Free Republic

SAN DIEGO -- A full panel of federal judges has declined to rehear the case of a war memorial cross in a public park in San Diego that has been deemed unconstitutional by the court. A group fighting to preserve the monument announced Monday that the 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied its request. Five of the judges dissented, stating the cross should stay. A three-judge panel in January ruled that the cross conveys a message of religion and is unconstitutional. Kelly Shackelford says her organization will appeal to the Supreme Court. Shackelford is an...

A few weeks ago, I referred to President Obama as a “dhimmi president,” a subservient kowtower to Islamic power. Maybe it’s time to rethink that designation. He’s not a dhimmi. He’s a spineless, supine, surrendering subject of submission – in other words, a dhimmi-plus. How else to explain Obama’s complacency with regard to a crescent-shaped monument (which Alec Rawls advances in “Crescent of Betrayal: Dishonoring the Heroes” his claim that the memorial is in fact the world’s largest open-air mosque), being built on National Park Service federal land at the Shanksville, PA Flight 93 crash site, while at the same...

It would be unimaginable for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to pursue the removal of thousands of crosses in Arlington National Cemetery situated so near the seat of the federal government in the nation's capital, and where so many of America's veterans and honored heroes are laid to rest. Likewise, it would be seemingly unthinkable for the ACLU to try to sue to eliminate the Senate and House chaplains (both of whom are of the Christian faith) who, in accordance with longstanding tradition, open with a prayer the upper and lower chambers each day that Congress is in session....

Campaign strategists should rethink their pitches to the very rich, who appear just as disillusioned by politics as the rest of America. The uber-wealthy believe more in "true love" and a "higher power" than they do in the proverbial "honest politician," according to the "Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America," ... More believe in UFOs, ghosts, angels, karma and "one God" than believe in trustworthy politicians. Really. Their "political leanings are shifting in favor of Republicans," the survey says.

President Obama has ignored requests to restore to its proper resting place the only federal WWI memorial, the Mojave Desert War Memorial Cross, while supporting the Ground Zero mosque to be built on the 9/11 gravesite. What is wrong with this picture?

Last month, in what can only be described as a cowardly criminal act, some unknown person or persons crept into the Mojave Desert under cover of darkness and hacked down a memorial cross honoring veterans. Now, someone is attempting to take credit for the act, and yet, as if to cement their cowardice, doing so anonymously. Here is a simple truth the perpetrators—whoever they are—will never understand: Their actions will not discourage those among us in this fight. To the contrary, it makes us more determined to stay the course. The particular memorial, first erected by the Veterans of Foreign...

The Mojave Cross has been torn down again!The day after Memorial Day the Mojave National Preserve has removed the cross erected the day prior. The seven foot cross made of PVC pipe was erected as a War Memorial on Monday, May 31, 2010 during a celebration of Memorial Day and the Mojave Cross. At noon today a call came from the site that the cross has been removed again! Most of the small wooden crosses inscribed with the name of a fallen American hero were wedged into crevices of the rock and are still there today.-snip-

Preparing to celebrate Memorial Day, we do so knowing brave veterans and our shared faith have been maliciously attacked, first by thieves and now by our own Federal Government. The recent theft and desecration of the Mojave Cross, serving as a WWI Veterans war memorial since 1934, was more than a symbol of gratitude to our fallen heroes. It's a symbol of the overwhelming majority of our WWI veterans’ faith. After a long and contentious legal battle, the US Supreme Court ruled the Mojave Cross should remain on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave National Preserve. Yet, in order to circumvent...

Just in time for Memorial Day Obama’s National Park Service has poked our veterans in the eye by rewarding the lowlifes who stole the original Mojave Desert Veteran’s Memorial Cross. After a long hard fought victory to keep the cross which was a monument to the memory of America’s World War I veterans, patriots thought the battle was over. Nevertheless when the Left loses in court it merely takes the fight to the streets. Shortly after the Supreme Court victory a group of two legged skunks pulled the cross down anyway. Saddened but undaunted victorious concerned veterans raised the necessary...

Mojave Cross replaced, then removed By BEN GOAD and DUG BEGLEY The Press-Enterprise The Mojave Cross saga took yet another unexpected turn Thursday, when the contested symbol that vanished last week reappeared briefly before being taken down by federal officials. National Park Service officials learned Thursday morning that a cross again was on top of Sunrise Rock, about 10 miles south of Interstate 15 near Cima Road, a sparsely traveled route into the Mojave National Preserve. It's about 30 miles east of Baker. Some version of the cross has stood there for 75 years as a tribute to fallen World...

