AN ANSWER TO OUR QUESTION :

Ruling may mean end of Mojave cross : The ACLU convinces a judge that a religious symbol has no place on public land. (JOHN WELSH, 07/25/2002, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE)

A 6-foot cross in the Mojave National Preserve must go, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued the cross violated the Constitution because it was a religious symbol on public land, and U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Timlin of Riverside ruled in their favor.

The cross atop an outcropping 11 miles south of Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas dates to 1934.

A prospector, John "Riley" Bembry, raised a cross to honor World War I veterans and asked a friend, almost as a dying wish, to make sure it remained there.

earlier in the week we asked : No pledge, no flag, no...?. well, here's the answer. Presumably we'll now have to rip out all the religious headstones at Arlington? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 27, 2002 6:48 AM