A California Christian membership is preventing to place their cross again on show after metropolis officers used eminent area to take away it whereas citing complaints of it being “reminiscent of KKK cross-burnings” and offensive to “diverse communities.”
The Albany Lions Club had maintained their majestic 28-foot cross and lit it up for the Christmas and Easter holidays to ship “the message of God’s love” and be a “comfort to the Christian community” since 1971, a press launch states.
In the over 50 years it stood on Albany Hill, the cross additionally served as a gathering place for group prayers, weddings, child dedications, and memorial companies for the neighborhood.
The construction was erected on personal land owned by one of many membership’s members, however that land is now a part of a dispute with the town of Albany, which seized the plot final yr.
Bay Area Christians struggle metropolis over ‘hostile and focused’ cross removing: ‘Discriminatory motion’ https://t.co/5jt1ULv8KI
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 16, 2024
According to the civil liberties group Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), there have been “no objections” to the cross till 2016 when an “atheist group raised a complaint and convinced the Albany City Council to take up the cause of removing the cross.”
In 2017, then-Mayor Peggy McQuaid publicly denounced the membership for lighting the cross on September 11:
The Albany City Council was dismayed to be taught that in a departure from historic follow, the cross on Albany Hill was lit by the Albany Lions Club on Monday, September 11. Flags on metropolis buildings and parks have been flown at ½ employees on that day which is an applicable, non-denominational civic remembrance of that horrible and tragic day. I’m certain many Albany residents paused through the day for private reflection.
I need to reiterate that the neither City Council nor the City of Albany endorses in any approach the lighting of the cross for any event, spiritual or nationalistic, or helps its continued presence on public property
In January 2023, the Alameda County Superior Court demanded the cross be eliminated, with the ruling claiming that the Lions Club didn’t want the cross for its “organizational purpose.”
“Apparently, according to the Court, only a church or religious group has a right to free exercise of religion,” PJI stated in its press launch, arguing that the court docket “failed to recognize the Lions Club had a property right to display the cross, a right which the City recognized when it acquired the land.”
When the cross was formally taken down in June 2023, the mayor celebrated.
“The city has actually put its money where its mouth is, and our city looks a little bit more accepting now in a way that we think is consistent with our values,” then-Mayor Aaron Tiedemann told the East Bay Times.
Tiedemann, who now sits on the Albany City Council, referred to the Lion Club’s cross as a “privilege” that had been taken away.
“For the small local group of people that really want to see the cross stay, when you’ve had such privilege for so long, losing it feels like being oppressed,” the previous mayor stated. “That’s going to be an adjustment for folks, but I think we will all get used to it, and I think it’s a real benefit.”
The native publication went on to record out the complaints Tiedmann cited for eradicating the cross:
Tiedemann, who grew up in Albany, stated folks have lengthy complained in regards to the cross for a litany of causes: it symbolizes a choice of 1 faith over others, offends some members of the town’s numerous communities, is harking back to KKK cross-burnings within the East Bay hills within the Twenties, and is an eyesore.
Now, the Lions Club is submitting a petition to reinstate the cross with the assistance of PJI.
A Christian, Albany Lions Club member introduced a cross on personal land to represent hope. An atheist group’s objection led to efforts to take away it by the Albany City Council. The Albany Lions Club is defending its Free Speech rights. Read extra: https://t.co/aq0BbGUe6X pic.twitter.com/WWlRvZuuPH
— Pacific Justice Institute (@PacificJustice) April 10, 2024
“The City’s public statements and actions have been hostile and targeted the Christian cross because [of] its religious message,” the petition reads. “The City Council lacked neutrality and attacked the cross and the Lions for its free exercise of religion and free speech.”
PJI founder and president Brad Dacus argued within the group’s assertion that the First Amendment of the Constitution “protects individuals and private entities from such blatant state hostility to those wishing to express symbols of faith and hope.”
“We at PJI are committed to defending such constitutionally protected expression.”
In an interview with Fox News, Dacus said the town of Albany is particularly focusing on Christians.
“If there was a giant LGBT flag or something like that, this city would embrace it. No problem. So it’s specifically because of the viewpoint and the religious viewpoint and perspective of the cross. That’s their agenda,” he stated.
The civil rights defender says the case will probably be a slam dunk.
“It is a vicious, blatant, anti-constitutional, discriminatory action by the City of Albany. And that’s what makes this case so shocking. You know, the city didn’t even hide it,” Dacus stated, including that he’s “very optimistic with regard to the final outcome of this case” and can take it to the Supreme Court if mandatory.
More Stories
Judge Delivers Ruling on Trump’s Bid For A Mistrial in Daniels’ Case
Democrats’ Lawfare Strategy Fails to Derail Trump’s Comeback
Scottie Scheffler ‘Assaulted’ Louisville Cop on Traffic Detail Outside PGA Championship
Alina Habba Rips Hush Money Trial Process After Daniels Testimony
Biden Grants Asylum to Cuban Communist Official as Political Prisoner Count Surpasses 1,100