ACLU Attacking Cross On Private Land?

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU Via: The Times-Picayune

Alarmed by newspaper reports that a hurricane memorial in St. Bernard Parish will feature a cross bearing a likeness of the face of Jesus, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana is reminding parish officials of the Constitution’s separation of church and state. Never one to back down, Parish President Henry “Junior” Rodriguez has a simple reply: “They can kiss my ass.”

That probably isn’t the most Christian response he could have come up with but it is quite simple and to the point. Its a message the ACLU should probably hear alot more of.

In a July 28 letter to Rodriguez and other officials, Louisiana ACLU Executive Director Joe Cook said that the government promotion of a patently religious symbol on a public waterway is a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment, which prohibits government from advancing a religion. Rodriguez did not say whether he has responded to Cook’s letter, but in an interview, he said he sees nothing improper about the memorial, which will be mounted near the shoreline of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet at Shell Beach. The cross and accompanying monument listing the names of the 129 parish residents who died in Hurricane Katrina are earmarked for what the parish says is private land and are being financed with donations, Rodriguez said. Nonetheless, Cook asked the parish to erect a religiously neutral symbol and also voiced concern that the Parish Council was sanctioning a religious monument. Returning Rodriguez’s volley, Cook added, “It would be better if he would kiss the Constitution and honor it and honor the First Amendment.”

Is this the best comeback Cook could come up with? Surely he could do better. After all this is the same Joe Cook that compared the mindset of school prayer supporters in Tangipahoa Parish to that of the 9-11 terrorists.

“The memorial is being coordinated by a group of volunteers on their own time, and no public money is going to the project that will be on private land,” Reppel said. “The committee members are all volunteers, including me. We are putting in a lot of unpaid overtime.” Other committee members include St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Anthony Fernandez Jr.; St. Bernard Tourism Director Elizabeth “Gidget” McDougall; former Parish President Charles Ponstein, who is working with a state agency on local business retention; Lorrie Allen, Reppel’s assistant; and LaBruzzo. As for the parish’s statements that the memorial is being done outside government’s auspices, Cook seems unconvinced. While the ACLU thinks a memorial to the storm and its victims is “clearly appropriate,” Cook said, St. Bernard’s is “still all very questionable. I think there is official government involvement with the endorsement and advancement of this clearly religious symbol.”

So now we have a branch of the ACLU pushing to censor religious expression by volunteers on private land? Joe Cook has shown a history of anti-Christian bias in his rhetoric, manner, and actions. It is good to see that the parish is not backing down. This is just another reason why we need the Public Expression of Religion Act passed.