9/11 Cross (Photo credit: Joe Gatling)

Does the sighting of a cross really cause unbelievers to suffer “physical and emotional pain”? That was the original claim made by atheists in their efforts to get the 9/11 Cross deleted from the Memorial in New York City:

“Named plaintiffs have suffered, inter alia, dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish from the knowledge that they are made to feel officially excluded from the ranks of citizens who were directly injured by the 9/11 attack and the lack of acknowledgement of the more than 1,000 non- Christian individuals who were killed at the World Trade Center.”

Meanwhile atheist organizations continue to try legal means to get the cross banished from the memorial arguing that it is a violation of Church and State and promotes one particular religion. What’s more, some would like their own atheist symbol included in the display even though it was not found in the wreckage or part of the site and history of the event.

Response: The 9/11 Cross found in the wreckage of the World Trade center was an inspirational symbol of hope to the rescue workers and survivors of the terrorist event on 9/11/01. It was part of the story and the history of what actually happened at the site.

It really does belong in the museum since the whole reason for the museum in the first place is to tell the story of what actually happened there and display actual artifacts and pictures from the site and saga of the 9/11 terrorist event which killed and injured thousands. To take the cross out of the story would be a rewriting of history for a particular set of philosophical positions. Ironically that action would closely reflect the same type of radical rigidity in thinking that caused the 9/11 terrorist tragedy in the first place.          *Top