Last month the Supreme Court declared that the Mojave Cross on Sunrise Rock could stay where it was. It was put up 75 years ago to honor World War I troops.10 days later (leftist) vandals stole the 75 year-old cross from the rock. Yesterday federal authorities removed the second cross that was put up to replace the first one. The Press-Enterprise reported: The Mojave Cross saga took yet another unexpected turn Thursday, when the contested symbol that vanished last week reappeared briefly before being taken down by federal officials. National Park Service officials learned Thursday morning that a cross again...

How much stupid can you squeeze into one liberal’s head? Three weeks ago American veterans won their long hard court battle to save their memorial cross honoring American soldiers killed in World War I. The case went to the Supreme Court and was finally won by a slim 5 to 4 majority. Anthony Kennedy wrote: “Here one Latin cross in the desert evokes far more than religion. It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten.” This week we heard the...

Note: An anonymous caller, claiming to know the details of the theft of the Mojave Cross, called the Desert Dispatch Tuesday afternoon, saying he was not directly responsible for the cross’s theft, but knew who was. While the claims could not be verified, the caller, who identifies himself as a veteran, seems likely connected to the theft. Below are key points of a written explanation provided by the caller. • The cross has been carefully preserved. • A small non-sectarian monument was brought to place at the site but technical difficulties prevented this from happening at the time the cross...

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled on April 28 that the Mojave War Memorial, which includes a cross commonly called "the Mojave cross", could stand it's ground as it has done since 1934 in the Mojave desert as a symbol of patriotism and respect for the dead who served in World War I. And now someone has stolen it. Someone brazenly, defiantley, took the controverisal 8 ft. cross which was literally bolted into Sunrise Rock. But who took it and why? The most obvious answer would be someone who could not stand the fact that the highest court in...

The 76-year-old Mojave Cross war memorial in San Bernardino County's High Desert has been torn down by vandals, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the religious symbol could remain -- at least temporarily -- on public land. Sometime Sunday night, the cross was taken down from its perch atop Sunrise Rock in the Mojave National Preserve, according to Liberty Institute, a group that represented veterans groups and caretakers of the cross in the recent Supreme Court Case. "This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves," said institute president Kelly Shackelford. "It's a disgraceful attack on the...

[half way down the page under, Oral Argument Recap] Despite strenuous efforts by Justice Antonin Scalia to keep alive the core question of whether the cross display was a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, the dominant sentiment on the bench seemed to be that that was no longer open to review. And despite efforts by U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to get the Court to focus on whether a former park service officer had any right to sue to test the display, that, too, seemed to be beyond the Court’s reach. Kagan, in fact, had to endure lectures by...

As Americans celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and other religious faiths this time of the year, I am reminded of what a blessing it is to be an American and to be free to practice my faith. ... My long-time spokesperson and Founding Director of ReAL, Rick Tyler, recently visited the cross and sent me an email about it. Here is an excerpt of his report: Since I was going to be in Santa Barbara to give a talk, I thought it might be my best opportunity -- even though the distances were daunting -- to see the Mojave Desert Cross for...

The Supreme Court joined in a fight between the ACLU and the federal government over a World War I memorial in the shape of a cross. While neither legal team hit the ball over the fence, the majority seems inclined to save this cross in what will be the first religious liberty case of the new Court. On Oct. 7, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Salazar v. Buono. This case is a decade-long fight over the so-called Mojave cross, pitting Obama Solicitor General Elena Kagan against the ACLU’s Peter Eliasberg. (This doesn’t mean Barack Obama necessarily wants to protect...

Deep in the heart of the Mojave National Preserve in California stands a five foot cross carefully disguised in a plywood box. The U.S. Park Service was forced to cover the cross until the Supreme Court decides whether the cross can remain in its place as a monument to fallen soldiers during World War I, or whether it must come down because its presence violates the Constitution. The case is the latest in a recent flurry of challenges to religious symbols placed on public property. The cross was constructed more than 70 years ago by the Veterans of Foreign Wars....

General Douglas MacArthur famously noted that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away." Sometimes, though, before they fade away, they get angry. And a case being argued in the Supreme Court Wednesday has veterans seeing red, white, and blue-but mostly red. Unsurprisingly, the case will go to the court courtesy of an ACLU lawsuit. The object at the center of the case is a small, unadorned cross sitting in a remote part of the Mojave Desert Preserve in Southeast California. A veterans' group erected this memorial cross on private land in 1934 to honor the dead of all wars....