By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO—Morris Casuto, the retired executive director of the San Diego Region’s Anti-Defamation League, suggests that in retrospect San Diego’s quarter-century-long battle over the Mt. Soledad Cross was a win for civil government.
Originally, the large Latin cross atop Mount Soledad was upon public property. Several levels of courts declared that because the cross is a symbol of Christianity, it must not be permanently placed on public land. Last year, the land around the cross was sold for approximately $1.4 million to the non-profit Mount Soledad Memorial Association, thereby making the land upon which the cross sits private, rather than public, property.
Although the court case dragged through the courts and was the source of considerable rhetoric—some of it even anti-Semitic–in the end, said Casuto, it was a victory for the American system. In other countries, he suggested, such a hot controversy might have been settled with guns, but in the United States, it was settled by the courts.
The constitutional principle of separation of church and state—meaning government should not favor one religion over another, or even religion over atheism, was upheld while a San Diego landmark was maintained. Furthermore, Mount Soledad has morphed from a venue principally hosting Easter celebrations into a site where American military veterans of all faiths are honored—as one can see by reading the various plaques honoring both the living and the dead. While most of the plaques celebrate veterans who are Christian, there are a number of plaques celebrating the military contributions of American Jews as well as other religious groups.
It was my pleasure to join Casuto and the executive director of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association, Tim Chelling, at a private lunch Wednesday at King’s Fish House in Mission Valley. Chelling, best known as a former news executive with KNSD-TV, the local NBC affiliate, in his new position with the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association has been engaged in outreach to members of various communities, including the Jewish community.
When a federal appeals court last year accepted the sale by the federal government of the Mount Soledad land to the memorial association, I think there was a sigh of relief in the Jewish community that this controversy, which spanned approximately 25 years, was at last over. The original plaintiff in the case, Philip K. Paulson, had died during its long course of litigation; so too had the federal trial judge, Gordon Paulson Jr.
After Paulson’s death, the national Jewish War Veterans organization became a substitute plaintiff in the case, prompting leaders of the local branch of the JWV to declare that they strongly disagreed with their parent organization’s decision to press the matter. The case not only divided members of the Jewish community; Christians too took positions for and against the ongoing presence of the Latin cross on public property. At one point, defenders described the cross as being a symbol of military sacrifice, not a religious symbol—an argument so tortuous very few people bought into it.
I told Chelling that I still believe the cross is an inappropriate symbol at a site that advertises itself as honoring all veterans, but the courts have decided, and what is is. However, should the association ever decide to find a more fitting symbol, I would suggest a heroic statue recreating the Joe Rosenthal photograph of Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima.
I find it pleasing, and quite reassuring, that Casuto looks back in retrospect at the cross case so positively, and I compliment Chelling, and the board of directors of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association, for seeking input from San Diego’s various communities.
Some day, perhaps, the Mount Soledad Memorial Association will utilize Memorial Day and Veterans Day to point out and celebrate the contributions made to America’s military by many ethnic communities. Think of Filipino-Americans who have a proud legacy of serving in the U.S. military, especially the Navy. Remember the Navajo Code Talkers. Give honor to the “Buffalo Soldiers” of the African-American community. Praise is deserved by our Japanese-American soldiers who fought in Europe for the United States, despite their families’ incarceration at home. And yes, also remember the Jews whom ever since the American Revolution, have proudly fought and died for this country and the freedoms it guarantees.
*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com