According to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia the cross is NOT a Christian symbol. According to him, it is a symbol of the resting place of the dead. Others have made the same claim when faced with protests about displays of the cross on government lands. Attorney Kelly Schackleford of the Liberty Legal Institute says it is a secular war memorial and not a religious symbol. Judge Andrew Napolitano on Fox & Friends said that the cross is a secular symbol meaning honor, duty and recognition.
At issue is a cross mounted in the Mojave National Preserve in California as a Veterans Memorial. The cross stood there for 60 years, undisturbed until a group asked if a Buddhist shrine could be erected near the cross. The Park Service denied the request, and Frank Buono, a retired ranger from the Preserve has filed suit against the cross. Buono, a Catholic, felt it was wrong for the government to allow the celebration of one religion over another on federal land.
There have been all kinds of twists and turns in this case as efforts have been made to transfer the cross to private property in an attempt to invalidate the court ruling against the Park Service, but what really bothers Buono now is the argument that the cross is not actually a religious symbol.
Yes, indeed. Mojave cross supporters are so determined to save it that they are proclaiming loudly that it is not a religious symbol, that it does not represent Jesus Christ or Christianity and that it is merely a secular symbol of sacrifice.
Okay, I am not a Christian so it’s not hard to tell where my sympathies lie in this case, but for those of you who are Christians, just answer me this- what does the cross mean to you? Are Scalia, Shackleford and Napolitano right when they claim that it’s not really a religious symbol but a secular one? Does this truly reflect your belief about the cross?
Note, I’m not asking how you feel about the Mojave cross, or whether you support it or not. I’m asking how you feel about the cross itself. Many Christians wear the cross as jewelry, on necklaces, lapel pins, bracelets and rings. Many of them even have it tattooed on their bodies. So are you okay with Scalia et al saying that the cross you so devotedly wear around your neck doesn’t actually represent your love and worship of Jesus Christ?
In Matthew 25: 30-35, Jesus says that Peter will deny him three times: “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Then, in Matthew 26: 69-75:
69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”
70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”
71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”
73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”
74 Then he began to 6curse and 7swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
Now you’ve heard a justice of the highest court in the United States say that the cross is NOT a symbol of Jesus Christ. Tell me why those of you who claim to worship, love, and follow Jesus Christ are not up in arms at the betrayal of the very symbol of what you believe to be Jesus’ sacrifice to save you all.
If I were a Christian, I would say that once again, Jesus’ followers are betraying him.
Secular symbol indeed.
