Government sells Mt. Soledad land to private group

I took a personal interest in the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in 2013 when my family and I visited the site in La Jolla, Calif. The tour guide told us the cross, which at the time sat on federal land, was the subject of litigation. I snapped several photos and anticipated it would soon come down.

Atheists and other unbelievers want it removed, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution, which doesn't ban religious symbols on government property. And there’s no mention or even a hint of “separation of church and state” in the document. Nevertheless, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the cross unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court later refused to hear the case. A federal court ordered the cross removed but stayed the order pending appeal. The high court again declined to hear the case because of the appeal.

In a strange kind of devotion, unbelievers have spent decades trying to remove an object that honors people who’ve served our country. But the battle might be over. The non-profit Mt. Soledad Memorial Association, which maintained the site for years, has bought the property from the federal government. From the Washington Times:

“The purchase brings to a close an epic 25-year legal battle, spurred by a 1989 lawsuit from Vietnam War veteran and atheist Philip Paulson, who argued that the cross excluded non-Christian vets and violated the Constitution's prohibition against state-established religion. … Hiram Sasser, deputy chief counsel for the Liberty Institute, called the resolution of the legal battle a ‘great victory for the veterans who originally placed this memorial and the Korean War veterans the memorial honors.’”

While it’s true that not all U.S. military veterans are or were Christians, they served a country in which a majority of Americans still identify as Christian. Now that the cross is in private hands, it appears the fight to remove it will finally end.

The cross of Christ definitely is a powerful symbol. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colossae about its heretical mix of Jewish legalism and pagan mysticism and reminded the brethren what the cross means. Christ forgave our sins, “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

There’s no biblical mandate for us to make sure crosses remain on taxpayer-owned property. These objects point to where we’ve atoned and remind us what that atonement cost. Christ’s horrible suffering and sacrifice led us to repentance, forgiveness, grace, and mercy. I like to think that some of the people who consider the cross foolishness will one day be our brothers and sisters in Christ.