Reason lacking in WWI memorial case
Arecent court ruling in Maryland declared that a nearly century-old monument to World War I soldiers “entangles the government in religion” because it’s in the shape of a cross. This case shows some people will see government-sanctioned religious coercion around every corner, even if they have to ignore countless signs to the contrary.
At issue was a 40-foot monument erected in 1925 by the American Legion. It sits in the median of a highway and honors 49 men from Prince George’s County who died in World War I. The property where the monument sits was acquired by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1961, and the monument stood in place without problem for the better part of a century before the American Humanist Association sued in 2014.
A lower court ruled the monument was not an unconstitutional establishment of religion. But a divided panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled otherwise last week in a 2-1 decision. The dissent authored by Judge Roger L. Gregory, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, highlights why the majority’s ruling was such a stretch.
Gregory noted the American Legion’s symbol is displayed “in the middle of the cross on both faces.” The cross includes a plaque listing the names of the 49 who died. That plaque also states, “This memorial cross dedicated to the heroes of Prince George’s County Maryland who lost their lives in the great war for the liberty of the world.” A quote from former President Woodrow Wilson is also included on the plaque.
Each face of the memorial’s base is inscribed with one of four words: valor, endurance, courage and devotion. The park where the memorial is located includes numerous other memorials that similarly commemorate those lost in military conflicts, including a 9/11 Memorial Garden, a World War II memorial, a Pearl Harbor memorial and a Korea/Vietnam Memorial.
“Since the Memorial’s completion, numerous events have been hosted there to celebrate Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the Fourth of July, and the remembrance of September 11th,” Gregory wrote. “These ceremonies usually include an invocation and benediction, but the record demonstrates that only three Sunday religious services were held at the Memorial — all of which occurred in August 1931.”
When efforts were begun to erect the World War I memorial in 1918, the fundraising flyer stressed patriotism and loyalty to the nation, not religious messages.
To declare the memorial an unconstitutional establishment of religion, Gregory argued, the majority “subordinates the Memorial’s secular history and elements while focusing on the obvious religious nature of Latin crosses themselves; constructs a reasonable observer who ignores certain elements of the Memorial and reaches unreasonable conclusions; and confuses maintenance of a highway median and monument in a state park with excessive religious entanglement.”
Most people viewing a memorial honoring fallen soldiers, covered with nonreligious materials and a secular quote, in a park full of similar memorials, at a site routinely used for July 4 events but not religious services, would not conclude it was primarily a religious monument. Yet to some judges, such common sense only proves the vast majority of Americans are not “reasonable.”