Mojave cross at center of court fight reported stolen

[sinkingfeeling]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/11/mojave-cross-at-ce...

A war memorial shaped like a cross that has been at the center of a Supreme Court fight has been torn down by vandals from its remote desert perch, its caretakers said Tuesday.

Veterans groups that have been fighting for years to keep the cross on national park land say the 6-foot-tall metal structure was removed Sunday night from Sunrise Rock in a lonely stretch of the Mojave National Preserve.

The high court on April 28 ruled the cross did not violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought the original lawsuit to have the cross removed, has promised to continue the court fight.

[Orrex]

1. Perhaps it ascended?

[msanthrope]

7. Maybe the Rapture happened, and we didn't notice???? n/t

[WeDidIt]

2. I disagree with the ruling, but that's just wrong

[mike_c]

3. good riddance ....

I love that park, and the mojave in general. That christian death/torture symbol was deeply disturbing in such a beautiful setting.

on edit: it's the people's land-- if someone could legally litter the place with it, then IMO someone else was just as justified picking up the trash.

[HopeHoops]

4. Maybe someone wanted to put it on the ceiling over their "love bed".

You never know.

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Could it have been a black-ops caper by Satan (R)." - Church Lady

[TheMightyFavog]

13. Isn't he a bit busy helping the Bruins in the Playoffs?

[FSogol]

6. Too bad. You do realize that now they'll move a giant 400 foot chrome cross,

a mobile touch-down Jesus, a monument to the Ten Commandments, and a bust of Reagan to the site.

[msanthrope]

10. Jesus Christ on a Trailer Hitch.....

[Lochloosa]

8. Found!

[Democat]

9. It's hovering over Area 51 right now!

Check the webcam!

[slackmaster]

11. That's fucked up

Whoever stole it is morally no better than the clowns who fire-bombed two medical marijuana clinics in Montana.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

If you lose, you lose. If you don't play by the rules, you aren't entitled to any prizes.

[mike_c]

12. it's litter on public land...

...so in my book, whoever took it is morally no worse than anyone else who picks up the garbage people leave behind.

[slackmaster]

14. You saying so doesn't make it so - And the courts have ruled that the cross can stay

Either you work inside the system or you are no better than any other outlaw.

[mike_c]

16. that's not really the case, I think....

Congress dodged the issue by enacting a law specifically to transfer the cross and the ground immediately under it to the VFW, so that it would be on private rather than public land. That legislation was challenged and the land transfer has not yet occurred, I believe.

In any event, the cross is still on Mojave NP land, not VFW land yet, and that makes it xtian litter in my book. I applaud whomever cleaned it up.

[gratuitous]

15. "A war memorial shaped like a cross"

Hoo boy, what a locution!