Faith can move mountains, but can it move mountain statues? Attorneys at the Becket Fund are happy to report that in Montana, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) will never know. The atheist activists abandoned their lawsuit to take "Big Mountain Jesus" off the slopes after even the Ninth Circuit Court upheld the monument. For more than 60 years, the life-sized Christ statue from the Knights of Columbus had been greeting skiers on a run on public land.
FFRF argued that because the monument was on public land it meant taxpayers were subsidizing it. Not even the most liberal appeals court in America bought that argument and ruled instead that "there is nothing in the statue's display or setting to suggest government endorsement; the twelve-foot tall statue is on a mountain, far from any government seat or building, near a commercial ski resort, and accessible only to individuals who pay to use the ski lift." In fact, the judge ruled, there were far better reasons for keeping the display, including, "the statue's cultural and historical significance for veterans, Montanans, and tourists; the statue's inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places; and the government's intent to preserve the site 'as a historic part of the resort.'"
Now that the deadline to appeal has expired, the victory for the Knights and veterans is complete. Even the Foundation must have realized it didn't have a constitutional leg to stand on in its endless crusade to wipe religion off the American map. Their bluff continues to be called by brave citizens and organizations who stand up and refused to be bullied. "FFRF should slink away with its tail between its legs," says Becket's Eric Baxter, lead attorney in this case. "The First Amendment prohibits religious coercion, not religious culture. Picking a fight with a sixty-year-old war memorial makes FFRF look petty."
** Surrendering to moral erosion may be the easy way, but it's not the right way. Read why in this new piece by FRC's Dan Hart, "Why the World Still Needs Idealism" in The Federalist.
