North County Times
OFF THE WIRE
Atheist group objects to memorial cross at Camp Pendleton.
Scott Radetski, Karen Mendoza, Jon Gross and Shannon Book work to carry a 13-foot cross to the top of a mountain at Camp Pendleton on Nov. 10 to recognize those Marines who have fallen or been wounded in combat. The original cross was carried up by seven people, and three of those original seven were killed in combat in Iraq. Radetski was a chaplain during the battle for Fallujah, Mendoza's husband was killed in combat, and Gross and Book also served in Iraq during the battle for Fallujah. (RICK LOOMIS / Los Angeles Times
An atheist group lodged objections Wednesday to a cross that was erected on a Camp Pendleton hillside on Veterans Day, saying the memorial to fallen troops is a Christian symbol that isn't appropriate on federal land.
Jason Torpy of the Washington-based Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers said his group does not believe the cross put up Friday is constitutional and has asked base officials to explain why it is being allowed.
"No cross or statue of Jesus represents military service," Torpy said in a written statement. "Military service is being exploited to secure unconstitutional Christian privilege."
The 13-foot cross was carried to the site and put up by a group of Iraq war veterans and two widows of Camp Pendleton Marines killed in combat.
It was built by former Navy chaplain Scott Radetski of Washington state and replaces a cross put atop a base hillside in 2003 by a group of Marines before they left for Iraq. The original cross was destroyed in a wildfire on the base, which is owned by the federal government.
Of the seven Marines who put up the first cross, three were later killed in combat.
Efforts to reach Radetski and the others who installed the cross were not immediately successful.
But Radetski told the Los Angeles Times on Friday that the group sees it as motivational and as a symbol that all of those killed in combat are never forgotten.
Camp Pendleton issued a statement saying the cross has not been officially sanctioned.
"The memorial cross activity ... was conducted by private individuals acting solely in their personal capacities," the statement from the base public affairs office said. "As such, they were not acting in any official position or capacity that may be construed as an endorsement of a specific religious denomination by the Department of Defense or the U.S. Marine Corps."
A Camp Pendleton spokeswoman went on to say that the issue raised by Torpy and his group is being "further looked into by legal authorities on the base."
Torpy said giving access to the base, knowing a cross was being erected, amounts to tacit approval.
"Would they allow that for anyone else who wanted to put up something for atheists... ?," he said.
The cross was specifically dedicated to the memory of Maj. Douglas Zembiec, Maj. Ray Mendoza, Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin and Lance Cpl. Robert Zurheide, according to the Los Angeles Times report.
The four belonged to Camp Pendleton's 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, one of the main groups in a bloody fight for the city of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.
Austin and Zurheide were killed in that fight, while Mendoza died in a different 2005 battle in Iraq. Zembiec was killed in a 2007 raid in the city of Baghdad.
The widows of Zembiec and Mendoza took part in Friday's effort.
Torpy, who is an Iraq war veteran, acknowledged the suffering of the families involved and said he is sensitive to the potential fallout the objection may generate.
"Those Marines were honoring their fallen comrades, of that I am certain," said Torpy, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who spent 10 years in the Army, leaving as a captain in 2005 after tours of duty in Kuwait and Iraq. "Their desire to erect a large cross to honor their memory is perfectly acceptable, so long as it is on church land or their own property, not on federal land."
The cross's establishment continues what Torpy said is a trend of religious monuments being confused with secular war memorials.
Torpy said his group works on behalf of an estimated 40,000 atheists in the U.S. military. It also raises concerns when military officials or troops engage in proselytizing or give preferential treatment to one religion over another.
He said more than 50 percent of his group's roughly 2,000 members are active-duty troops.
The group has more than 100 members in Southern California and tries to focus on the positive as it fights for the rights of atheists and nonbelievers in the military, leaving it to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union to file formal complaints.
The issue he's raising is comparable with the fight over a 29-foot cross atop Mount Soledad in La Jolla.
The San Diego ACLU objected to that cross as a religious symbol and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling it unconstitutional. That prompted an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to say whether it will consider that case.
Jason Torpy of the Washington-based Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers said his group does not believe the cross put up Friday is constitutional and has asked base officials to explain why it is being allowed.
"No cross or statue of Jesus represents military service," Torpy said in a written statement. "Military service is being exploited to secure unconstitutional Christian privilege."
The 13-foot cross was carried to the site and put up by a group of Iraq war veterans and two widows of Camp Pendleton Marines killed in combat.
It was built by former Navy chaplain Scott Radetski of Washington state and replaces a cross put atop a base hillside in 2003 by a group of Marines before they left for Iraq. The original cross was destroyed in a wildfire on the base, which is owned by the federal government.
Of the seven Marines who put up the first cross, three were later killed in combat.
Efforts to reach Radetski and the others who installed the cross were not immediately successful.
But Radetski told the Los Angeles Times on Friday that the group sees it as motivational and as a symbol that all of those killed in combat are never forgotten.
Camp Pendleton issued a statement saying the cross has not been officially sanctioned.
"The memorial cross activity ... was conducted by private individuals acting solely in their personal capacities," the statement from the base public affairs office said. "As such, they were not acting in any official position or capacity that may be construed as an endorsement of a specific religious denomination by the Department of Defense or the U.S. Marine Corps."
A Camp Pendleton spokeswoman went on to say that the issue raised by Torpy and his group is being "further looked into by legal authorities on the base."
Torpy said giving access to the base, knowing a cross was being erected, amounts to tacit approval.
"Would they allow that for anyone else who wanted to put up something for atheists... ?," he said.
The cross was specifically dedicated to the memory of Maj. Douglas Zembiec, Maj. Ray Mendoza, Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin and Lance Cpl. Robert Zurheide, according to the Los Angeles Times report.
The four belonged to Camp Pendleton's 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, one of the main groups in a bloody fight for the city of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.
Austin and Zurheide were killed in that fight, while Mendoza died in a different 2005 battle in Iraq. Zembiec was killed in a 2007 raid in the city of Baghdad.
The widows of Zembiec and Mendoza took part in Friday's effort.
Torpy, who is an Iraq war veteran, acknowledged the suffering of the families involved and said he is sensitive to the potential fallout the objection may generate.
"Those Marines were honoring their fallen comrades, of that I am certain," said Torpy, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who spent 10 years in the Army, leaving as a captain in 2005 after tours of duty in Kuwait and Iraq. "Their desire to erect a large cross to honor their memory is perfectly acceptable, so long as it is on church land or their own property, not on federal land."
The cross's establishment continues what Torpy said is a trend of religious monuments being confused with secular war memorials.
Torpy said his group works on behalf of an estimated 40,000 atheists in the U.S. military. It also raises concerns when military officials or troops engage in proselytizing or give preferential treatment to one religion over another.
He said more than 50 percent of his group's roughly 2,000 members are active-duty troops.
The group has more than 100 members in Southern California and tries to focus on the positive as it fights for the rights of atheists and nonbelievers in the military, leaving it to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union to file formal complaints.
The issue he's raising is comparable with the fight over a 29-foot cross atop Mount Soledad in La Jolla.
The San Diego ACLU objected to that cross as a religious symbol and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling it unconstitutional. That prompted an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to say whether it will consider that case.
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-901-4080.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/military-atheist-group-objects-to-memorial-cross-at-camp-pendleton/article_1a2deffe-1b96-5c90-8c9e-66a8155bc897.html#ixzz1eANAg0Jr
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/military-atheist-group-objects-to-memorial-cross-at-camp-pendleton/article_1a2deffe-1b96-5c90-8c9e-66a8155bc897.html#ixzz1eANAg0Jr
