Appeals Court rules against UT memorial crosses


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The 14 crosses erected along Utah roads to commemorate fallen state Highway Patrol troopers convey a state preference for Christianity and are a violation of the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

First of all, they're complaining about 14? In the whole state?

Second of all, I'm pretty sure it's not the crosses that "convey a state preference for Christianity."

But American Atheists, Inc., the Texas-based group that sued to have the crosses removed from state property, argued that the crosses could imply that the trooper who died there was a Christian.

Why do Texans care?

Furthermore, why is the court system wasting its time with such frivolous suits?

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When there is a fatality on our city street here in Edmonton, the city puts up a "coffin-shaped" fatality sign where the fatality occurred. I guess it serves two purposes; honoring the dead and as a awareness for drivers and pedestrians to be more careful.

M.

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The Utah court was up in the night, if they thought they could rule the Cross as a non-religious symbol.

This is not an issue of being politically correct, but rather one of separation of Church and State. It is this same important principle which will protect Churches from ever being forced to perform gay marriages. Best to keep this in mind.

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When there is a fatality on our city street here in Edmonton, the city puts up a "coffin-shaped" fatality sign where the fatality occurred. I guess it serves two purposes; honoring the dead and as a awareness for drivers and pedestrians to be more careful.

M.

The cross is a peaceful and celebratory symbol, though, whereas the coffin is just plain morbid.

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The thing is..it is on public land. I suppose if they were on private lands they couldn't do much about it.

I read it wrong. My mind read "private" when it said "public." This changes things. Remove the crosses. Here in Indiana I see little crosses on the roads all the time, I guess people have been in accidents and died there. I don't really see a problem with that. It reminds me to watch my driving speed. Plus the families/friends want to honor the victims. People grieve in different ways.

Hmm, how would I feel if this happened in Indiana? If the crosses look "official" then remove them. You can't have the police force appearing to represent one religion over the other. They shouldn't be representing a religion at all.

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I read it wrong. My mind read "private" when it said "public." This changes things. Remove the crosses. Here in Indiana I see little crosses on the roads all the time, I guess people have been in accidents and died there. I don't really see a problem with that. It reminds me to watch my driving speed. Plus the families/friends want to honor the victims. People grieve in different ways.

Hmm, how would I feel if this happened in Indiana? If the crosses look "official" then remove them. You can't have the police force appearing to represent one religion over the other. They shouldn't be representing a religion at all.

Small roadside crosses with flower wreaths on them tend to be memorials placed by family or friends of victims. The ones in question in Utah are (according to the article in the OP) 12 feet high, with six-foot cross bars. They seem to be uniform enough that they aren't individual memorials erected by loved ones. They are state-sanctioned. That becomes a problem.

I don't agree with the ruling, but it does have a point.

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See, and I don't even think that looks like a coffin. It's distorted enough to where you look at it, and you kind-of think "what's that?"

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