{"id":1627,"date":"2011-11-18T16:13:52","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T21:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/?p=1627"},"modified":"2011-11-29T15:39:13","modified_gmt":"2011-11-29T20:39:13","slug":"jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html","title":{"rendered":"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton – Keep the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Veterans Day, a 13-foot cross was placed on top of a hill at Camp Pendleton in California. The Marines who put it there said they wanted to honor the memory of four comrades killed in Iraq and wanted to show respect for all military personnel who serve abroad. The Marines were actually replacing<\/em> a cross originally erected in 2003, but that subsequently burned down in 2007.\u00a0The four Marines honored helped raise the original cross in 2003.<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Justin Rettenberger said the cross is dedicated to the memory of four Marines killed in battle<\/a>. “We wanted them all to know that they\u2019ll always be in our hearts, that they\u2019ll never be forgotten,” he said. “All great warriors.”<\/p>\n

It did not take long before opposition surfaced. That’s right. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) said the cross is unconstitutional. In a blog post<\/a>,\u00a0the MAAF said “we still have continuing exploitation of military service and veterans to promote Christian privilege.” The placement of the cross, the MAAF contends, “sends a message of exclusion rather than inclusion on this secular holiday.”<\/p>\n

Ridiculous.<\/p>\n

The Constitution does not prohibit honoring fallen troops through the use of a historic symbol merely because that symbol also carries religious significance.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Constitution forbids excluding religion from every aspect of public life, precisely the goal of the MAAF and other atheist groups.<\/p>\n

This latest flap comes just weeks after another atheist group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), targeted for removal a war memorial – a statue of Jesus<\/a> – placed on a Montana mountain nearly 60 years ago.<\/p>\n

In the Camp Pendleton case, we have sent a letter<\/a> to the Commanding Officer explaining in detail that crosses are used as a widespread and universal symbol of remembrance and do not violate the Establishment Clause. “Given the memorial’s history and context, it is clear that it is not intended to proselytize for any faith,” the letter states. “It is meant to honor and commemorate the sacrifice of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.”<\/p>\n

In urging the Marines to keep the cross in place, our letter<\/a> clearly puts this symbol into the proper perspective: “Crosses are an apt, appropriate, and constitutionally permissible means of honoring and commemorating the sacrifice of those who have given their life for their comrades and their country.”<\/p>\n

The outcry from the MAAF now has the Marines taking another look. A Marine spokesperson told ChristianPost.com<\/a>\u00a0that “Camp Pendleton legal authorities are researching and reviewing the issue in order to make a judicious decision.”<\/p>\n

We are hopeful the Marines won’t be swayed by this atheist group and its flawed view of the Constitution. We urge the Marines to keep the cross in place. The display is not only appropriate, it is constitutional as well.<\/p>\n

