Gary Bauer has a reflection on the American Atheists’ attempt to have the iron cross removed from Ground Zero. What hateful, petty people these atheists are. That cross was one of several discovered on the site in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. Hardhats, firefighters, cops and relief workers laboring under unimaginable conditions began to consider the site where those I-beams fell to resemble Christian crosses as a place of prayer, healing and reflection. Fr. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who ministered a great deal down on the site, testified that even non-Christians he pastored told him they embraced the cross, if not the religion it symbolized. The cross became a symbol of order amidst the chaos, a symbol of hope for those who needed it to continue their necessary work in hell. It is obviously a religious symbol, but more importantly, it is a monument of historical significance.

The way to handle this is invite all religions to place a memorial at the rebuilt site. Invite the atheists too. Let them put up a mayonnaise jar full of nothing, or a bowl of fresh lemons to suck.