Should Atheists Fight The World Trade Center Cross?
Posted by Phil Ferguson on September 12th, 2012 – 11 Comments – Posted in Uncategorized11 years ago America was attacked and over 3,000 people died. Two new towers of steel and glass rise from the heart of New York City. People wanted a place to reflect on that terrible day and a billion dollars was budgeted for a memorial and museum. The memorial is wonderful but the museum is still a work in process.
One of the pieces that is going into the museum is this piece of steel.
This CNN photo show Brian Jordan doing a magic spell on the metal.
American Atheists is suing to stop the cross. The memorial is for everyone and paid for by the tax payers – should there be a cross?
“It is important that it not be displayed to the exclusion of everyone else,” said David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, which first filed suit in July 2011. “This case is about inclusion, it is not about the elimination of religion, it is about the inclusion of everyone.”
Some have said that it is a symbol of the events that occurred it is not about christianity. The museum said that it is…
an item with historical, cultural or artistic significance…
What do you think? Is it artistic, a symbol of hope or just two pieces of metal? David Silverman has his position….
“The argument that this is not a religious symbol is asinine and arrogant…”
“They want 9/11 to appear to be an attack on Christianity, and it was not.”
Mr. Jordan (shown in photo above) thinks it is a cross and a religious symbol and it should be put in the museum.
“After a 10-year journey of faith, the World Trade Center Cross has finally found its home,” Jordan said in a statement at the time.
What is a “journey of faith”?
So, is this a good fight to pick or should we let them have this prize and just move on?
A cross has cultural and artistic significance *because* it is the Christian symbol. To pretend that a cross would have any meaning to anyone (except perhaps architects), without Euro-American culture dominated by a tyrannical, greedy and destructive Christian religion for centuries, is asinine and arrogant, just as David says.
Put up symbols of human value, not symbols of sectarianism and assumed exclusive cosmic truth. Why not a giant heart, or a teddybear, or just a humble display of torn clothes?
Well said. I would love to see a giant teddy bear. They could sell them in the gift shop. Maybe they would have two hearts…to represent the two towers.
The Doctor in the long-running television series Doctor Who has two hearts and is non-sectarian. I think a huge statue of The Doctor on the site of the attack would be something people of all faiths could embrace and celebrate.
I love it. I vote for Tom Baker. They can add scarves to the gift shop. Each end is a tower.
WHAT!? Christopher Eccleston is clearly the best doctor, you heretic!!!
Yes, it is an item with historical significance, as it was important for many people after 9/11. So if the museum is to chronicle history accurately, it should show it.
While I agree that this doesn’t include atheists in that we don’t see it as significant, I don’t think that that’s the issue here. The issue here is a depiction of history.
It would be more important to me to have a good description with that cross, something along the lines of “Although it’s not surprising to find two cross-beams in a collapsed building, for many people it is a symbol of hope” (instead of a ancient torture device, but that’s a whole other topic)
Thank you, I agree that we should be a little less sue happy. Imagine a holocaust museum with a copy of the Torah in it that was recovered from a site or something, or maybe a beam from a bunkbead in auschwitz with a star of David carved into it. These would be unquestioningly religious artifacts, but they would be in a museum because of their historical signifigance.
I concur with this reply. Since this is a museum, I think the cross is of historical importance. If this were the memorial or a building where government is performed, I would change my mind.
We need to fight bigger battles. If they put it in the museum it will expose Christianity’s sectarianisim.
It’s utter ridiculousness. It’s a piece of scrap metal. It’s not a sign of your god. The attack had nothing to do with Christianity and people of multiple faiths and no faith perished in the attack. It’s totally disrespectful of Christians to think they’re entitled to put their symbol of their religion on an event that affected every single American.
The arrogance of Christians knows no bounds. They see their “god” in the clouds and their “virgin” in a piss-stained wall.