of us will remember what we were doing when we
heard about it.I cant believe they would have that much hate for religion .
To me thats un American not because its a cross but what it represents,
it represents a day that will not be forgotten, and will go down in the history
of this great nation.I know this doesnt show how all atheist think.To me
these people should be thankful they live in this great country,we need
to draw a line in the sand,and this is the place to draw it.

[Bruce Barron]

11:21 PM on 08/25/2011

To Dorothy Moody:
Moral cannot survive for long without religion. One can survive without it in the temporal order perhaps.
And for morals to endure religion is absolutely necessary.
For one to be good without religion is a blessing.For one who has morals not reinforced by religion is a blessing.
The Roman worshipped the gods and had great moral virtues.But Rome finally withered on the vine for a number of reasons.

[freddiefingers]

05:57 PM on 08/19/2011

I'm an Atheist, and I would/do not find it offensive. I try to be respectful of others beliefs, and if it brings a sense of comfort and rememberence to folks, then just let it be. It only symbolizes what you want it to. The cruciform pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years. Just two straight lines, not a big deal.

[Brittany Lock]

06:39 PM on 08/21/2011

It's also been blessed by several Christian priests, so it's definitely a Christian symbol now.

[capercaper]

08:28 AM on 08/22/2011

That an historical artifact has been "blessed" does not make it any less of an historical artifact.

[gunrunner99]

02:01 PM on 09/07/2011

Thank you freddie,to bad all others arent as non judgemental as you,I am not atheist,I believe in God,but I do want to thank you for your post,lets all get along,leave each other alone,not push ourselves on others and just live peacefully,that would be the way I would like it anyway,:),seems a cross somehow threatens some people?

[Sworlz]

03:50 PM on 08/18/2011

I'm a Hundred Percent Sure that if an American-Muslim made a symbolic crescent, America would be raging with Islamophobia, people would feel hurt that a "terrorist" religion has any right to do such a thing.

What people don't get is that innocent American-Muslim workers died and were murdered on that day too, their were American-Muslim firefighters rushing to save people, where is our Thank you's to them?

[capercaper]

08:31 AM on 08/22/2011

There has been no protest from American-Muslims over the inclusion of the cross in the 9/11 museum.

[Balloon Twister]

02:00 PM on 08/18/2011

athiesm is a religion in itself. and like all religions there are crazies amongst them. if you poll you will see that it is a small minute fraction that agree. most dont care, they just want to not believe in God and not be bothered. just like any population, it is usually the minority that whine and complain until they get their way. making others look bad in the process. Why not just remove anything that looks like the letter "T t" because it looks like a cross?

[leonel]

06:47 PM on 08/16/2011

Atheists have to be the strangest people in the world. I don't disagree with their non-beliefs or whatever they want to make of them.

We can assume certain things, such as that most of the millions of prehistoric persons never had religions. In this sense most humans who have ever existed have been nonbelievers.

Another basic fact is that presently most persons also have no or little religion, such as in Russia, China, because of official government policies. In addition, in Europe, Christianity is in decline and the vast majority had lapsed in their religious affiliations.

The Muslim and the Hispanic countries may be where there is still the most membership. The US and India are also countries with majority traditional families who participate in established religions. This is not likely to change for generations to come.

In the US, Christianity seems to be continuing in creating community cohesion and with traditional and cultural values.

What makes atheists strange is that, aside from communists, they are the only ones who have reacted so strongly against the personal beliefs of others. Multicultural societies require that groups respect the beliefs of others unless they are interfering.

[UnderTheHedgeWeGo]

08:20 PM on 08/19/2011

"We can assume certain things, such as that most of the millions of prehistori­c persons never had religions".

There is no reason to assume that. There have been religions as long as there have been people who realized that one day they would die.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

04:42 AM on 09/09/2011

It is my personal belief that the great megalithic age came about in Europe, Asia, and Africa because realized that they were going to die. Not could die, would die. That's why they started piling up rocks everywhere, they wanted to leave something behind that would endure.

In early human bands that depended on hunting no one ever lived long enough to die of old age. Only with the start of farming did people lives grow long enough for them to grow old and die. Eventually they figured out that this would happen to everyone.

We've been trying to find a way to wiggle out of it ever since.