Jay Sekulow<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Veterans Day, a 13-foot cross was placed on top of a hill at Camp Pendleton in California. The Marines who put it there said they wanted to honor the memory of four comrades killed in Iraq and wanted to show respect for all military personnel who serve abroad. The Marines were actually replacing a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,43,457,427],"tags":[743,57,476,430,245,257,791,478,479,795,429,477],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-constitution","category-u-s-military","category-veterans-day","category-war-memorial","tag-aclj","tag-california","tag-camp-pendleton","tag-constitutional-display","tag-cross-memorial","tag-freedom-from-religion-foundation","tag-jay-sekulow","tag-military-association-of-atheists-and-freethinkers","tag-military-base","tag-montana","tag-statue-of-jesus","tag-u-s-marine-corps"],"yoast_head":"\nJay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton - Keep the Cross - Faith & Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton - Keep the Cross - Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Veterans Day, a 13-foot cross was placed on top of a hill at Camp Pendleton in California. The Marines who put it there said they wanted to honor the memory of four comrades killed in Iraq and wanted to show respect for all military personnel who serve abroad. The Marines were actually replacing a…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-18T21:13:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-29T20:39:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/files\/2011\/11\/1213499411-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton - Keep the Cross - Faith & Justice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton - Keep the Cross - Faith & Justice","og_description":"On Veterans Day, a 13-foot cross was placed on top of a hill at Camp Pendleton in California. The Marines who put it there said they wanted to honor the memory of four comrades killed in Iraq and wanted to show respect for all military personnel who serve abroad. The Marines were actually replacing a…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html","og_site_name":"Faith & Justice","article_published_time":"2011-11-18T21:13:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-11-29T20:39:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/files\/2011\/11\/1213499411-199x300.jpg"}],"author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html","name":"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton - Keep the Cross - Faith & Justice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/files\/2011\/11\/1213499411-199x300.jpg","datePublished":"2011-11-18T21:13:52+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-29T20:39:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/files\/2011\/11\/1213499411-199x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/files\/2011\/11\/1213499411-199x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/11\/jay-sekulow-camp-pendleton-keep-the-cross.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jay Sekulow: Camp Pendleton – Keep the Cross"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/","name":"Faith & Justice","description":"Jay Sekulow - ACLJ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4","name":"Jay Sekulow","description":"Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law. He is also Chief Counsel of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow is one of the leading defenders of constitutional rights and religious liberties in the United States. Over the past 25 years, Jay Sekulow has amassed an unparalleled record of accomplishment, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court on 12 occasions. His aggressive litigation strategy before the Supreme Court has led to many landmark First Amendment victories. In his first case before the Supreme Court, Jews for Jesus, Jay Sekulow secured the right of religious groups to pass out tracks in airports. In Mergens, Jay Sekulow successfully protected the right of students to form Bible clubs and prayer groups on public school campuses. In Lamb\u2019s Chapel, Jay Sekulow cleared the way for churches to have equal access to public facilities in the same way that other groups are permitted to utilize those facilities. In the Bray and Operation Rescue cases, Jay Sekulow protected the free speech rights of pro-life advocates to be free from criminal prosecution for conveying their pro-life message. In McConnell v. FEC, Jay Sekulow protected the right of young people to engage in the political process by donating to the campaign of their choice. In Pleasant Grove, Jay Sekulow paved the way for governments to be able to display Ten Commandments monuments, and other monuments of their choosing, in public parks. Through the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow engages the political, legal, and cultural battles facing America today. He routinely works with Members of Congress, advising them on proposed legislation and representing them in critical legal matters. Jay Sekulow has also testified before Congress on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. Also, in addition to being a successful Supreme Court advocate, Jay Sekulow is a highly respected broadcaster. Jay Sekulow is the host of Jay Sekulow Live! which airs each weekday on over 850 radio stations nationwide, in addition Sirius and XM satellite radio. He brings insight and education to listeners daily through this national call-in radio program. He is also the host of the ACLJ This Week, the ACLJ\u2019s weekly television program. Jay Sekulow regularly appears on major media outlets, including FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, where he is sought out for his vast experience in constitutional law and his unique insight into many of the pressing legal and political issues facing America today. He is frequently quoted in the nation's leading newspapers and often contributes opinion editorials to national publications. Jay Sekulow has also published numerous law review and other scholarly articles. Jay Sekulow has received numerous honors for his groundbreaking legal work in the area of free speech and religious liberties. The Legal Times has named Sekulow one of \u201cThe 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years\u201d and the National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \u201c100 Most Influential Lawyers\u201d in the United States. In addition, TIME Magazine listed Jay Sekulow as one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America. Jay Sekulow\u2019s legal work in defense of religious liberties and human rights extends beyond the United States, having founded the ECLJ in Strasbourg, France, which maintains consultative status with the United Nations. He has also opened offices in Pakistan, Africa, and Jerusalem, Israel. Jay Sekulow is a staunch defender of Israel, presenting arguments before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. His efforts in support of Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks have been commended by Israeli government officials, one official stating, \"Jay was instrumentally-involved in projects that the President of Israel and the Prime Minister put on our national agenda.\" Jay Sekulow also has a passion for educating the next generation of religious liberty advocates. He is a member of the Regent University Law School Faculty as a Distinguished Professor of Law and routinely teaches courses on constitutional law and presents guest lectures. Jay Sekulow has also started educational programs in international human rights law in Strasbourg, France and at Handong University in South Korea. Jay Sekulow is a graduate of Mercer University, earning both a bachelor\u2019s degree and doctor of jurisprudence. Sekulow served on the editorial staff of the Mercer Law Review and graduated cum laude. He later earned a Ph.D. from Regent University, writing his dissertation on American Legal History. Jay Sekulow also serves on the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, D.C. Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsels full biography and video. Jay Sekulow on Facebook. Jay Sekulow on Twitter. Jay Sekulow on YouTube.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/author\/jay_sekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1634,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions\/1634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}