You've GOT To Be Joking, Right?

COMMENT: The size of the cross was the reason cited for its removal, even though it was clearly a replica (made of metal pipe) of the original cross stolen in April. What I find amazing though is that if the reason cited here is correct (1/2 inch larger than the original), we're talking about it being 90-1/2 inches tall instead of 90 inches - are you serious?!?!?!?! Exactly how wrong is this ordeal anyway? How much government money has been spent to visit, investigate, and litigate this issue?

Ironically, I took a motorcycle ride through that area last Saturday. What amazed me about the entire region was the number of "God" references and symbols we saw along our route. There were crosses on hillsides made of stones, a rock wall along the border of a person's property that was built with different stones embedded to state, "Jesus is Lord." One of our riders had a "Jesus" patch on his vest and received 3 separate comments from the locals (all positive). What I'm getting at is that the people in this region of our great country not only are not offended by the Mojave Cross, they are proud of it and proud of their faith. What gives a man residing in Seattle the right to waste government money litigating this case?

ARTICLE:

Replica cross in Mojave Desert is taken down
Associated Press - 5/21/2010 7:25:00

Associated Press MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, CA - Authorities say a Mojave Desert cross that replaced the stolen one honoring America's war dead was illegal, so it's been taken down too.

Linda Slater, a spokeswoman for the Mojave National Preserve, says a maintenance worker spotted the replica cross Thursday morning in the federal park. Nobody claimed credit for putting it up.

The new cross was a half-inch larger than the original one, which was stolen more than a week ago. That cross was the subject of a lawsuit arguing that a Christian symbol didn't belong on public land. (See related article)

Congress had reacted by transferring land under the cross to private ownership.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to order removal of the cross while a lower court decided whether the land transfer was legal. But Slater says the new cross wasn't covered by the Supreme Court ruling, so workers removed it Thursday afternoon.