[Brittany Lock]

06:48 PM on 08/21/2011

"What makes atheists strange is that, aside from communists­, they are the only ones who have reacted so strongly against the personal beliefs of others."

Atheists are also constantly marginalized and made to look like complete outsiders who are bad people. Just look at your post for proof of that.

[Brandee Benoy]

03:18 PM on 08/27/2011

Not from my experience the atheists I meet hate religion(all regligions) and anyone dumb enough to believe in one. They repeat over and over again the same thing. They hold onto a hand full of missdeads by some religious people and a few dogmas that they don't understand. Depending on who they are talking to their tactics are different, but not by much. They sream at us and call us intolerant but the fact remains they will not and can not tolerate us. I do not wish to offend anyone, or mock anyone. This may not be true for all atheists but it is true fro the ones I have seen.

[capercaper]

12:01 PM on 08/15/2011

The cross is an historical artifact from the Pile at GZ. It will be included in the museum's historical artifact exhibit.

It is not on display to represent the victims or a religion.

The victims are represented and honored in other exhibits. Their personal religions can be included in their bios if so requested by family.

[UnderTheHedgeWeGo]

11:12 AM on 08/16/2011

The issue (at least in my mind) is whether it is "included" as one of many artifacts that represents different communities and systems of belief or if it is presented as a focal point of the museum or of an entire floor turning the entire tragedy into a Christian tragedy rather than an American tragedy. It is, after all, 17 feet tall. My concern is that it is one more example of the special privileges afforded to Christianity because America is "a Christian nation".

I have attempted o answer this question and, unfortunately, I am unable to find anything other than general vague statements concerning how it will be displayed.

"It is not on display to represent the victims or a religion."

It wouldn't be an artifact if Christians didn't identify two pieces of metal at right angles to one another as a Latin cross. It is there because it represent Christianity. If it didn't represent Christianity it would just be some more debris.

[capercaper]

03:42 PM on 08/16/2011

http://www.templeofthefuture.net/current-affairs/cross-with-american-atheists

I've posted this link before. There is a rendering of the artifacts exhibit, and an indepth fact laden discussion of the issue..

The site and discussion of the issue is by an antheist.

Enjoy.

[Damon Coburn]

01:31 AM on 08/15/2011

We are actually debating about whether an object retrieved from the site of ground zero should be allowed to be placed in the museum that commemorates the site of ground zero. Think about that. Supressing the object from the site does not demonstrate neutrality toward religion, it demonstrates a desire to supress religion as though it were pornography. And not only that, but it is taken to such a ridiculous extreme that we would supress not merely a religious item, but something that merely looks like one. The meaning one attributes to the object is entirely subjective to one's personal beliefs. This reveals not merely an attitude of hostility toward religion, but reveals an attitude that religion's very existence in the lives of our citizens is somehow offensive. Who really wants to oppress whom in this picture?

[UnderTheHedgeWeGo]

11:22 AM on 08/16/2011

"we would suppress not merely a religious item, but something that merely looks like one."

So, your argument is that it is only a Latin Cross because it looks like a Latin cross? It is a Latin Cross because Christians SAY it is a Christian cross. Are there religious icons that don't "merely look like" religious icons? Are there REAL religious icons and some that only LOOK real? If Christians didn't see a Christian cross they wouldn't be clamoring for its inclusion.

[capercaper]

03:46 PM on 08/16/2011

Christians AREN'T clamoring for the cross' inclusion. Where did you get that?

The museum president (non Christian), 48-person board (many non Christian) and chair Mayor Bloomberg want it included. As they should. It is an historically valuable artifact of 9/11 and it's aftermath.

[Damon Coburn]

04:15 PM on 08/16/2011

It was not constructed to be a religious icon. It was a piece of the rubble that happened to be broken in such a way that it looks like a latin cross. Some people looked at it as a symbol of hope. One of Chritianity's distinct theological characteristics is to see God's presence in the midst of suffering. In a predominantly christian society, that makes it a highly significant object. It doesnt infringe on anyone else's right to believe differently. People are free to interpret that the object is a sign of God's presence or that it is just a meaningless coincidence that happened to give some superstitious people comfort in the midst of tragedy. What you believe about it is up to you.