The construction of shrines is an innately human endeavor.
The Pyramids, China’s Terracota Army, St. Peter’s Basilica — all grandiose monuments, all basically fancy tombstones.
So it made sense when a perfectly shaped cross, formed from fallen steel girders and pulled from the smoking ruin of the World Trade Center, became an icon.
And now the Foundation for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum has decided to include the steel girder cross in its exhibit at Ground Zero.
But American Atheists, an organization with little use for iconography of any sort, has decided to take issue with the cross’s inclusion in what is meant to be a national place of unity and reflection.
The cross, which was taken from the rubble by Christian aid workers and erected near Ground Zero, became a meeting place and makeshift memorial spot.
The families of victims decorated its base with flowers, pictures and mementoes.
The cross became a place of gathering for hundreds of New Yorkers still in shock — a kind of safe zone and chapel in the heart of a veritable battlefield.
But American Atheists feels the cross’s inclusion is prejudicial and shows favoritism toward Christians.
They have sued the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the city of New York and demanded the cross be either removed, or an object of equal veneration be included to represent those without faith.
When asked by Fox News what object he would like to see erected to represent non-believers, American Atheists President David Silverman drew a blank — saying atheists didn’t really have a symbol.
After 9/11, as the search-and-rescue became a cleanup-and-recover, the city of New York had the 17-foot-tall cross placed on a pedestal across the street from Ground Zero.
For the last 11 years, the cross has served as a sight of pilgrimage for thousands of Americans, and it should continue in that capacity.
I will be the first to say that America is not a Christian nation.
It is, however, a nation full of Christians and their history. This object, which so embodies their share of that great national trauma, must be given its rightful due.
And if atheism doesn’t have a symbol, then Silverman should find satisfaction in all of the empty spots between the many other items the Foundation for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum has chosen to include in its shrine.
Or perhaps American Atheists could adopt the memorial’s twin reflecting pools or massive man-made waterfalls as secular symbols of their contribution to our recovery.
Water’s pretty religiously neutral.
Including a place specifically for atheists is by no means beyond the pale.
What is beyond the pale is turning hallowed ground into a soap box — or using a lawsuit to leverage one group out simply because you find their faith silly or offensive, especially when that object and those people played a major part in the history of that terrible event.
We, as a species, have a driving need to remember our tragic places. Turning a place of horror into one of calm is a necessary part of finding closure.
The silent rows of decrepit block houses that mark the sight of Auschwitz-Birkenau come to mind.
That place, which was used for so much evil, has now become a place of remembrance.
It’s time Ground Zero is made to serve that purpose for us, and David Silverman and his band of pretentious jackasses need to shut up and let that happen.
