A longtime atheist, Patrick Greene, has a huge problem with
a giant cross under construction alongside I-37 in Corpus Christi, TX (a city
whose name literally means “Body of Christ”).
“It’s tacky as hell,” Greene told Todd Starnes of FoxNews.
The 230-foot tall cross is being erected on property owned
by Abundant Life Fellowship Church – paid for by donations. Pastor Rick Milby said it will be the largest
cross in the western hemisphere. So tall,
in fact, that the church was required to install a lighted beacon on the top.
Greene said the cross is a safety hazard and said it should
not be seen from the highway. “I don’t
think it should be within eyesight because it jeopardizes people’s safety on
the road,” he said. So the San Antonio
atheist filed a lawsuit. But Greene did
not file a lawsuit because he believes the cross is tacky; nor did he file a
lawsuit because of potential safety hazards.
He filed a lawsuit because the mayor and other city leaders attended a
groundbreaking ceremony for the cross. “When
I saw the mayor in her official position and the council in their official
positions were attending a groundbreaking ceremony for a Christian symbol –
that smacked right in the face of the Constitution of the state of Texas,” he
said. And he also sued Rev. Milby. He was accused of violating the law by
inviting the mayor and the council members to the groundbreaking, the Caller-Times reports.
“It’s ridiculous,” Milby told Starnes. “He’s attacking my rights and the rights of
the mayor. The groundbreaking was on a
Sunday and these are Christians and they have a right to their faith.”
Stop and think about this: The atheist sued a preacher for
building a cross on church property in a city named Body of Christ. “It’s shocking to me that we’ve gotten to a
point in society where we have atheists suing pastors for crosses erected on
church property,” said attorney Jeremy Dys with First Liberty (a law firm that
specializes in religious liberty cases).
Rev. Milby has since been dropped from the lawsuit. However, the mayor and council members are
still facing litigation. “No matter what
belief you have, this is the name of our city and it was my constitutional
right to attend, and I will never regret being there for this wonderful
moment,” Mayor Nelda Martinez told the Caller-Times.
Greene said he had no problem with the mayor attending the
ceremony as a private citizen; but attending in her official capacity was a
violation of her oath of office.
Attorney Dys said, “You can’t ban people from going to a
church. This guy [Green] is trying to
use the legal system to ban city council people from attending any type of
church service. To get the court to
admonish them for daring to go to a church service is just wrong.”
Starnes reminded Greene that the church was building the
cross on property they owned with money they collected. So what right did he have to tell them what
they could or could not build? Green
said, “Church property or not, the reverend showed incredibly poor judgment in
putting it where everybody can see it – just because he wants to proselytize
his faith and get converts.”
Though I’ve never been on I-37 in Corpus Christi, TX, I
suspect this cross is one of many ‘signs’ along the highway. So what’s the harm in adding one more –
especially a sign that provides directions to the highway to Heaven!
Rev. Dr.
Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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