September 11 Museum Cross Pits Atheists vs. Conservatives [POLL]

The World Trade Center cross, those 2 steel crossbeams that were salvaged from the wreckage of the Twin Towers, and thought of as a symbol of our resilience following the attack has become the focal point of a battle between an atheist group and a conservative group.

The controversy is whether or not the cross should be a part of the September 11th Museum.

Imagine that!

Atheists view the symbol as largely religious and feel as though the cross is endorsing religion in a public space.

The conservative group feels that the cross was, and is, largely symbolic of our resilience…is less about religion and more about its historical significance.

According to this:

"The legal arguments of the atheist organization are both offensive and absurd," according to The American Center for Law and Justice’s chief counsel, Jay Sekulow.

He said 190,000 people had signed a petition opposing the lawsuit.

The 9/11 museum the foundation plans to include the 17-foot cross among more than 1,000 objects, including fire trucks, an ambulance and the 37-foot "Last Column," left standing on the site of the former World Trade Center.

The cross is actually two intersecting steel beams, found amid the wreckage of the collapsed Twins Towers after the 9/11 attacks.

American Atheists Inc., a group that moved its national headquarters from Texas to New Jersey in 1999, filed the suit in August 2011 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The suit claims that including the cross in a museum on public property amounts to an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. It also asserts the presence of the cross would result in injury — emotional and even physical in the case of extreme anxiety — to atheists left feeling excluded from what should be a place of unity and healing.

The foundation acknowledged in a filing in response to the suit that the cross "was venerated by certain workers during the course of the rescue and recovery operation at Ground Zero, including in religious services conducted by a priest." But, it insists, the cross is being included for historical, not religious, purposes.

The foundation also argues that as a private, non-profit group, it is not bound by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the Constitutional basis for the separation of church and state.

Much ado over a cross.

Do you feel it’s warranted?

As noted above, while the foundation duly noted that the cross was used in some religious services held at the site following the attack…to not include it at the museum would be yielding to that same politically correct mindset that led to the creation of a commemorative statue of the raising of the American Flag at the site following the attack.

You may remember the story.

A Bergen Record photographer captured the moment in an iconic photo of 3 white NYFD raising the flag moments after the attack.

But when the statue commemorating the event was unveiled at a memorial ceremony, the firemen were depicted to be a more racially diverse group.

Political correctness at work altering history!

Do you view the World Trade Center cross as a religious or historical symbol!