9/11 Memorial Violates Separation of Church and State

              After the rubble was cleared from the World Trade Center bombings on September 11th, 2001, there was a steel t-joint that was designed to hold up the buildings.  The joint, due to it's resemblance to the Christian cross that symbolizes Jesus' death and resurrection, caused many Christians to begin to see it as a memorial.  It was originally moved to St. Peter's church, but it has been moved back to ground zero.  American Atheists are suing saying that unless symbols from many other religious groups are included also, it is a violation of church and state.

             The atheists seem to be right on this one.  Since ground zero is public property, a Christian religious symbol would appear to be an endorsement of the Christian religion, which would not be constitutional.  I always find it strange when certain groups of Christians become upset when there is a challenge to the constitutionality of a religious symbol on public property, such as the ten commandments.  There is a separation of church and state in the U.S. constitution, and public property sporting a specific religion's symbols is an endorsement of that religion.  There is no defense that can be offered.  It is also ironic that many who claim we need these Christian religious symbols are also the ones who claim to be "strict conservative constitutionalists"  who say that the government cannot constitutionally do many of the things it currently does.  I guess that only applies if one is not a right-wing conservative Christian.