Activist Group Calls for Removal of Veterans’ Memorial over Its Christian Message
In Monument, Colorado, an activist “watchdog” group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, called for a monument honoring military men and women to be removed because it included Christian sentiments.
The activist group sent complaints saying the monument was a “violation” of the separation of church and state.
According to First Liberty Institute, the legal group representing the town of Monument, the activist group called the monument a “wretched, unconstitutional dumpster fire.” The activist group also reportedly called it an “unconstitutional gambit/scheme.”
In a letter regarding the case, First Liberty explained that the monument was built through the efforts of a young local Eagle Scout. “Eagle Scout Michael Carlson spent almost two years raising private donations for a memorial to honor veterans like his father,” the letter read. “Your letters and public communications to the media seek to disparage his efforts and the private speech of this 16-year-old resident of the Town of Monument,” the group argued.
The letter continues noting that Carlson “intended to use his voice to honor all brave men and women who have served in our armed forces. The memorial he created is privately designed, privately maintained, and located on private burial plots in Monument Cemetery.”
According to The Christian Post, the organization reportedly responded, saying their qualm is not with the Boy Scout but what the Boy Scout did.
The dispute is over what the words carved into the memorial say: “‘Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American soldier. One died for your soul, the other died for your freedom.’ We honor those who made freedom a reality.”
First Liberty Institute called out the group for filing the suit, calling it “profoundly disrespectful. “Your attack on a minor who simply intended to honor our veterans is profoundly disrespectful to all involved,” the legal group concluded.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Im Yeongsik
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Washington Gazette, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
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