Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Posted on 11/24/2011 1:05:28 PM PST by Ranald S. MacKenzie
Cross Removed From San Antonio Tower
By Brittany Smith | Christian Post Reporter
It was a small cross, but it has created a big debate in San Antonio.
The “Torre de Esperanza,” or Tower of Hope, stands close to the entrance of Texas A&M University-San Antonio. The tower’s private owners put a small cross on the structure consistent with its Spanish mission-style design. They also allowed the school to put its seal on the structure. The cross, however, was recently removed.
The ACLU of Texas said the developer of the tower, Ralph Lampman of the VTLM Group, ordered the crosses removed after a TAMU-SA faculty member complained about the religious symbol. Criminology professor Sissy Bradford questioned the placement as a First Amendment violation.
Associate Vice President for University Communications Marilu Reyna told The Christian Post that she and university President Maria Hernandez Ferrier will speak with the owners of the property to see why the cross was removed. Reyna says the tower “doesn’t belong to the university. It’s on private property.” The Verano Land Group authorized the VTML group to build the tower on their property.
Reyna also told The Christian Post that the university had no say as to whether the cross was removed, but there have been misconceptions over the university’s ownership of the tower because its seal is on it.
Originally, the builders of the tower asked if the San Antonio campus wanted to display their seal on the structure. The initial designs shown to university officials did not contain the image of the small cross, so the university was not aware of it until it was built.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas became involved when they filed public information requests. They want clarification from the City of San Antonio and Texas A&M as to who paid for, designed, and owns the tower the land it sits on.
“The Christian symbol of a cross positioned near the TAMU-SA seal on a building that is the gateway to a public university raises First Amendment concerns,” said Public Policy and Advocacy Director with the ACLU of Texas, Rebecca Robertson, in a statement. “We are seeking full disclosure about the construction and funding of this structure so we can better understand the circumstances,” she said.
Public Education Director for ACLU of Texas Dottie Griffith told CP that the organization is interested in finding out whether public money was used “to favor one religion over others. We believe it’s an overreach for the government to favor one religion over another.”
A day after the ACLU filing, Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent letters to the city and university officials asking for the removal of the cross. The letter says that the cross gives the appearance of government endorsement of Christianity, which is in violation of the Constitution.
The public records request was filed Friday, and the City of San Antonio and TAMU-SA have 10 business days to provide the ACLU with the requested documents.
=============================================
Why do these anti-God liberals have so much power!?
I see the ACLUs’ war on Christianity and Christian Americans is going well. Something tells me they are not going to like the G*dless society they will reap once they have destroyed all the Christians here in the USA.
“Take the school seal off, put the cross back on. Done.”
My thoughts, too.
I think if enough of us band together and fight these anti-gooberment idiots like the ACLU why would it be too late? Wonder how many times they’ve been fought in court and lost as opposed to people folding like cheap chairs and doing their bidding with no questions asked? Just wonderin’....:(
Damn those Christians!(Yes, I realize the irony of that statement) They’re everywhere!
Remind me when we fight WWII again to get rid of these people utterly!
And the removal of crosses from the necklaces around our necks.
Obama and Hillary Clinton are quoted as saying they believe in the “freedom of worship”. They never say they believe in the “freedom of religion”. On religious matters, there is no daylight between them. This is the face of the Democratic party.
Marxism marches forward to roam the earth. Those that ignore God’s will today will soon learn that God will have the last word.
Whereas, the reality of the situation is completely different.
Next they will remove the “San” and just call the tower “Antonio”
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Forced removal of the cross from private property gives the appearance of government endorsement of Atheism, which is in violation of the Constitution.
Thanks Brittany, Marilu, Maria, Rebecca, Dottie and Sissy.
So instead the ACLU promotes paganism on all public properties, violating our 1st Amendment rights.
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
Just imagine if the ACLU existed in the first 150 or 175 years of our country, they'd be making 100 lawsuits a day for public and even (horros) government approved references to religion. Only they'd lose them all, and be run out of town tarred and feathered, as they deserve. I hate the ACLU with every fibre of my being.
Why do people keep caving in to these Godless, anti-American communists?
“My property, my cross, go away.”
There is no constitutional right to not be offended!
If there were, I’d sue the ACLU for the thousands of times they’ve offended me.
Methinks time for “Occupy Torre de Esperanza”, and go up there and just put ANOTHER BIG CROSS UP THERE. And then sit-in around it, singing Spanish Christmas Carols, waiting for the arrests. These atheists who are out to destroy our Repulic hate and fear The Cross as they do the work of the Dark One. How many of us are willing to stand up for Christ and take our country back, one block at at time?
In other news, the ACLU has demanded that the name of San Antonio, TX be changed to Antonio as San, which is Spanish for Saint is offensive to many because of it’s affiliation with Catholicism. ?S
Methinks time for “Occupy Torre de Esperanza”, and go up there and just put ANOTHER BIG CROSS UP THERE. And then sit-in around it, singing Spanish Christmas Carols, waiting for the arrests. These atheists who are out to destroy our Repulic hate and fear The Cross as they do the work of the Dark One. How many of us are willing to stand up for Christ and take our country back, one block at at time?
oops, that was supposted to be /S not ?S
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.