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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The crosses used at roadside memorials for fallen Utah Highway Patrol troopers have more in common with holiday decorations and secular displays of the Ten Commandments than they do with promoting religion, state attorneys argued.
They also said members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not use the cross as a religious symbol and have not objected to the use in memorials. Mormons make up the majority of the state's population.
The arguments by the Utah attorney general's office were made in a memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in response to a lawsuit over the 12-foot-tall crosses erected near Utah roads and highways.
American Atheists sued the state last December, claiming the symbol of the cross used in the memorials violates the separation of church and state and endorses one religious belief over others.
Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, recognizing the historic significance of some Ten Commandments displays on government property, as a defense of the crosses. Like the Ten Commandments, the crosses could also carry a nonreligious message, he said.
"The cross is also firmly recognized as a symbol of death or a place of burial," Roberts wrote.
Additionally, other religious symbols have taken on more secular meanings over time, he said.
"The Christmas tree once had a religious connotation but now is a secular symbol of Christmas," Roberts noted.
Attorney Brian Barnard said, "American Atheists has no objection to honoring law enforcement officers who gave their lives in public service. However, government should not participate in such a program using such a poignant religious symbol.
"They claim that the Christian Cross is a universally recognized nonreligious symbol of death, remembrance and sacrifice and its display does not advance religion. They cite no legal authority for that claim," he said.
American Atheists is asking a federal judge to order removal of those crosses located on government property. The group also suggests that the crosses be replaced with a more secular symbol, such as the Utah Highway Patrol symbol, which is a beehive.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
