The World Trade Center "cross"

Government establishes Christian totem.

There's an article today at ABC news online about the "cross" memorial they're putting up at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. American Atheists filed a lawsuit saying that you can't erect a Christian symbol on government property. They're right, of course. There's no question about this.

The group states it clearly: since the government allowed this huge icon for Jesus into the museum, they must allow every other religion to put up a totem of similar size alongside the "cross" -- including a totem for atheism. They said they would drop their suit immediately if one of two things happened: the "cross" was removed, or every religion was allowed to erect a totem of similar size at the museum. Sounds fair to me.

But really, I wasn't thinking about the propriety of putting the "cross" in the museum when I saw them load this piece of crap onto a lift. What I thought was "here we go -- they're seeing jeebus in the coffee stains again."

People, this is not a "cross". It's two pieces of metal that are perpendicular to each other -- a "T-joint" -- like the metal T-joints in just about every other building in the world. That you found some perpendicular bits of metal is not a miracle. It's not a sign of gods. It's not anything. It's rubble.

I was aghast as I watched the blessing of this metal and saw people praying to it and telling "miraculous" stories about it. Sometimes I feel like I live in a world of cavemen. I can't do anything but shake my head when I watch something like that.

Yes, it needs to come down. But let's recognize that stupidity is what put it there. It's a T-joint, not a cross. This event is disheartening, as if everything about religion. It's a colossal waste of everyone's time and energy.

What do you think?