The Cross is nothing special, says Justice Scalia

A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Salazar v. Buono where a large cross, formerly on federal land given to a private group to end-run around church-state entanglement, stands as a WWI memorial. Justice Scalia and the Plaintiff's lawyer had the following exchange.

"It's erected as a war memorial. I assume it is erected in honor of all of the war dead," Scalia said of the cross that the Veterans of Foreign Wars built 75 years ago atop an outcropping in the Mojave National Preserve. "What would you have them erect?...Some conglomerate of a cross, a Star of David, and you know, a Muslim half moon and star?"

Peter Eliasberg, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer arguing the case, explained that the cross is the predominant symbol of Christianity and commonly used at Christian grave sites, not that the devoutly Catholic Scalia needed to be told that.

"I have been in Jewish cemeteries," Eliasberg continued. "There is never a cross on a tombstone of a Jew."

There was mild laughter in the packed courtroom, but not from Scalia.

"I don't think you can leap from that to the conclusion that the only war dead that that cross honors are the Christian war dead. I think that's an outrageous conclusion," Scalia said, clearly irritated by the exchange.

It seems pretty clear to me that the cross is a Christian symbol and couldn't stand for the war dead of different faiths. That is, if you take the cross seriously as a symbol of Christianity.

What I find surprising about the exchange is the complete lack of outrage on the part of Christians. What Scalia is saying here is that the cross is a generic symbol representing graves. That it doesn't necessarily stand for a Christian grave or memorial but stands for anyone of any faith or lack of faith. In other words, the cross is no longer solely a Christian symbol.

The argument itself is disingenuous, serving only to support Scalia's obvious bias in favor of public displays of the Christian religion. But why aren't Christians upset over this? He's bad-mouthing their most holy symbol by equating it with something generic. Shouldn't Christians be up in arms over this attack on their most cherished symbol? Are they not paying attention or does Scalia get a pass because he's a conservative Justice?

It also says something about his lack of imagination that he can't seem to imagine a non-cross memorial. Has he never been to the Wall?

In any event, as proof that Scalia is wrong, here is a photo of a graveyard in which there isn't a single cross to be seen. Take that!