Who is Harmed?

By a cross display in the desert?

Here is a brief excerpt from the First Amendment Center's analysis of the next big EC case to be decided by the Supreme Court:

A large Christian cross stands hidden inside a plywood box atop an outcropping in a California desert, symbolizing the unsettled state of First Amendment law on the placement of religious symbols on public property.

But the box might soon be removed to reveal the cross again — or the cross could come down altogether — depending on how the Supreme Court rules in a longstanding dispute over the religious display.

The Court agreed yesterday to take up Salazar v. Buono, the case of the cross that serves as a war memorial in the federal Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County. It will test the attitude of the new Roberts Court — especially the newest justice, Samuel Alito Jr. — on how to resolve thorny establishment-clause questions.

If the high court rules that the cross violates the First Amendment, a brief by the Veterans of Foreign Wars warns, “The destruction of this and an untold number of like veterans memorials is sealed.” The brief cites everything from the Navy Cross to crosses at Arlington National Cemetery as possible targets.

But Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says, “The federal parks belong to all Americans and are not the appropriate place for the display of religious symbols.” Lynn adds, “Men and women of many faiths and none have served our country honorably … . A Christian symbol cannot memorialize them all.”

Keep your eye on this one.

If you are riding through the desert on a horse with no name, just avert your eyes if you are offended by this display. No harm, no foul?